Newbie with an A1200

[Damion]

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.

[Damion]

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 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.

[Damion]

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...

[Damion]

Purely for WHDLoad, the 1220 is more than adequate. The FPU is useless for old games, but quite a few demos will take advantage.

The 1230 would be a significant step up, but maybe overkill just for games.

[Damion]

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.

[Damion]

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.

[Damion]

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)..