C= 3640 vs. warp engine 040?

[Amiduffer]

Software Hut has both the C= 3640 and the Warp Engine 040 accelerators available in the refurbished area.

The Warp Engine is a few $ more than the 3640, so I was wondering if anyone has any recomendation of which is better for my A3000D. I just sent my check in for the 3640, but i'm thinking of cancelling it to get the Warp Engine, after I looked on the Ami Hardware site and saw the two slots for SIMM memory, which would be very good. I've got a few laying around my desk not being used.

[zipper]

Because it has local memory the Warp Engine is much faster.

[Flashlab]

Well after reading on BBOAH I'd say go for the Warp Engine. The 3640 seems to have a lot of problems especially with 3000D!

[Tempest]

You should go for the Warpengine it's the better option. I have the a4000 version (4 SIMM slots) in my a3000T and it's a very reliable card, never had troubles with it. The SCSI-2 controller is also faster then the standard a3000 SCSI controller.

~tempest

[LoadWB]

I had a WarpEngine, and I can vouch for its peppiness.  I only sold it because I purchased a CyberStorm MKIII.

Make sure, though, that you use the software utilities which you can download.  Get the latest 68040.library, and use the util (I forget its name) which maps Kickstart to RAM, as it doesn't do it automagically.  If SoftHut doesn't have the disk (I'm sure they do,) let me know as I have a DMS of it.

It also has a neat start-up chime.

[Crisisdog]

Go with the WarpEngine.  As already stated, it has SIMM slots to add local CPU memory which greatly increase performance.  I had to remove my ZIP chips though to get the board working, but what's 16MBs worth of ZIPs when the WarpEngine will take 64MBs if it has two slots, or 128MBs with four.  The two slot version is for the desktop A3000, but I managed to hack my case to get the four slot version installed.  If you're not afraid to use a soldering iron, you can also replace the clock crystal to easily boost the WarpEngine up to 40MHz.  The A3640 is pretty much stuck at 25MHz, I've tried to boost the speed on two cards but never was able to get one running.  The WarpEngine also has a SCSI-2 interface, definitely faster than on-board SCSI.  You may need to perform the int2 interrupt line mod though, the A3000 CPU slot was designed to only hold CPUs, not additional accessories such as a SCSI controller; again, not a big deal if you're able to use a soldering iron.  The A4000 slot was redesigned to include this.

Good luck!

 :-D

[Jeff]

I bought the last refurb Warp Engine from Software Hut a while back. It was defective and they tried to have it fixed for me. No go, so they refunded my money.

The Software Hut web site is badly out of date, they don't have any more and can't get any. I would have bought a couple at that price :-).

Jeff

[Amiduffer]

Thanks LoadWB.

Hi Jeff. Last one, huh? Drat. :oops:  I'll email them just to be sure.

If I get the 3640, I'll probably need help setting up a fan or two.

Thanks for all the responses everyone.

[Amiduffer]

Well, Jeff was right. Software Hut says they are clean out of Warp Engines.

Darn. Now I'll never get to Alpha Centauri in time for the concert. ;-)