how does MAME run in Vista?

[Kid Ice]

I'm due for an updated MAME rig so I'm thinking about buying a new PC. Pretty much everything out there right now has Vista. I have an XP cd but it would be such a headache downloading all the updates and drivers.

Anyone running MAME on Vista? Issues?

[VACRMH]

No problems for me. I've run quite a few of the larger games on it too, such as 3rd Strike.

However, MAME's just seems slower these days, even on my XP machine it seems longer than I used to remember to load any game.

[Gapporin]

Another Vista user here; another problem free MAME setup.

One thing to mention (and this may not be a Vista-only matter) is that MAME automatically tries to improve the look of the games by "smoothing" the pixels (which also takes up a lot more CPU usage). To retain the crisp, "pixelated" look, simply switch the video mode from "Direct3D" over to "DirectDraw".

However, MAME's just seems slower these days, even on my XP machine it seems longer than I used to remember to load any game.

This is pretty much been MAME's way of updating since day one. More stuff gets added, more bits and bobs to track, longer loading times, etc. That's why it's always better to use an older version of MAME for older hardware.

[Kid Ice]

One thing to mention (and this may not be a Vista-only matter) is that MAME automatically tries to improve the look of the games by "smoothing" the pixels (which also takes up a lot more CPU usage). To retain the crisp, "pixelated" look, simply switch the video mode from "Direct3D" over to "DirectDraw".

Good to know.

[zektor]

That smoothing has directly to do with your video card and video card drivers. The setting in Mame turns it on and off. Nvidia cards and drivers love to smooth things out!

Mame has always favored accuracy over speed. Mame32FX seems to be faster than the standard Mame32 on my end however. Still runs great even on my "old" 3ghz P4. And Mamesick has kept it way up to date ("u" builds) for years now:

http://mame32fx.altervista.org/home.htm