Amiga.org
Amiga computer related discussion => Amiga Hardware Issues and discussion => Topic started by: Effy on December 03, 2003, 09:55:46 PM
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Like I said to a close norwegian friend of mine, my life is like a constant flow of waves of which Amiga was a big one and pc a smaller one, but now the pc wave seems to fade away and a new Amiga one is coming. I recently sold my MK2+scsi 68060 card and got a 68040/25 card + 180 euro in return. Two days ago I sold my Picasso IV card to a belgian guy for 143 and a Xsurf card to another belgian guy in Brussels for 50 euro. Now I have got a A4000D with 16 Mb Fast and kick 3.1. Yesterday I managed to squeeze a 6 Gb Fujitsu harddrive under a AOpen 48x12x50 CDRW. Nothing installed yet, no time. Now I seem to be attrackted to the offers on the Elbox site. Until December 7 the porto is free !! For 239,95 euro I can get myself a Mediator 4000D so I can use one of my Voodoo pci cards and a Soundblaster soundcard. Okay, it will still be an original 68040 (without cooler) but the Voodoo card will speed up a lot of things, won't it ?? And I can still use a Zorro card if I need to,
for example a Powerflyer 4000 or a scsi card (that I don't have yet) ...
Am I thinking correct or am I making somewhere a big mistake :-?
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If you buy a Mediator from Elbox, I will donate my SB128 to you!
The more the merrier....
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mediator will indeed speed your system up.
my mediator is my best investment since i got my 060 in 1995...
i also have a powerflyer from elbox...
and yes you can use ZORRO cards aswell if u want to..
cheers
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One question. Is it possible to use a half length Zorro II card in a slot that is in line with a half length PCI card? (assuming they would fit?).
BTW, I already have a SB128, anyone care to donate a Mediator? :-D
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Mediator voor A4000D without fast turboboard ...
Ah, switching languages mid-sentence, that's what I like to see! ;-)
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@adolescent
Yes it is possible to fit a halflength Zorro card behind a PCI card... of cause there's always some cards that don't fit into what I call standard PCI formfactor either being think enough that it take up 2 PCI slots or long that it don't support halflengt Zorro card behind it but the majority of PCI cards are luckily not in this category. :-D
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Cyberus : major mistake of me, I always tend to watch my language but it seems that my brain ####ed up one single moment. I apologize, please forgive me dad, shall not do it again ...
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Hmm, I won't be so forgiving next time!
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Thanx dad !! And thank you all for your comments. I shall now order a Mediator 4000D for my A4000 ...
I thought of getting a Powerflyer 4000 too but I have read that a standard A4000 ide port can make a CDRW work up to 8 speed which is still very acceptable to me ...
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Mediator 4000D just ordered using my Visa card ...
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Cool, let us know how you get on with it - I myself have a Mediator 4000Di sitting here, that I haven't installed yet - need to remove the battery from the mobo, update the ROMS and buster - that's a point, anyone know where I can get the latest buster rev from???
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Hi Effy
ooops . . too late :-)
I would like to suggest you (if you can afford) the A4000 Mediator with its backplane for a cheep tower case. (no needs to purchase a priced PowerTower even if it is a good choise IMHO)
Beleive me, the A4000 in a tower, fixes a lot of small problems related to the space available, stability and coolings but as already said . . .too late :-)
Ciao
-edit- by the way . . .a Mediator and a PowerFlyer with a 040@25Mhz card!!! mhhh not enought IMHO
As soon as i'll receive my new 68040@33Mhz (40Mhz mask), i'll tell you if you can upgrade your CPU card. (only 12,90 EUR from Vesalia)
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-edit- by the way . . .a Mediator and a PowerFlyer with a 040@25Mhz card!!! mhhh not enought IMHO
As soon as i'll receive my new 68040@33Mhz (40Mhz mask), i'll tell you if you can upgrade your CPU card. (only 12,90 EUR from Vesalia)
I have to agree you won't use a PCI Board to it's full extend with a mere A3640. In your setup the bus is not the bottleneck, ZIII could handle more then an A3640 could dish out so I don't expect do see more performance from a VooDoo3 the from a ZIII graphicscard.
Ths Problem with the A3640 is that is does not have it's own RAM, so it has to use the A4000 onboard RAM wich is terribly slow. On some occasions an A1200 with a Blizzard 1230 with Fastram runs circles around an A4000 with an A3640.
To make it short, just get ANY accelerator for the A4000 with could take it's own RAM and performance will increase signifficantly.
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Hi Lemmink
yes but he has sold yet his CS 060 :-(
Strange decision IMHO (no offence Effy but really strange)
Ciao :-)
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Framiga : no offense taken :-)
If I install the Mediator then I'm ready for that Shark when it comes out :-)
Do I need a special buster to fit the Mediator :-? And what's that about the battery :-?
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It just got to be good --- You just made me order one too... *
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Effy wrote:
If I install the Mediator then I'm ready for that Shark when it comes out :-)
Fingers crossed it does - I hope it does though! Imagine running AOS4 on an A4000 (c'mon start your flaming guys - negativity, blah, not supported, blah, vapourware, blah, blah)
Do I need a special buster to fit the Mediator :-? And what's that about the battery :-?
Is the battery furry around the contacts? A leaking battery can ruin your motherboard - replace it ASAP. I still need to do this myself.
Best way of desoldering? I always used one of those fibre things you drag across molten joints when I was at uni....are solder suckers expensive?
Let me know how you get on Effy, I hope to have more time to get my A4000 up and running over Christmas...
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Hejsa Tweek!
Velkommen til Amiga Mediator og Amiga.org
Det styrer... it roolz :)
Povl
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Hi Effy
mmhhh! interesting question . . .i think that should be better to have a SBuster rev.11 (16 MB/sec throughput against of the 4 MB/sec of the rev.9) but i haven't a Mediator ATM, so :-)
Which SB rev. do you have?
Ciao
PS- i had originally the SB9 and when i've upgraded to rev.11, i haven't seen any particular speedup with my GFX card (CV64) . . . .anyway with Mediator could be useful to have it. Check on Elbox website.
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I am afraid that I have got SuperBuster9 ... :-x is this time to get depressed :-?
About the battery. It was leaking a bit but not much on the motherboard, so I just cleaned it carefully (Karcher high pressure steam :-P ) and now it still runs as fast as it did before so I guess I didn't do anything wrong ...
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I am afraid that I have got SuperBuster9 ... is this time to get depressed
Dont worry the buster is only for Zorro cards, not PCI. The MEdiator will handle all that for you. I used my A3000 with a Buster 7 and a Mediator for a long time. I only just put a Buster 11 in and only because I ot it free. You will love using the Mediator. It makes things so noce in your Amiga!!!
One thing to remember! A lot of people have lockup problems with 10/100 speed Ethernet cards. I figured out the problem at last on mine. I just used MiamiDx and then connected my Amiga and cable modem to a router. I went into the router settings and made the DHCP server lease settings never expire. I havent had a lockup since.
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@Acill
well i'm happy for Effy but . . .through what do you think that the data stream of a PCI card on a Mediator pass through until the mobo :-)
Ciao
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So can someone confirm the answer to the buster question?
I have just got myself a Mediator, and I have Buster Rev 9.
I have a Fastlane z3 controller, but the other cards I hope to use will be PCI
And which gfx card ahould I get? Should I get the one with the most memory, since I read somewhere that the CPU can use its faster memory....
Cheers
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Acill : if that is true then I have no worries,
Cyberus : read this question (http://www.amiga.org/forums/showthread.php?t=5320) that I asked ... the answer is still not clear, some say you get more mem and other say you don´t ...
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Davs Povl!
Det var nu ikke min føste posting. Jeg har bare ikke haft internet de sidste to år (jeg flyttede fra de gamle... :), så amiga.org har åbenbart (med rette) ment, at jeg har været for inaktiv.
Nu er den oppe at køre med webspeed <-> linux <-> Amiga, så jeg er igang igen.
Når det så er sagt, så glææææder jeg mig da til min Mediator kommer med posten!
-Tweek
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And if we don't speak Danish?
Ok, I understand the words "This is my first posting", but the rest?
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Ok, I understand the words "This is my first posting", but the rest?
He is asking if anyone wants his old unused Amiga PPC card for free, which he is about to bin if no one is willing to take it.
OK, I was joking. No clue what he is saying, but I think I've recently bought a CV643D card off him, if that's the same Povl from Denmark.
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So can someone confirm the answer to the buster question
Once again a Mediator will work just fine on the older buster chips. I used mine on a Rev 7 buster for two years. The buster is only a Zorro card issue and then only on a few ZIII cards.
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and I bet its an issue with the fastlane then.....grrr :-(
will check it out...
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Let me guess, the Fastlane is the scsi card that allows extra Simm memory ??? Bummer for me ...
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tweeks old Amiga.org account was removed due to innactivity (he has been away for2 years due to no internet)
thats what he said...
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So two new Mediator owners from this thread...
We need more of these kind of threads!
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we sure do...., but then again....if we had...other ELBOX haters would have stepped in and ruined it..
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The Elbox haters can do what they like, but in the end it all boils down to the fact that the Mediator is by far the best PCI solution for Amiga! I would never ger rid of mine!!! the only think I would like to see more of is 3rd party drivers for it. At least a IDE controller and ,aybe some SCSI cards too would be a welcomed adition to the cards we can use now.
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Acill : that's why I was thinking first of buying a Powerflyer Z3 as well together with the Mediator 4000D, but I didn't buy it after all because the standard ide port will do for a while, also because a CDRW works too on the standard port ... and hoping of course that soon a SCSI pci card can be used ... I've got one Adaptec ready for it ...
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Hi Effy
Vesalia has just reply to my mail about the 68040@33Mhz CPU for 12,90 EUR
"> -is those 68040 CPU pin to pin compatible with the one installed in a CyberStorm
> card? (PGA ceramic)
Yes, it is. :)
> -it is a full FPU-MMU 68040 model?
Yes, it is. :)
> . . . and if it is possible, the exact model number.
The processor's exact number is XC68040RC33M.
Regards
Vesalia Computer
- Bestellannahme -"
Perfect!
Ciao
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Framiga : what has this got to do with my computer ?? I have got a humble 68040/25 and don't feel the need (yet) to have it replaced with a 33 Mhz one because that will probably require another crystal, not ??
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@haymiggan
Maybe 3. I have a day (or so) to decide what I want to do and still get the free shipping deal. Here's what I'm pondering, maybe someone can push me in the correct direction.
Current System:
A4000 2M CHIP/16M FAST RAM
CyberStorm Mk2 060/66MHz w/128M FAST RAM
A4091 w/2 x 4G SCSI HD
HW (I already own):
Voodoo 5500 PCI
SB128
HW (I'd plan on getting):
Internal SD/FF
PCI NIC
Option#1
Mediator 4000di
Pros:
Cool Original Case
Cheaper upfront cost
Cons:
Lack of expansion (both PCI and drive bays)
Extra cooling needed (custom)
Extra power needed (I think)
Option #2
Mirage 4000 Pro (with Mediator)
Pros:
More expansion room (both PCI and drive bays)
Comes with power supply
Cons:
Cost (about $150 USD more)
Case is a bit ugly :-D
Please, someone convince me one way or the other. Currently I use my A1200/060 much more than the A4000. But, if I got a mediator and a nice video card + sd/ff that would probably change things quite a bit.
Thanks!
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Get a Mirage 4000 Pro and be done with it. You get a bundle deal for a tower case + mediator + standard beefy PSU + lots of space + no heat problems. End of story.
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Cyberus wrote:
Mediator voor A4000D without fast turboboard ...
Ah, switching languages mid-sentence, that's what I like to see! ;-)
Si! That uns gillar!
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Ok, that's one vote for the Mirage (from a Mirage owner that's a good thing). Do you happen to have pics of the case?
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I'd have to team up with x56h34 on this one...
Will probably save you with a lot of hazzle!
Plus you're getting the best out of the free-shipping offer :)
You can always spray away that boring beige colour!
One day I'm gonna take a picture of my neon-red / metallic purple decorated Elbox-Tower :-D
Super cool with 3 buyers from this thread... but 4 would be better....
and Elbox.... dish out some new stuff soon... ! :-D
Did I say Shark or maybe a MPEG card???
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OK, I'll post some pictures of the case and the insides this weekend.
The case is not the prettiest design in the world, but there is plenty of space in it and it sure beats the standard A4000D if you plan to expand your system heavily.
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@ Cyberus and others:
Sorry for posting in Danish. Povl should have had it personally.
Ok, I understand the words "This is my first posting", but the rest?
btw. it translates to "That was not my first posting ... [blabla]" refering to Povls big welcome (not that I didn't like it -- but still... *
The rest is --- as lempkee says --- the explaination why the number of postings was reset.
I hope that'll do it...
-Tweek
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Don´t wanna get a Mirage4000 tower, too expensive. I only wanna use a Voodoo5, SB128, networkcard, and maybe a Powerflyer 4000 Z3 with only one big 40 Gb hd and a CDRW 48x12x50. Now why shouldn´t this fit into my humble A4000 D ???
That´s a contra for the Mirage :-D
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It fits, but remember:
A4000D is tight with space = bad airflow
A4000D has a custom power supply rated at only around 135W or so.
Is it gonna be powerful enough for Mediator + Voodoo + NIC card +
SB128?
Mirage 4000 is just a bit more expensive and you get A LOT more for
it.
Think about it. Expensive and rare Amiga hardware exposed to more heat
and weaker power supply.
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@Acill
The main problem with the older busters was that they didn't work as good
in an A4000 as they did in the A3000. Something to with the A4000 demanding
better signal quality or draining more current from these signal lines.
So your experience does not help here.
Bout the Mediator being PCI-solution, all three possibilties have problems
so big that non of them could be advised with a clear mind.
My advice (specially for those that are still 68k-only):
Keep your miggy "real" (only Zorro).
Use (Win)UAE, will give you all a 68k-miggy can (and since lately even W3D-compatible).
Make a clean cut and buy a Pegasos (or that other board which I can't rememberatm :-P ).
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by Effy on 2003/12/5 18:23:21
Framiga : what has this got to do with my computer ?? I have got a humble 68040/25 and don't feel the need (yet) to have it replaced with a 33 Mhz one because that will probably require another crystal, not ??
quite and simple answer:
You wish to OC a 25 Mhz CPU to 35 or more Mhz . .right?
With those Vesalia 68040 cpu and for only 12,90EUR, you can OC without problem untill 40 Mhz (it is a 40 Mhz mask one) and beleive me . . . with a Mediator AND a PowerFlyer installed, you will need it :-)
Ciao
PS- we will see as soon as you wiil install the 2 new items and . . .forget to run all those items with the standard A4000 PSU (145W), as "x56h34" has already said.
IMHO the best option is still a Mediator 4000 with its backplane and a cheap tower case. (if you can't but a PowerTower4000)
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Option #2
Mirage 4000 Pro (with Mediator)
Pros:
More expansion room (both PCI and drive bays)
Comes with power supply
Cons:
Cost (about $150 USD more)
Case is a bit ugly
You think the Mirage Pro is ugly? I like it quite a bit. (And it's loads nicer to look at compared to the other two towers.. They have more room but took a tumble down the ugly tree.)
I like the power supply on the mirage pro.. It's atx. If you should ever need/want a newer supply, you don't need to find an old at supply and hack it to make it work like my 1200's tower. :-)
Another good thing about the Mirage is if you ever want to use a full length zorro card, you can probably just move the pci cards a bit. With the desktop model, you might not have a choice.
In my system right now, I've got a phonepak, Powerflyer Z3, Voodoo3 2000, SB128, 10/100 NIC and a Spider.. With quite a bit of room to spare.
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Hi Madgun68
. . . ugly, i don't know . . .it depends on the personal tastes but cheaper in the quality of construction and materials, for sure.
By the way my PowerTower4000 (one of the latest) have an ATX PSU too.
Ciao
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remember guys... amiga hw is like a pet :)
68k , ppc , PCI is stuff we all need :)
anyway for psu's in the a4000D , yep its small so i would advice anyone to upgrade that to 200 or 300watt, i blew one motherboard this way (because i didnt upgrade psu... )
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Hi Lempkee
if an Amiga is like a pet, mine ATM is a "sloth" :-) (bràdipo in italian)
Ciao
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I have a desktop A4000 and got a Mediator Di second hand because it was cheap
In hindsight I might have got a tower solution, but I do also like the idea of keeping the original case
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With those Vesalia 68040 cpu and for only 12,90EUR, you can OC without problem untill 40 Mhz (it is a 40 Mhz mask one)
I doubt that you could overclock an A3640 to 40 MHz, as it isn`t just the procesor that has to play along it`s all the other logic on this board too. For 33 MHz I would give a 95% chance that it will work. Remember, unlike a 25MHz CS MKII all the other pieces on this board were only designed to work with 25MHz. Depending on how much the actual parts exceeded the produktion specification they could take more, but for 40 MHz I only see a 1% chance at best.
And then again what it the point in overclocking an A3640 as it is the slow RAM-access to the MOBO that is holding it down, so increasing the clockrate will not make it that much faster.
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Do you happen to have pics of the case?
I posted a pic of the inside of my A3000 Mirage case all set up here not to long ago. I have more if anyone is interested? I'll post them to the archive.
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hi Lemmink
i agree for the A3640 that was planned to work @25 Mhz..
But i have an A4000 CPU board that was sold in 3 models: (Hardital PowerChanger).
Mine @28 Mhz
another one at 33 Mhz
and another at 40 Mhz.
All with the same project (i had spoken personally with the Ing Bianco, the planner here in Milan).
FYI even if my board HASN'T onboard ram (like the A3640), the speed increment is proportional
with the clock speed (HD T-rate and even in ram access). The only problem that still is the hi latency of the ram.
Ciao
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But i have an A4000 CPU board that was sold in 3 models: (Hardital PowerChanger).
All right the PowerChanger is a complete different talk, it was designed with 40 MHz in mind. Sure pumping up the clock will speed up performance but the gain isn`t as big as it would have been with a card with its own RAM.
I don`t know how it is in Italy, but here in Germany it is no Problem getting a 040 CS MK II for under 100 EUR
OK about 20 EUR for overclocking your board will be cheaper, but does that make sense today unless its your test `n toy Amiga ;-)