Amiga.org
Amiga computer related discussion => Amiga Hardware Issues and discussion => Topic started by: dougal on December 07, 2011, 08:37:37 PM
-
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/130611973137?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649#ht_2454wt_1189
Apollo 1240 @ 25Mhz. It is untested, my risk. Am waiting for it to arrive.
If you look at the pics, is that what looks like residue anything to worry about?
Is it easy to add an extras simm slot and overclock to 40 or 50 Mhz without damaging it?
Will i see a huge improvement over my current M-tec 1230 @ 40Mhz with 8Mb ?
I will be installing this in my A1200 desktop.
-
Will i see a huge improvement over my current M-tec 1230 @ 40Mhz with 8Mb ?
Yes, according to Sysinfo it should be a bit more than twice as fast.
-
I have one of these. They feel more than twice as fast as an 030 50MHz. If you are using mainly math operations they fly. Strange the residue is on the processor pins. If it was the battery then I would maybe worry but these were sold new as recently as 2002 I think. It runs at 28MHz (half of 56MHz). I don't know the difference between these 28MHz ones and the ones that sold for a bit more with a higher clock.
-
Great that it is more than twice as fast besides that this is PCMCIA friendly and goes up to 32MB unmodified as opposed to my 030 Mtec with 8MB and PCMCIA unfriendly. :)
Now i hope this card works.
So is the second simm easy to install? My soldering skills are far from perfect.
I am using an A500 standard PSU with my A1200. Is that sufficient for the Apollo or will i have to use some sort of ATX PSU modded for the Amiga?
-
hey dougal, i saw that on ebay, don't worry i wasn't bidding against you! It seems fairly costly for what it is.
I hope the seller was sincere with their claims.
What's the advantage of the 68040 compared to 68030? I'm guessing 68040 is better with maths intensive operations, but i thought 68030 gave optimum compatability with WHDLoad?
-
The Apollo 1240 is a pretty decent acclerator, I used one in my A1200T for a while, well until it died :( (Due to Battery leakage)
I wouldn't have paid so much for one that was not tested/working (as you could buy for £140-160 known working but fingers crossed, lets hope it works fine.
Anyway! As has already been said, around workbench it's twice as fast as a Blizzy 1230, you'll notice it in games like Doom for example and CD Games such as Genetic Species or other 3D Games like Gloom Deluxe. Also emulators and other CPU intensive tasks will be faster/smoother.
Sure, there are some issues with WHDLoad Games, so if you want soley as a WHDLoad machine you are better off with an 030 :)
You'll need pretty decent soldering skills to fit the extra Simm Socket but beware once fitted the Apollo 1240 will no longer fit in a Desktop A1200. even without the Ram in place as the Socket will stop the keyboard fitting into place.
I would suggest using an uprated PSU, Amigakit sell modified ATX PSU's and I have one here that has been ultra reliable.
But overall, indeed - this card is leaps and bounds above the M-Tec 1230, have fun with it and let us know how you get on :afro:
Steve.
-
You don't suppose the residue is from flux?
-
You lucky so and so i was bidding on that also :)
-
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/130611973137?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649#ht_2454wt_1189
Apollo 1240 @ 25Mhz. It is untested, my risk. Am waiting for it to arrive.
If you look at the pics, is that what looks like residue anything to worry about?
Is it easy to add an extras simm slot and overclock to 40 or 50 Mhz without damaging it?
Will i see a huge improvement over my current M-tec 1230 @ 40Mhz with 8Mb ?
I will be installing this in my A1200 desktop.
I don't think it is safe to clock a 25mhz 040 up past 28 or so in a desktop case because of heat.
You may want to see if that card could be upgraded to 060 if you really want speed. I do know that the 060 operates on a lower voltage and generates around the same amount of heat as an 030.
-
Looks similar to the one I'm selling, I wonder if this can be upgraded to 060 as well? If so you got a double bonus!
-
Looks similar to the one I'm selling, I wonder if this can be upgraded to 060 as well? If so you got a double bonus!
Does it have a chip on it that says MACH131? I can see the one dougal bought has mach130. I don't know if that can go beyond 040 unless you can find a mach131 chip. The cool thing is that if you go from 040 25mhz to 060 50mhz, I think you can keep the same clock...
-
You lucky so and so i was bidding on that also :)
ebay isn't about luck, it's about agreeing to pay more than anyone else.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winner's_curse
-
Well done on winning the item :)
-
ebay isn't about luck, it's about agreeing to pay more than anyone else.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winner's_curse
I didn't mean to offend if thats what ive done it was just meant as a little bit of banter.
-
@dougal
Well done, I hope it's all working fine for you. Can't tell what the residue is on yours, but my Blizzard 1260 has had a small amount of residue around the CPU pins since new (about 10 years) with no problems. Most probably leftover flux from the manufacturing process. Anyway, the differences are that the 68040 isn't actually 100% compatible with the 68030, as some functions have changed or have been removed - especially in the FPU. To compensate for this, there's a 68040.library which you need to have installed if you don't already have it, so most software will work fine once this is in place. It's just something to be aware of really, in case you find some software which crashes but worked before on the 68030.
As for overclocking: I wouldn't do it. The 68040 is already a pretty hot chip (the hottest of the 68k range) so clocking it any higher is only asking for trouble...
-
I was watching that one too but the bids got too high before I even made one. Either I'm plain tight or it's an expensive time of year. At least I won my bid on Yoshi's story for N64. :D
Anyway, I hope it works.
-
Aww, Yoshi's Story: A very, very cute game! Missed out on it for my N64, but bought it on the Wii there a little while ago. Tis rather nice and fluffy :)
-
@dougal
Well done, I hope it's all working fine for you. Can't tell what the residue is on yours, but my Blizzard 1260 has had a small amount of residue around the CPU pins since new (about 10 years) with no problems. Most probably leftover flux from the manufacturing process. Anyway, the differences are that the 68040 isn't actually 100% compatible with the 68030, as some functions have changed or have been removed - especially in the FPU. To compensate for this, there's a 68040.library which you need to have installed if you don't already have it, so most software will work fine once this is in place. It's just something to be aware of really, in case you find some software which crashes but worked before on the 68030.
As for overclocking: I wouldn't do it. The 68040 is already a pretty hot chip (the hottest of the 68k range) so clocking it any higher is only asking for trouble...
Thanks. Guess I won't be overclocking it then. My Amiga is mainly used for whdload but I do like the os to be nice and sleek and as good looking as possible and I also want to use os3.9 and unfortunately that is a bit of a challenge with the m-tec as it is PCMCIA unfriendly above 4mb.
-
I don't think it is safe to clock a 25mhz 040 up past 28 or so in a desktop case because of heat.
You may want to see if that card could be upgraded to 060 if you really want speed. I do know that the 060 operates on a lower voltage and generates around the same amount of heat as an 030.
Yes I thought about the 060 thing. But definitely not for now as I'm out of funds.
-
It has a 130 mach chip. IIRC you need a 131 mach chip for an 060 upgrade.
If you need a replacement 25mhz 040, just ask, I have one you can have for postage.
-
I had one of those that I overclocked to 32MHz. Mine had a heatsink and fan on it, though, that one seems to be fan-only.
-
Hmmm...
Well as for WHDLoad compatibility with '040 + '060 processors.
Sure, there are going to be games that refuse to work on your system, but overall WHDload runs a large percentage of games... on both my '060, and '040-based systems.
My A1200 is my 'graphics' Amiga, but I also have some 245 games on the HDD... All work, and no play, and all that... :roflmao:
-
I had the same card back in the day and made a big difference to my Amiga experience, Demos looked great with no frame drop, Doom was a pleasure to play, tinkered a little with NetBSD and even managed a bit of browsing with some IRC and mp3 playing... but I did find some compatibility problems with a lot of older titles, shutting the caches off sometimes helped. The chips run rather hot even at stock speed as they use a higher voltage (5V if I remember correct) and I had to leave the trapdoor cover off. They are double clocked so you will need to bear that in mind if overclocking with regards to which crystal to use... as already mentioned it is currently running at 28mhz which is pretty much the limit for this chip as overclocking these arent in the same league as say an older pentium where you just bung on a bigger heatsink n fan and ramp it up... you could attempt 33mhz but you may start to experience stabilty problems.
-
Well dougal won't you let us know when you get the card and how you get on with it :cool:
-
The card arrived today. Shoved it in the Amiga, switch on and it booted perfectly first time. It has 16Mb fast ram and it is REALLY FAST!! Love it :)
So far all my WhdLoad games work perfectly. :) Me very very happy.
One thing, i noticed that the trap door cover does not seem to fit anymore. Is that normal?
Also, should i be worried about the battery ever leaking and ruining the board?
-
Ah i see what you mean about some games not working... I'll open another thread for that. But most work fine at least.