Amiga.org
Amiga computer related discussion => Amiga Hardware Issues and discussion => Topic started by: ffastback on January 04, 2009, 08:33:51 PM
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I was wondering. Taking into account price vs. performance, with also consideration to how generally available it comes up on the market what is the best bang for the buck card to keep an eye out for. Assuming that the main goal is to run 3.9 on the box with game playing and general application use? My 1200 is totally stock. The Indivision flicker fixer is making me think to finally do some upgrades in general, like maybe an accelerator and a hard drive (as well as the Indivision. Funds are a decent consideration as I have the life changing event of kids on the way going on and already spent money on an order for SAM + 4.1 recently.
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An '060 is probably overkill if you have a SAM coming. A simple 4 meg RAM expander will work if you can find one. A Blizzard 1230 at 50 MHz will probably be fine if you need more than 4 megs. Most software doesn't support more than that.
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if you can find one the best bang for the buck is a blizzard\apollo 1220 with 4 mb ram they always sell cheap..
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@adonay: er, well, on the eBay I had to pay £70 (i think it was) for my Blizz 1220/8mb about 5 weeks ago. That's almost the average price a Blizzard 1230 was going for this time last year. Last time I looked (again, about 5 weeks back) 1230s were going for £150-£170. I actually sold my 030 for £170. God only knows how much 060s are selling for now.
But yeah, having had the entire range of accelerators, I would recommend a 030 - all considered. Especially since you will have the Sam to cover higher Amiga performance requirements.
Unless, of course, you are into modern Amiga demoscene productions. In which case, a 060 is almost essential.
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Any 030 with 8meg or more will be ample for classic Amiga usage if you are planning on getting one of the new SAM Amigas
For me the SAM is a little too steep for now, I am happy using E-Matrix 030 with 32meg fast. I plan on getting a Mediator for higher gfx and better sound.
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arkanoid wrote:
1230s were going for £150-£170. I actually sold my 030 for £170. God only knows how much 060s are selling for now.
maybe you could have scratched £171, are you sure you screwed every penny possible there ?
so far for a 'good deal (http://www.amiga.org/forums/showthread.php?t=39684)' in the 'amiga community' huh ? why didn't you let it go for £100 something if you're so much into community spirit ?
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countzero:
Why did you feel it necessary to bring that sour grape over into this discussion?
I've already been over this with Red, I FIRST offered my card for £105 over at AmiBay - in full knowledge that I could have probably sold it for at least £150. It didn't sell there for over a week (close to two, iirc). I wouldn't have minded selling it cheaper to any of the guys there.
Same goes for my copy of Ralph Babbel's Amiga Guru Book (one of the rarest and most sort after books in the Amiga community). I sold that at cost to a guy who spotted my add on Amibay, which I posted along with the card.
I've sold MANY of my items at cost. It's just sometimes easier to sell on eBay.
And as I continually have to keep repeating, the issue with Red had NOTHING to do with his prices or him selling items on eBay.
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:horse:
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@countzero
If you want to fight with arkanoid why didn't you take it to PM? Or if you had to attack him in public SO BAD, why not on the other thread? Hijacking this thread I started makes you no better than what you think of him if you think he was wrong so bad.
@all
Thanks for the suggestions so far. Much appreciated!
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Having installed a Blizzard 1260 into my 1200, I doubt I'd enjoy going back to an '030 accelerator. If '030's are really going for that much, I'd save up a bit longer and wait for an '060.
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@all
So given what I want to do is processor speed or RAM amount for important? Would an 030 with 8MB be better or worse than an 040 with 4MB (assuming for a sec both configs exist).
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I would take the 030 any time of the day. 040 is faster, but less compatible, eats up lots of power and produces heat. if you're going for 040, saving up for 060 is a better idea really.
030 is really good for classic compatibility and general application use. while it doesn't have as much juice as the 040, it's still good for static webpage browsing (downloads from aminet) and such.
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countzero wrote:
I would take the 030 any time of the day. 040 is faster, but less compatible, eats up lots of power and produces heat. if you're going for 040, saving up for 060 is a better idea really.
030 is really good for classic compatibility and general application use. while it doesn't have as much juice as the 040, it's still good for static webpage browsing (downloads from aminet) and such.
Thanks for the response. Is the 060 as compatible as the 030? I suspect the 060 will be too pricey given what has been said earlier in the thread. The good news for me then is given what you said the 030 gives me what I am looking for which is cool.
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060 is not quite as compatible as the 030, but it's a huge improvement from the 040. Well, actually I have to come across any app that will refuse to run on my 060, but then I don't use it very much, so there may be. I remember reading some threads some while ago about 060 compatibility.
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Just my .02 ...
First, check out BBoAH, look at A1200 accels. I am biased towards '060's, but, yes they are pricey... Depending on the apps. , an '030 w/ 8MB, or better 32MB would do nicely. My dad ran a similar system for DPaint5, PPaint, TuroPrint, for years, with frequent breaks for pinball games
:-D
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hmm, bang for buck? just some fast ram. double your speed for 30£$E...
i managed to get my bliz030 for £45 which was a steal. especially since i've seen some going recently for around £100+!
an 030 is fine for everyday stuff and games, and will be very stable, plus run off a standard PSU.
But start doodling around with photogenics, imageFX, and ray tracing, you'll be wanting more power.
something along the lines of an 040 or 060. once you've booted with an 060, an 030 seems like such a step backwards, you'll be wondering where to shovel the cole in to get it going.
memory. well, 4Mb is good enough for odd bits and pieces, basic stuff, have an IP stack running in the background while having dpaint open and a music player.
8Mb is fine, but you'll find your limits fairly quick.
but then, having said that, great things have been done on machines with less...
16Mb to 32Mb is great. even though not much "classic" software really needs more than that, you always find a use for what you have available. :-D
if i was given the choice between a 4Mb 040, and an 8Mb 030, and no chance of an upgrade, i'd go with the more memory. but i can't think of any 040 boards that are that limited. even the PPS040 card for the A500 had 8Mb on board.
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that depends.
Good and old games without RTG : BZ 1230 model 3 or 4
Killing machine : BZ 1260 PPC 300 Mhz + SCSI
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I went from a GVP jaws II 030@40mhz to an apollo 040@25mhz and didnt notice any vast improvement, then i went to an 040@40 and that difference i did notice.
From a bulk standard a1200 to just adding ram makes a massive difference though.