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Amiga computer related discussion => Amiga Hardware Issues and discussion => Topic started by: stuntmachine on August 31, 2012, 05:16:44 AM
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I recently purchased an A1200 and I'm looking to run WHDLoad, but right now I'm getting memory errors (not enough memory).
What's the best value right now in memory expansion / accelerators for the A1200?
I've checked eBay and it seems like these types of upgrades are tough to find.
Details about my setup are in my sig. Thanks!
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ACA 1220 (http://amigakit.leamancomputing.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=43&products_id=1100)
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ACA 1220 (http://amigakit.leamancomputing.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=43&products_id=1100)
Did not see that product before....
Wow, 128MB Ram 020 16MHZ
EDIT: 16.67 MHZ sorry :)
That is like a Toyota Prius with a 80 gallon gas tank and Z rated tires...
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Well, just to play WHDLoad games you don't need that much, just enough "Umph" to handle the overhead.
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I think you'll find that 120 of those 128M of RAM will never be used. A simple 8M expansion would be more than enough for WHDLoad, but of course you can't charge as much for that as a 128M expansion, that's why there won't be any of those.
There are smaller RAM expansions for fairer prices on e-bay and Amibay occasionally.
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WHDLoad, but of course you can't charge as much for that as a 128M expansion, that's why there won't be any of those.
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My guess is making a new board nowadays, it might cost more to try to get an 8M chip.
I'm guessing, the design of the board lent itself to the 128M chip being cost effective, and that's why Jens used it.
desiv
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It's not available right now. I was looking for something that's more well-established in the community. Is there a de-facto way of expanding the memory on the Amiga with some hardware that is available enough for me to find somewhere?
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ACA 1220 (http://amigakit.leamancomputing.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=43&products_id=1100)
It's not available right now. I was looking for something that's more well-established in the community. Is there a de-facto way of expanding the memory on the Amiga with some hardware that is available enough for me to find somewhere?
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It's not available right now. I was looking for something that's more well-established in the community.
Jens' hardware is about as "well established" in the community as you can get. Although this particular card isn't quite out yet.
As for well thought of accelerators of old, the Blizzards have the best reputation overall...
I had a Microbotics (sp?) MBX1200z 8M RAM card (with a software toggle to go 4 or 8 for PCMCIA compatibility) that was a GREAT RAM card.
desiv
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Last I checked, Vesalia still has some ACA 030/41 mhz cards left, with 64 megs of RAM.
I have the 56 mhz ACA card and it's outstanding, though it does work better with 3.1 ROM's in your amiga.
Otherwise it's ebay or amibay, or ask in the sales forum here. You can probably find something like an 030/25 with 8 megs of RAM for about a hundred bucks. A plain RAM expansion might be a tad cheaper, but the difference won't be that great and having a bit of an extra speed boost is nice in any event.
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I recently purchased an A1200 and I'm looking to run WHDLoad, but right now I'm getting memory errors (not enough memory).
What's the best value right now in memory expansion / accelerators for the A1200?
I've checked eBay and it seems like these types of upgrades are tough to find.
Details about my setup are in my sig. Thanks!
Keep an eye on ebay for a few weeks, something will pop up.
I'd also suggest cheking the FS section or placing a wanted ad over at AmiBay.
Not sure about the "best value" part - absolute hassle-free WHDLoad'ing for lowest cost would be an old 8MB board. For '030 accelerators, the ACA cards are new and supported, but have no FPU and are known to have their niggles in some cases. The Blizzard boards were probably the best, and there's plenty of them out there if you're a little patient. A GVP with some RAM would be equally well suited for WHDLoad.
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Keep an eye on ebay for a few weeks, something will pop up.
I'd also suggest cheking the FS section or placing a wanted ad over at AmiBay.
Not sure about the "best value" part - absolute hassle-free WHDLoad'ing for lowest cost would be an old 8MB board. For '030 accelerators, the ACA cards are new and supported, but have no FPU and are known to have their niggles in some cases. The Blizzard boards were probably the best, and there's plenty of them out there if you're a little patient. A GVP with some RAM would be equally well suited for WHDLoad.
I'm noticing a lot of '030 accelerators out there. Any reason they seem to be more prevalent than '060 based stuff? It seems in 2012 we'd be more likely to use the faster CPU, no?
As a side note, living in the United States has proven to be especially challenging with regards to finding reasonably priced hardware for my Amiga. It's Amikit and Vesalia or Ebay, and shipping costs are high. It's tough to be an Amiga user here!
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I'm noticing a lot of '030 accelerators out there. Any reason they seem to be more prevalent than '060 based stuff? It seems in 2012 we'd be more likely to use the faster CPU, no?
Cost and time/quantity.
(And some compatibility)
060's are expensive.. Really really really expensive. ;-)
They are awesome, but.. did I mention that they are expensive? ;-)
But mostly I think it's time/quantity..
030's were around longer and MANY more of them were made.
Also, the 030 is very compatible.
You lose a bit of compatibility when you move up..
(Although whdload helps that a lot, too bad is wasn't available when the Amiga was in it's prime)
desiv
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I'm noticing a lot of '030 accelerators out there. Any reason they seem to be more prevalent than '060 based stuff? It seems in 2012 we'd be more likely to use the faster CPU, no?
As a side note, living in the United States has proven to be especially challenging with regards to finding reasonably priced hardware for my Amiga. It's Amikit and Vesalia or Ebay, and shipping costs are high. It's tough to be an Amiga user here!
I think it might just be that 030's were produced far more than 060's back in the day. That being said, it does depend on what you want it for.
An 060 card can be bloody expensive, and for a lot of games it won't make a ton of difference.
030's are probably also more compatible.
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Keep an eye on ebay for a few weeks, something will pop up.
I'd also suggest cheking the FS section or placing a wanted ad over at AmiBay.
Not sure about the "best value" part - absolute hassle-free WHDLoad'ing for lowest cost would be an old 8MB board. For '030 accelerators, the ACA cards are new and supported, but have no FPU and are known to have their niggles in some cases. The Blizzard boards were probably the best, and there's plenty of them out there if you're a little patient. A GVP with some RAM would be equally well suited for WHDLoad.
I wonder if this is a good choice:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Amiga-Blizzard-1230-III-8-meg-upgrade-board-crystal-Battery-tested-working-GC-/310428602086?pt=UK_VintageComputing_RL&hash=item4846fc8ee6#ht_2520wt_1165
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I wonder if this is a good choice:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Amiga-Blizzard-1230-III-8-meg-upgrade-board-crystal-Battery-tested-working-GC-/310428602086?pt=UK_VintageComputing_RL&hash=item4846fc8ee6#ht_2520wt_1165
I don't usually comment on prices, but I think you can do a bit better for that amount, like a 1230 IV. See here (http://amiga.resource.cx/exp/a1200proc) for a list of cards and their features. We'd be happy to steer you in the right direction. :-)
I agree about the '060 boards, they hit the scene when Amiga was already in its twilight years. You definitely want an '030 (or slower) for the best gaming experience.
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I don't usually comment on prices, but I think you can do a bit better for that amount, like a 1230 IV. See here (http://amiga.resource.cx/exp/a1200proc) for a list of cards and their features. We'd be happy to steer you in the right direction. :-)
I agree about the '060 boards, they hit the scene when Amiga was already in its twilight years. You definitely want an '030 (or slower) for the best gaming experience.
How about this one? http://www.ebay.com/itm/Blizzard-1230-MK1V-phase-5-8-meg-upgrade-board-030-Battery-tested-working-GC-/310425496514?pt=UK_VintageComputing_RL&hash=item4846cd2bc2#ht_2843wt_1165
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I wonder if this is a good choice:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Amiga-Blizzard-1230-III-8-meg-upgrade-board-crystal-Battery-tested-working-GC-/310428602086?pt=UK_VintageComputing_RL&hash=item4846fc8ee6#ht_2520wt_1165
Feels a bit to expensive for it, it's just 20 pounds under the ACA-1231/42Mhz, I would rather go for the ACA then since you get a 42MHz 030 CPU and 64MB memory and MMU also the ACA is new and in stock.
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Yeah, that second card rocks, and it looks a lot cleaner than the other one. I've bought from that seller in the past (I live in the US) with no problem.
If your fussy about wanting the box/manual/etc, hang around AmiBay a while and one will pop up.
EDIT: Just want to ad, unless you watch demos the FPU is pretty pointless, the ACA cards are new...
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Yeah, that second card rocks, and it looks a lot cleaner than the other one. I've bought from that seller in the past (I live in the US) with no problem.
If your fussy about wanting the box/manual/etc, hang around AmiBay a while and one will pop up.
EDIT: Just want to ad, unless you watch demos the FPU is pretty pointless, the ACA cards are new...
I'm at a bit of an impasse now... Do I wait for the Indivision ACA 1220 128MB Accelerator (http://amigakit.leamancomputing.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=43&products_id=1100) with the '020, or do I grab the
Blizzard 1230 MKIV that's for sale on Ebay (http://www.ebay.com/itm/310425496514?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649) with the '030?
What would you (more experienced) guys do if you were in my shoes?
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It all depends on what you want to spend.
That's a good card. It will do all you need for WHDLoad and even let you play some of the low end FPS games OK...
But that's a lot of money.
The FPU isn't (in my opinion) a big deal. Unless you ray trace, you won't notice it.
I had an FPU in my 8M RAM card, and I don't remember finding an app that needed it. (They are out there, but not many)
If you're just looking at WHDLoad, I don't know I'd want to spend that much myself.
One thing that could be important, and I haven't heard an answer yet, about the ACA1220 is PCMCIA compatibility.
The Bliz is PCMCIA compatible.
I'm not sure about the 1220. If not, that could be a hassle...
Not sure about that..
desiv
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Purely for WHDLoad, the 1220 is more than adequate. The FPU is useless for old games, but quite a few demos (http://amiga.resource.cx/exp/a1200proc) will take advantage.
The 1230 would be a significant step up, but maybe overkill just for games.
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It all depends on what you want to spend.
That's a good card. It will do all you need for WHDLoad and even let you play some of the low end FPS games OK...
Which card are you referring to? The one on Ebay or the one on Amigakit?
The FPU isn't (in my opinion) a big deal. Unless you ray trace, you won't notice it.
I had an FPU in my 8M RAM card, and I don't remember finding an app that needed it. (They are out there, but not many)
If you're just looking at WHDLoad, I don't know I'd want to spend that much myself.
One thing that could be important, and I haven't heard an answer yet, about the ACA1220 is PCMCIA compatibility.
The Bliz is PCMCIA compatible.
I'm not sure about the 1220. If not, that could be a hassle...
Not sure about that..
desiv
What do you mean when you say the Blizzard is PCMCIA compatible?
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Which card are you referring to? The one on Ebay or the one on Amigakit?
What do you mean when you say the Blizzard is PCMCIA compatible?
Some of the old RAM cards and accelerators would address their memory in such a way as to rule out use of the PCMCIA slot, if you had over 4MB installed. You won't have to worry about that with the Blizzard, or (from what I gather over at the EAB) the ACA 1220, either.
The Blizz 1230 IV was the "king" of '030 cards, with a 50MHz CPU and a fast chipset interface, you can get away with playing some of the earlier FPS games at reduced settings.
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Some of the old RAM cards and accelerators would address their memory in such a way as to rule out use of the PCMCIA slot, if you had over 4MB installed. You won't have to worry about that with the Blizzard, or (from what I gather over at the EAB) the ACA 1220, either.
The Blizz 1230 IV was the "king" of '030 cards, with a 50MHz CPU and a fast chipset interface, you can get away with playing some of the earlier FPS games at reduced settings.
I play most early 3D games without any trouble on my ACA1231, ALien Breed 3D 1-2, Fears, Breathless, all Gloom games are some of the ones I can run fullscreen :) Even aDoom runs decent enough after some tweaking :)
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I play most early 3D games without any trouble on my ACA1231, ALien Breed 3D 1-2, Fears, Breathless, all Gloom games are some of the ones I can run fullscreen :) Even aDoom runs decent enough after some tweaking :)
Hi how do you tweak aDoom to work better? if i may ask :)
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I play most early 3D games without any trouble on my ACA1231, ALien Breed 3D 1-2, Fears, Breathless, all Gloom games are some of the ones I can run fullscreen :) Even aDoom runs decent enough after some tweaking :)
It seems like the ACA1231 (http://www.vesalia.de/e_aca1231-42.htm) might be my best option at this time then, huh? It's not overkill with 128MB like the ACA1220. It's available (the ACA1220 isn't as of this writing (http://amigakit.leamancomputing.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=1100)). Sure it's more expensive, but it's got an '030 rather than an '020. I don't want to spend money on something that will eventually limit me in some way. Opinions?
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I've been extremely happy with my ACA, though it does work more smoothly with 3.1 ROM's.
It'll be a good card for the price, and you get new hardware rather than something used off ebay :)
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@stuntmachine - I was looking at the one on e-bay.
I've been extremely happy with my ACA, though it does work more smoothly with 3.1 ROM's.
I've also been REALLY happy with my ACA (1230/28). Great card. I know some people have had "timing fix" issues with some of their 1200's, but mine didn't need any.
(It's not specific to the ACAs, and related to the inconsistencies of Commodore's quality control, but some 1200's need a "timing fix" (removing a few resistors), and a lot don't. Just something to be aware of...)
As for 3.1, one of the nice features of the ACAs is that it lets you "softkick" a ROM. So you can off of a 3.1 ROM. You do need a copy of the ROM and a line in your startup-sequence. Also, you need to set a jumper on the ACA to tell it you are running 3.0 originally.
Of course, a actual 3.1 rom in your machine is a bit nicer, but the option for the softkick is nice to have...
desiv
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@stuntmachine - I was looking at the one on e-bay.
I've also been REALLY happy with my ACA (1230/28). Great card. I know some people have had "timing fix" issues with some of their 1200's, but mine didn't need any.
(It's not specific to the ACAs, and related to the inconsistencies of Commodore's quality control, but some 1200's need a "timing fix" (removing a few resistors), and a lot don't. Just something to be aware of...)
As for 3.1, one of the nice features of the ACAs is that it lets you "softkick" a ROM. So you can off of a 3.1 ROM. You do need a copy of the ROM and a line in your startup-sequence. Also, you need to set a jumper on the ACA to tell it you are running 3.0 originally.
Of course, a actual 3.1 rom in your machine is a bit nicer, but the option for the softkick is nice to have...
desiv
I am also happy with my ACA 1231, I had to do the dreaded timing fix, but it was no biggie :)
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Amiga RAM addressed through the motherboard is limited to 8 MB, the higher addresses are used by the system to access chips and such. The PCMCIA slot, being on the motherboard "uses" the lower "addresses" that would be used as RAM, so that anything taking more than 4 MB overlaps those addresses.
On the other hand a add-in CPU board WITH it's own RAM addresses that RAM over the CPU-board's address lines and being separate from the motherboard, does not interfere. The maximum "buy-able" CPU card with RAM is 256 MB; the maximum usable RAM is 2 GB by Amiga OS; you will find this on AmigaNG motherboards. The Maximum RAM on a Classic Amiga is a Amigakit demo of 1 GB of RAM; this is in the Z3 address range and precludes use of adds-in boards on the Z3 bus making the machine very limited.
I appreciate clarification if some of this information is incorrect
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Amiga RAM addressed through the motherboard is limited to 8 MB, the higher addresses are used by the system to access chips and such. The PCMCIA slot, being on the motherboard "uses" the lower "addresses" that would be used as RAM, so that anything taking more than 4 MB overlaps those addresses.t
Pretty much spot on, if he want loads of ram and do not want to loose the PCMCIA then a accelerator card with CPU is needed.
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I play most early 3D games without any trouble on my ACA1231, ALien Breed 3D 1-2, Fears, Breathless, all Gloom games are some of the ones I can run fullscreen :) Even aDoom runs decent enough after some tweaking :)
Just fired these up on my ol' GVP 1230, and was surprised to find they play well on the '030, much better than I expected! For kicks I gave Quake a try... results weren't quite as impressive, but it runs. :P
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Just fired these up on my ol' GVP 1230, and was surprised to find they play well on the '030, much better than I expected! For kicks I gave Quake a try... results weren't quite as impressive, but it runs. :P
Nice, I have not given AGA quake a try yet, but won't be playable but must try some day, I want to try and see how Napalm and Exodus last wars run on the ACA1231 :)
Have you tried above mentioned games on your trusty GVP 1230?
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Nice, I have not given AGA quake a try yet, but won't be playable but must try some day, I want to try and see how Napalm and Exodus last wars run on the ACA1231 :)
Have you tried above mentioned games on your trusty GVP 1230?
Tried the Napalm demo, it runs great in PAL low-res, no problem at all. Kick it up to PAL laced and it slows way down (not too playable IMHO)..