Amiga.org

Amiga computer related discussion => Amiga Hardware Issues and discussion => Topic started by: lassie on August 23, 2012, 06:17:05 PM

Title: Amiga graphics card
Post by: lassie on August 23, 2012, 06:17:05 PM
Hey i been thinking what does a Graphics card in Amiga do? Do it give games better picture and more colour? or is it more for special made progarms.
Title: Re: Amiga graphics card
Post by: Ral-Clan on August 23, 2012, 06:22:05 PM
http://lmgtfy.com/?q=amiga+rtg+graphics+card
Title: Re: Amiga graphics card
Post by: lassie on August 23, 2012, 06:30:32 PM
Quote from: ral-clan;704810
http://lmgtfy.com/?q=amiga+rtg+graphics+card


Thanks :)
Title: Re: Amiga graphics card
Post by: Ral-Clan on August 23, 2012, 06:31:08 PM
Hey Lassie,

You seem like a new Amiga user.  I only say that because you've posted a lot of questions lately with some fairly legitimate fundamental questions.

There's an awful lot of great resources out there already that may already have the exact answers you are seeking.  For instance, the Big Book of Amiga Hardware, AmigaWiki, etc.

Google can help you find many of these answers:

Quote from: ral-clan;704810
http://lmgtfy.com/?q=amiga+rtg+graphics+card

Also, the "search" function here at Amiga.org can return a treasure trove of past threads on many of these fundamental topics.  I'm sure we've discussed a lot of these probably a half a dozen times or more over the years.

Good luck with your Amiga exploration!  Have fun!
Title: Re: Amiga graphics card
Post by: lassie on August 23, 2012, 06:39:16 PM
Quote from: ral-clan;704812
Hey Lassie,

You seem like a new Amiga user.  I only say that because you've posted a lot of questions lately with some fairly legitimate fundamental questions.

There's an awful lot of great resources out there already that may already have the exact answers you are seeking.  For instance, the Big Book of Amiga Hardware, AmigaWiki, etc.

Google can help you find many of these answers:



Also, the "search" function here at Amiga.org can return a treasure trove of past threads on many of these fundamental topics.  I'm sure we've discussed a lot of these probably a half a dozen times or more over the years.

Good luck with your Amiga exploration!  Have fun!


Hi i have a lot of Amigas, but i must admit i do not know much about them. But i will search some more here on amiga.org and see if i can find some answers and i will try that Big book of Amiga hardware also :)
Title: Re: Amiga graphics card
Post by: danbeaver on August 23, 2012, 06:56:58 PM
Don't let them put you off from asking questions, that is what a forum is all about. You have to start somewhere. Before there was the Internet there were magazines, user groups, and BBS's. Now almost no magazines, damn few user groups, rare BBS's, and only the net for many of us with questions
Title: Re: Amiga graphics card
Post by: matt3k on August 23, 2012, 07:00:36 PM
If you have a ZIII based Amiga (Amiga 3000's or 4000's), you should look at a Retina Z3, Cybervision 64, Cybervision 64/3d, or a Picasso IV.  They are the fastest cards.

If you have a ZII bus (2000) - A Picasso II is a good choice.  Others may have other ones as well.

If your into games the video card will be of very little use, very few games actually use the video cards and use OCS,ECS, or AGA.  

If you want to make a really nice workbench, enjoy productivity software, surf the web, etc.  You really need a video card for the best results.  

Have fun...
Title: Re: Amiga graphics card
Post by: runequester on August 24, 2012, 04:00:09 AM
For gaming, it's mostly not worth it. There were some games that will use it (Napalm, Quake and a few others) and a few games had RTG patches, but they are generally all "late" amiga games.

For general day to day use, it can be cool, if you find a cheap one. If you want a high resolution, 256+ colour workbench, it's generally the way to go (AGA can do 256 but it isn't fast)
Title: Re: Amiga graphics card
Post by: danbeaver on August 24, 2012, 06:29:40 AM
RuneQ ~ like your Avatar

Even if you get an RTG video card for "Productivity" (graphics, word processing, desktop publishing, etc), you can always fall back to a native Amiga graphic mode for "gaming."  I use my Amiga mostly for the former, but I have the software for the latter when I'm inclined.
Title: Re: Amiga graphics card
Post by: lassie on August 24, 2012, 06:52:37 AM
Quote from: runequester;704882
For gaming, it's mostly not worth it. There were some games that will use it (Napalm, Quake and a few others) and a few games had RTG patches, but they are generally all "late" amiga games.

For general day to day use, it can be cool, if you find a cheap one. If you want a high resolution, 256+ colour workbench, it's generally the way to go (AGA can do 256 but it isn't fast)


Hi thanks for your answer :) i have been looking on ebay and such ,they are quite expensive around 200 dollars for a merlin graphics card and picasso
Title: Re: Amiga graphics card
Post by: bbond007 on August 24, 2012, 07:31:37 AM
Quote from: lassie;704906
Hi thanks for your answer :) i have been looking on ebay and such ,they are quite expensive around 200 dollars for a merlin graphics card and picasso


Indivision Flicker Fixer is more worth it for games that a graphics card which is really just a PC graphics chip on the amiga bus.
Title: Re: Amiga graphics card
Post by: yssing on August 24, 2012, 07:39:09 AM
Get an Indivison ECS, there are even Picasso96 drivers for it. :)
Title: Re: Amiga graphics card
Post by: zipper on August 24, 2012, 08:51:20 AM
With Picasso96 fakenative mode I could get some 30 - 40% of my games to play on PicassoIV screen. Not F1GP which I hoped most.
Title: Re: Amiga graphics card
Post by: lassie on August 24, 2012, 12:01:28 PM
Hi i found out that i have  Indivison ECS in my amiga 600 i purchased a month ago :) what settings should i use for best picture? i have it connected to a 43 inch plasma screen and how about colours, i can see i can change that to. I dont know much about it i must admit
Title: Re: Amiga graphics card
Post by: nscaleworld on August 24, 2012, 12:11:32 PM
Quote from: yssing;704912
Get an Indivison ECS, there are even Picasso96 drivers for it. :)

Not worth the $106.00 plus shipping that you would have to pay for one.
Title: Re: Amiga graphics card
Post by: Bamiga2002 on August 24, 2012, 12:16:08 PM
Quote from: zipper;704918
With Picasso96 fakenative mode I could get some 30 - 40% of my games to play on PicassoIV screen. Not F1GP which I hoped most.

Interesting. How can I get fakenative to display through Mediator/Voodoo?
Title: Re: Amiga graphics card
Post by: zipper on August 24, 2012, 12:56:33 PM
Don't know if it works on Voodoo, principally you have to set  a tooltype (was it fakenative=yes) and remove PAL/NTSC from the Monitors . Check the docs.
Title: Re: Amiga graphics card
Post by: runequester on August 24, 2012, 02:05:00 PM
Quote from: danbeaver;704904
RuneQ ~ like your Avatar

Even if you get an RTG video card for "Productivity" (graphics, word processing, desktop publishing, etc), you can always fall back to a native Amiga graphic mode for "gaming."  I use my Amiga mostly for the former, but I have the software for the latter when I'm inclined.


Thanks :) It's our big cat "Scruffy".
Title: Re: Amiga graphics card
Post by: yssing on August 24, 2012, 04:55:05 PM
All you have to do is download this package, move the monitor driver to devs/monitors

http://aminet.net/package/driver/moni/HighGFX40_6
Title: Re: Amiga graphics card
Post by: danbeaver on August 24, 2012, 06:49:19 PM
Uh Dude, don't forget the RTGMaster system. It even works for OS 4.1 with a small fix.

[RuneQ, is Scruffy a Maine Coon?]
Title: Re: Amiga graphics card
Post by: itix on August 24, 2012, 07:13:00 PM
Quote from: danbeaver;705011
Uh Dude, don't forget the RTGMaster system. It even works for OS 4.1 with a small fix.


The RTGMaster is really, really buggy...
Title: Re: Amiga graphics card
Post by: runequester on August 24, 2012, 07:17:16 PM
Quote from: danbeaver;705011
Uh Dude, don't forget the RTGMaster system. It even works for OS 4.1 with a small fix.
 
[RuneQ, is Scruffy a Maine Coon?]

He is maine Coon, or at least mostly :)
He's got a weird stubby tail but otherwise he's a giant cat-beast.
 
Maybe we need a cat thread on here.
Title: Re: Amiga graphics card
Post by: itix on August 24, 2012, 07:19:30 PM
Quote from: lassie;704906
Hi thanks for your answer :) i have been looking on ebay and such ,they are quite expensive around 200 dollars for a merlin graphics card and picasso


Amiga graphics cards are very rare these days. Dont bother with it if you mainly play games and you are satisfied with low color (less than 64) Workbench. On the other hand if you want to do something more serious stuff on Amiga then graphics cards are must. They dont offer only more colours and better resolutions but graphics also is much faster than using native Amiga display modes.
Title: Re: Amiga graphics card
Post by: danbeaver on August 24, 2012, 07:45:11 PM
Quote from: itix;705013
The RTGMaster is really, really buggy...


RTGMaster has never been buggy on my two A4000T's and A2500HD; I use it in OS 3.9 & OS 4.1 without problems.

[RuneQ, I've had 2 black male Maine Coons in the past 32 years and they were great!]
Title: Re: Amiga graphics card
Post by: runequester on August 24, 2012, 07:48:11 PM
To be slightly more on topic, are there any benchmarks out there comparing something like Doom in AGA versus RTG ? Same processor and RAM obviously
Title: Re: Amiga graphics card
Post by: lassie on August 24, 2012, 08:00:20 PM
Quote from: yssing;704978
All you have to do is download this package, move the monitor driver to devs/monitors

http://aminet.net/package/driver/moni/HighGFX40_6


Thanks i will try that :)
Title: Re: Amiga graphics card
Post by: danbeaver on August 24, 2012, 08:02:04 PM
I've seen quotes of Frame Per Second, but there are a lot of factors that play into those numbers and it comes down to what you consider playable on your system
Title: Re: Amiga graphics card
Post by: danbeaver on August 24, 2012, 08:54:03 PM
I've seen quotes of Frame Per Second, but there are a lot of factors that play into those numbers and it comes down to what you consider playable on your system
Title: Re: Amiga graphics card
Post by: runequester on August 24, 2012, 09:11:45 PM
yeah definately. It'd be nice to have something that was tested on the exact same system ,once under AGA and once under RTG, and see what we're actually dealing with though.
Title: Re: Amiga graphics card
Post by: yssing on August 24, 2012, 11:08:01 PM
I think there were some numbers on doom on an a600 with aca630 and indi ECS, can't remember where though.