Hey gang,
OK, I have MAME running on my "primary" computer here at home. Works Hunky-dorey with no problems. Here are the stats on that system:
Compaq running Windows XP
AMD Sempron Processor
1.81 GHz
448 MB of RAM
Now then, I inherited an older system that I had planned to use for a MAME system. All of the comp's stats looked to hit the minimums needed for MAME emulation, but all of the games are running at half-speed (take the normal framerate, devide in half, that's where it sits) with the typical "skippy choppy" sound associated with an overtaxed processor. The games I'm running are older releases (Pac-Man, Donkey Kong) so I'm not trying to run Virtua Fighter or anything... Here are the older computer's stats:
Dell running Windows 98
Pentium III processor
730-ish MHz (best as I can tell when running a clocking program...)
128 MB of RAM
Now, I realize that "MAME minimum requirements" are a tough set to nail down as all ROMs run at different speeds, all computers are different, how do you have frame skipping/other MAME settings set, etc. But according to what little I've researched, a Pentium III processor is more than enough to run MAME. The computer was stripped down to it's base, so Windows and MAME are the ONLY programs on it, so there are no hidden programs, spyware, malware, etc.
Ergo, what could be causing the slowdown? Would increasing the RAM help speed things up? Or is a Pentium III just not gonna cut it here? Any quick fixes to get this up to speed would be grand. And increasing the Frameskip to 11 ain't exactly an option...
Thanks gang!