1) CWSDPMI

For anyone using MAME in pure DOS, you'll need the CWSDPMI utility to go with it. There are two versions of it knocking about and it depends on how much memory you have in your box for which one to use, a lot of boards post the wrong version if at all. Version 3 is designed for systems with UP TO 64mb RAM and Version 4 is designed for 64mb RAM plus. Obviously, if you're playing big neogeo games, having the right version should speed up the loading time/disk swapping a lot. You can get both versions (with documentation) from JJones or the Useful Files section

2) General speed

Remember that setk6 utility on Daves? Well theres a utility called PowerTweak that does the same and more, it will definately speed up mame and all general cpu hogging programs just by tweaking various cpu/bios/gfx settings. 30 day trial downloable from JJones or the Useful Files section. Make sure to watch out not to alter your PCI soundcard settings in a negative way!

Thanks again to JJones for these tips :-)