To Vampire or not

[Iggy]

wtf? jens forgot to mention that it will be slow as hell and people are climbing the walls? i doubt that.  dont really remember customers being disappointed with this gimmick as much as audience commenting on every development of apollo core or vampire, be it the raam amount it comes with. which is actually a good sign.

Not so much that its slow, as they simply haven't been able to get it to work.

And a lot of my commentary on the Vampire project is related to my lack of understanding about how separate the Apollo team and the Vampire team are.

All the hype from Gunnar doesn't help, or the editing of threads destroying their continuity. But, long term this particular FPGA project could do a lot of good.

Although...its still not going to replace my MorphOS hardware. :hammer:

[Iggy]

I'm actually an 68K fanatic, which by default makes me a fan of the Amiga, but "beloved" might be an exaggeration for my attachment to the design.

So your information, at least to me, has been rather encouraging.

Plus, the Apollo work can definitely be used in other projects, so its of added interest to me.

Thanks for clearing things up.

[Iggy]

Really?  Isn't that common sense?  Why buy a product for what you think it might be in the future?  Buy something for what it is at time of purchase, otherwise wait.

Ridiculous excuse. We are constantly told what it will do in the future, but "don't buy it for that".

Gunnar has made several requests for people to assist with the FPU on Apollo forum, but those calls has always been left unanswered.

That doesnt invalidate your desire to have FPU, but no response doesnt encourage the them to change their priorities. Long to-do list and limited resorces.

Gunnar has claimed it is for the most part done.
Again, thing claim is an excuse.

Another tidbit with actual FPU benchmarks:
https://blog.alb42.de/?s=fpu

+1

 As in, YES, it DOES make a big difference, guys.

[Iggy]

Absolutely not ridiculous, and not an excuse....

Yes it is BOTH, and as a "drama queen", I haven't bought one yet.
Further, while you and Niding my both be unapologetic fanboys, its pretty easy to poke holes in your statements.

Gunnar didn't need other programmers or code to test an fpu, there are plenty of available packages that use floating point routines already in existence.

If he's having trouble getting it done, just admit it.
Excuses about priorities or statements about the current purchasers are merely obfuscation.

And, as Niding admitted, its obviously a useful feature, as even with its higher clock speed, a Vampire takes MUCH longer to perform fpu commands via emulation.

[Iggy]

Priority is the reason.  With tons of users clamoring for AGA support and native display over HDMI, plus the drive to release a standalone product, why would he focus on an FPU which only a handful of users need?  Especially when they are selling them as fast as they can make them, why would you expect them to deviate from their current path?

They are focusing on what they, and most users, consider most important first.

Handful of users? FPU capability would have utility for ALL users.
Although I will admit AGA has appeal, certainly more than new multimedia instructions or 16 bit sound (both features that aren't supported by ANY existing software unless you consider NG software).

[Iggy]

Hi Iggy,

So where do we find these existing routines for FPU ?

Seriously?
In many MP3 players, a few video games I can think of (like ClickBoom's port of Quake), most 3D graphic software...
If Gunnar is having a problem finding packages that can use fpu routines, he isn't trying very hard.

[Iggy]

So many speculations here....
Please, just wait that team can focus on this FPU before so much discussions.

OK, I can wait.
I'm not sure how Kolla feels about it (having already made his purchase).
One thing I do hope, is that they will not forego legacy compatibility.

That would, in my opinion, reduce the value of the device.