I don't think an i7 is required or even gets you that much over cheaper processors. I did some benchmarks a while back comparing a Pentium G3258 to the i7-4790K both overclocked to 4.5GHz...
https://www.mameworld.info/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Number=371718
The most important thing is raw clock speed. Multiple cores also benefit some drivers that can take advantage of them. Also, Intel CPUs generally have better performance than AMD CPUs in MAME.
If you're going to build a new system to run MAME the best CPU choice right now is this one for $170 on Amazon...
Intel Core i3-8350K Coffee Lake Quad-Core 4.0 GHz LGA 1151 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0759FWJDK
It's already clocked at 4.0GHz so you don't need an expensive motherboard capable of overclocking. The stock speed is respectable. Though, since it's an unlocked "K" processor, you could certainly try to overclock it if you desire.
GroovyMAME support forum on BYOAC
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