Xeon 56 Core 1.9GHz for MAME/Multi-Monitor Shmup Setup?

[rojop64664]

Hey all, I'm planning a monster cab build that will run a massive array of MAME and modern shmups, potentially driving multiple displays for a panoramic view. I'm looking at some decommissioned server hardware and found a deal on a Xeon Platinum series CPU with 56 cores at 1.90GHz https://serverorbit.com/cpus-and-proces ... re/1-90ghz.

I know single-core performance is king for most emulation, but I'm curious about this chip's potential for my specific use case:

Heavy Multitasking: The idea is to run the main game on one screen, have a secondary monitor for diagnostics/streaming, and perhaps even host a game server in the background. Would all these cores help keep everything buttery smooth by isolating processes, or would the low clock speed hurt MAME's performance too much?

Modern Shmups: For newer, well-threaded PC shmups (like M2's ShotTriggers ports or some Touhou projects), could this many cores provide a tangible benefit, or are they still mostly reliant on a few fast cores?

The Obvious Drawback: The clock speed is a major red flag for emulation. I'm aware of the "cycle king" philosophy. Is this chip's base clock simply too low to be viable, even with its massive core count? Does the architecture allow for a decent all-core turbo that might make it more feasible?

Basically, is this a potential powerhouse for a highly parallelized setup or just a power-hungry space heater that would struggle with the emulators I care about most?

Thanks for the wisdom!

[mrchief]

boost to all cores is 2.8, boost to single core is 4.8. 1-2 Core should be alright to emulate MAME.

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en ... tions.html

how many stations you plan to make?

1GPU = 4 monitors

There are motherboards that can support 7 GPU cards.

And you will need an audio interface with many outputs

[Josh128]

Heavy Multitasking: The idea is to run the main game on one screen, have a secondary monitor for diagnostics/streaming, and perhaps even host a game server in the background. Would all these cores help keep everything buttery smooth by isolating processes, or would the low clock speed hurt MAME's performance too much?

What kind of "deal" did you find on this thing? Is it virtually free or something? I ask because nothing in the use case you mentioned would require anything more than 6 or 8 performance cores, which you can get on any modern Intel or AMD platform for very little. Only very specific game drivers in MAME actually make use of more than 1 thread (such as the Atari Seattle / Vegas Voodoo Graphics based arcade drivers by Aaron Giles) and even those they are basically limited to a few threads for the most part.

https://wiki.mamedev.org/index.php/FAQ:Performance

In MAME, clock speed is king for 99.9% of all games. Unless the hardware you are getting is virtually free, an AMD 9700X or Intel Core Ultra 265K should destroy it for MAME perf plus the additional tasks you look to do. You could even go last gen AMD 7700X or Intel 14700K and still be better off.

[spmbx]

That xeon will also use stupid amounts of energy and require insane cooling. It makes absolutely no sense in this scenario.