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Amiga computer related discussion => Amiga Hardware Issues and discussion => Topic started by: bob808 on May 02, 2006, 12:31:51 PM
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I have an A1200 and would like to put in an accellerator and beef up the processing power and RAM.
I still have the A1200 in the original wedge casing, and if possible would prefer to keep it this way (for now atleast).
Can anyone recommend a good accelerator that will let me use OS 3.9 with good performance, and run a number of titles with WHDLoad?
Also - where is the best place to buy are there a number of stores (I came across amigakit and amigadeals on the web) or is it better to look for bargains on the likes of ebay?
Cheers
bob808
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blizard 1230 IV
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go for the blizzard1260 and that blizzard addon. so you can fill it up with two 64mb, and have 128mb ram in total...
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Avandia heart attack (http://classactionsettlements.org/)
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I'll second the Blizzard 1230 MK4. Good card for a gaming machine. If you only want to use the computer to play WHDLoad, there is no need for OS3.9.
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030 is tooooooooo slooooooooooooow
030 has practically no cache
so its very very sloooow
The fastest instructions on an 030 take 2 cycles
The fastest instructions on an 040 take 1 cycle
The fastest instructions on an 060 take .5 cycles
although predicted branches take approx 0 cycles
The answer to your question is very simple:
Check how much money you have
and get the best accellerator that you can get for that price.
I recommend an 060
but if you are poor then you could try an 040
p.s. 030 sux for web browsing
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I have a 1230 Mk4 which will be for sale very soon.
Honest opinion is that it's more than adequate for OS3.9, and WHDLoad games run very smoothly.
It's not as bad as the last guy makes out. It does very well considering its specs.
Web browsing is a little slow, but there's no real point in doing that unless your Amiga is fully expanded with a graphics card anyway. If all you're going to do is play games and run the odd desktop app, it makes sense to save some money.
FWIW, it does the job. It's served me well to this day for about 8 years and never failed me once. I even have the box and manual somewhere.
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i would go for a card with a 68040 @ 40 mhz, an 060 is way overpriced and the 040 is fast enough for all except the most demanding tasks such as decoding movies and mp3's.
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"go for the blizzard1260 and that blizzard addon. so you can fill it up with two 64mb, and have 128mb ram in total..."
You can fill it up even with two 128 MB simms... = 256 MB total.
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I had a 040/25MHz on a BPPC with a BVision and I found it dogslow for browsing.
Also a 030 allegedly should have less compatibility problems when it comes to running hardware banging games.
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Seriously, why not match the card with the demand the original poster comes with??
OS3.9 needs a 020 CPU, and some fast ram. WHDLoad needs Kickstart 2.0 (is it possible to use WHDLoad under 1.3??) and 4 MB fast ram for most games, and 32 MB fast ram for any WHDLoad game.
Why bother with a 040 or a 060? Soo much power, and not even used for these purposes? A 040@40 in an A1200 needs seriously cooling, and if used in a desktop A1200 it will be total carbage. A 060 is good, but quite pricy, but the speed the card delivers isn't used for WHDLoad, but only for some libraries under OS3.9.
Even a Blizzard 1220/4 would cover the ram requirements for most WHDLoad games, but the Blizzard 1230 is easier to get hold of, and if needed, the card can get the SCSI add on installed. Max ram without SCSI add on is 128 MB, so using the SCSI add on for a memory upgrade alone would be insane.
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if u plan just to play games, get a 030 accell... no need for anything more + the compatibillity is better in some cases...
I know 'cause I used a 1200 + 030/28 + 8MB Ram with whdload+os3.9 ... everything was great!
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Another vote for the Blizard 1230 IV. Great compatibility with almost all floppy games, and everything I've tried with whdload works no problem. If you must, you can press F2 as you switch the amiga on and the whole card is deactivated until you restart.
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rare_j wrote:
If you must, you can press F2 as you switch the amiga on and the whole card is deactivated until you restart.
no you don't, you have to press the ''2'' button for this :-)
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amije wrote:
rare_j wrote:
If you must, you can press F2 as you switch the amiga on and the whole card is deactivated until you restart.
no you don't, you have to press the ''2'' button for this :-)
There you go - it's so compatible I even forgot what the 'disable' key is - never have to use it! :cheers:
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d0pefish - when would you be selling, and for how much - send me a PM.
Thanks
bob808
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I shall also vote for the Blizzard 1230IV if all he's going to do is games.
Most important though is having fast RAM. I did a small, unscientific test (as in just a rough idea) with a small prime number program compiled under GCC 3.4 (I think) on OS3.0 and simply adding fast RAM to an A1200 gave it a huge boost. Slightly more than a 50MHz 030 could alone (as in chip RAM only). The card I used was just a RAM expansion board, still using the A1200s 14MHz EC020.
The 030 plus fast ram was a lot faster still
Prime numbers from 1 20001, displaying each prime as it went (I timed it with a stopwatch):
A1200 Stock: 1m21s
A1200 4MB FAST RAM: 57s
A1200 030 50MHz Chip RAM only: 59s
A1200 030 50MHz 16MB FAST RAM: 38s (as far as I can remember)
So I think that if you was really on a budget and couldn't even stretch to a Blizzard 1230IV, just adding Fast RAM will give you a much quicker machine.
Still, it will be interesting to see what an 040/25 makes of this when I get my BPPC soon :-) I've also just downloaded vbcc and am going to try m68k and later PPC from that. For a laugh!
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Hiya :-)
Thanks for the interest in my card. Two people in half a day and it was only a quiet little mention in this thread! :-)
I'll be selling the 1230-IV in about a week's time, when my new Amiga gets here.
It doesn't have the optional FPU co-processor but I have it loaded up with 16mb of RAM, which I'll include in the sale.
I've already found the inner box (never had the outer sleeve) but I think I've lost the little sheet of instructions. Nevertheless it's dead simple to install, and like someone said above all you really need to know about it is the "2" key which disables it when you need extra compatibility.
It's an original phase5 model.
One minor thing - I think the clock battery is dead. It isn't holding the time settings; but I'll get it checked and maybe try and source a replacement before I sell it.
Like I said, I've had 2 people interested already. If I get any more interest, I might have to stick it on eBay for simplicity's sake.
I'm not really too certain about its value but if you can make me an offer I can't refuse, maybe I could reserve it for you. :-D
Any questions, please PM me. :-)
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doctorq is right about WHDLOAD. I have an A1200 with 4 MB fast mem (GVP A1208). It does run 98% of the WHDLOAD Installed games. I tried to run OS 3.9, but I got an out of memory error with the backdrop. You need at least 6 MB of fastmem to run OS 3.9.
It was a bit slow running on an 68020 CPU, but it works.
The best card you could buy, is a Blizzard 1230 IV.
I have a Blizzard 1260 with 128 MB, but you don't need it for playing most of WHDLOAD games.
A Blizzard 1230 IV can play mp3 at low quality and surfing the internet with AGA works wel, but a little slow.
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or perhaps a Blizzard 1220, which has a 020/28 and 4MB fast ram AFAIR... that would be budget price!
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Ofcourse it depends on what features you look for. But when you keep scsi out of the equation I'd say any 030 accelerator BUT the blizzard 1230.
Because everybody recommends blizzard they are overpriced. Other good accellerators are forgotton because of this. But I must say; Blizzards are those with the best reputation.
Myself, I have a taifun 1230@50 here and it usually goes for less then what a blizzard usually goes for. Just because it is less famous (lesser demand). It is PCMCIA friendly. Can take 32MB, generally more then adequate. And there is, if you can find one, a scsi enabled one.
I advise you to check websites for information about an accelerator if you can find one cheap. Does it have what you want it to. How well is it known; ask specifically for that type or else everybody starts recommending blizzards again (it has become a habit ;-) ).
As for OS3.9 I wouldn't do so if I would't have had an Apollo 1260 here.
Good luck.
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Update:
The 1230-IV is now reserved for bob808 after a good offer.
Thanks guys, and thanks bob808. :-)
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I;ve got a Blizzard 1260 (16MB RAM) and SCSI addon (128MB RAM) - pics here:
http://craigwp.gallery.netspace.net.au/Console-Magazines/DSC01046
http://craigwp.gallery.netspace.net.au/Console-Magazines/DSC01048
http://craigwp.gallery.netspace.net.au/Console-Magazines/DSC01053
Should I split this or sell it altogther?
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Any opinions about Microbotis M1230 XA?
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I've got a 1230XA 030/50Mhz in my A1200 - works fine but the RAM seems a bit picky.