windows 7 from xp 32 or 64 bit?

[peterson65]

i am thinking of updating my mame cabinet from xp to windows 7, i have a version of mame that i compiled that is about 4 years old and it works and i have all the correct roms for it. that being said the question i am asking is it worth to go with the 64 bit version and having to re-compile a 64 bit version of mame and that would be the newest version plus roms may have changed ect. or stick with the 32bit version.

thanks

[Adultery]

I say if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Go for the 64-bit if your cpu can handle it, and stick with your current MAME build.

[peterson65]

the reason i was going to upgrade was because xp is dead with microsoft now, but its a dedicated mame cabinet. the only thing i do is play mame and update gameex. but if in the future mame wont support xp be i would rather be ahead of the game. if i do choose 64 bit wouldnt it be better to use the 64 bit mame? i have 4 gigs ram and am running 3 ghz dual core right now and everything works great area51 carvevil with my aimtrak nothing plays slow or bad . should i even bother?

thanks

[Adultery]

I mean if you don't mind updating your rom set and all your CHDs, support files, etc then yeah, of course go for it.

Just be aware that it'll be a lot of work.

[Draco1962]

While Windows 7 64-bit will help quite a bit with those applications that will support it, with only 4 GB RAM and a dual-core system, you may as well stick with Win 7 32-bit. The 64-bit compiled version of MAME will take better advantage of the CPU and RAM with 64-bit Windows, but, to be honest, I saw little in a performance bump when I switched from 32-bit to 64-bit.

If your motherboard will support more RAM (say doubling to 8GB for example), then you will see a bit better performance overall using Win 7 64-bit.

[peterson65]

Thanks for the input. I have a extra 2tb hard drive so I think I will try 32 bit then attach the original drive and copy everything over leaving the original untouched so nothing lost. Wish there was an easy way to just upgrade. Oh well if it was easy it wouldnt be fun.

Thanks

[tthurman]

"If" I were going to all that work, I think I'd dig up four more gigs of memory and go 64 bit. Otherwise I'd be inclined to just let it go as is. I'm betting MAME will be running on XP for a good while, regardless of Microsoft support. There is just too much of the community that has such deep roots with XP for it to just suddenly be abandoned!

Some potential roadblocks I could see upgrading would be:

If it's high performance DDR2, like 8500 stuff, this could be to expensive to be worth it. I haven't checked the used market for this lately, but it was still bringing in pretty decent money not long ago.

If not, and assuming you've got a 775 board, you could always stick a q9550 or 9560 in there at some point down the road for a little more oomph, without a major hardware upgrade. My logic on this has always been, that I'm not expecting many of the CHD's to run, much less run perfectly, so as long as the classics are hanging in there, why not make the most of the hardware you already got. It's a hellava lot cheaper this way!

My understanding is the higher performing dual cores still hold their own, since MAME doesn't use more than two cores anyway. To me, that means in the older procs, i.e. a E8500 or 8600, would still fair well, and they run 64 bit windows good too. I've got a 8500 running 8.1 in my HTPC, and it still holds it's own.

[peterson65]

ok so i pulled the trigger and am switching to 64bit win 7, one question is i have now 144 mame. i am going to compile a 64 bit version, has anything major changed in mame from 144-153? i have all roms correct for 144 . i havent kept up on the mame world for a while so if there are no great improvements i will stick with 144

thanks

[Adultery]

The way MAME sets change, is be willing to bet you won't be happy using an old set. Better run them through ClrMAMEPro our something, or better still, update your set to match your exe.

[peterson65]

will do. thanks

[GeorgeT]

I noticed a difference between MAME 32bit and 64bit when playing NFL Blitz, that's about all I can recall to be honest.

[peterson65]

so I have win 7 64 running, ended up buying the arcadevga 5000 card because soft 15k wouldn't work with windows 7. every thing was good so far until I installed gameex and used my registration file and it doesn't work? I get the nag screen. do I have to get an updated registration for windows 7 64? if so do registered users get a cheaper upgrade to the new coming gameex

thanks

[Draco1962]

Best to PM Tom regarding any registration issues. It is possible he may need to issue you a new one. Thanks!