Recommend a gfx card for an old A2000

[Bodie]

Hi all

I just bought a very old A2000 (dirt cheap! that makes 3 Amigas and 4PCs!!!!!) and would like to give the old girl a new lease of life.  Can anyone recommend the best video card (I'm on a somewhat limited budget) to use with the A2000? I will be doing some basic image processing etc...   Also, while your at it, what would be the best accelerator for this machine? It already has an 030 in it, but still I would like something with a bit of extra grunt.

Cheers  :pint:  :pint:  :pint:  :pint:

[machinehead]

http://www.softhut.com/cgi-bin/test/Web_store/web_store.cgi?page=used_hardware/used_index.html&cart_id=7477471_1950
This is in the USA but they are a good company and have lots of used stuff.
Ship worldwide.
I saw stuff for A2000 here today, but don't know what some of it is!!

[Bodie]

Thanks machinehead

The guy I purchased the A2000 from also said that SoftHut is the best company for getting stuff.  I'll check it out, again thanks.

[Lando]

Your best bet is a Cybervision 64/3D graphics card (which will work in Z2 mode in a A2000) and a Blizzard 2060 50Mhz CPU card (which were available really cheap from vesalia a while ago but I think the offer might have ended by now)

This combination will give you probably the best performance you're ever gonna get from an A2k.

[redrumloa]

CV643D? Hmm.. It doesn't have a passthrough IIRC. I'd recomend a GVP Sectrum. It still can be found new

[machinehead]

Amiga 2000 system, CSA Derringer Accelerator 68030/68882fpu/68030mmu
(installed), 2Mb fast ram, 1Mb chip ram, CBM A590/A 2091 HD controller,
120Mb Maxtor hard drive, Flicker Fixer, Picasso II video board, Amiga OS
3.1 $ 400.00
This is something I found at softhut.com
Not a bad deal, considering how much I have in me A1200 setup!!

[artman]

I absolutely love my A2000.  It's got an '060 Blizzard card in it with 128 meg ram, Cybergraphics64-3d card, flicker fixer, cdrom, 4 gig hd, all on OS3.9.  I actually have more fun with this than my PeeCee.  Keep the flame going!   :-D

[iamaboringperson]

i can highly reccomend the CyberVision64/3D
i used mine on my A2000 years ago, and it was quite good
you will need AmigaOS 3.1 or higher for it though
and 68020 and higher


some '060 accelerator, for sure

[Jope]

iamaboringperson wrote:
i can highly reccomend the CyberVision64/3D
i used mine on my A2000 years ago, and it was quite good
you will need AmigaOS 3.1 or higher for it though
and 68020 and higher

I have a CV64/3D in my A2000/060 too.

The only reason it doesn't get more use is, ZII is dog slow.. :-) When you have many screens open, it becomes very tedious when swapping screens that are not in the GFX card's RAM. Small resolutions are not an option, 1024x768 is the least that will do for me.

[Desmon]

@Jope

I have a CV64/3D in my A2000/060 too.

Exactly the same setup I tried.

The only reason it doesn't get more use is, ZII is dog slow.. :-) When you have many screens open, it becomes very tedious when swapping screens that are not in the GFX card's RAM. Small resolutions are not an option, 1024x768 is the least that will do for me.

And for that very reason my CV64/3D ended up finding a new home in my A3000. Even with the '060 powering it along in the 2000, the graphics were like the machine was running in molasses. The std. '030 in the 3000 powers the graphics along nicely.

[Bodie]

Hmm, I would have preferred an A3000 for the z3 slots, unfortunately, I doubt I will ever find one (the guy I purchased the A2000 from also had an A3000 but got rid of it last year).  Still, an A2000 with a new processor and a cybervision 64 should be enough for what I need to do :-).

[Desmon]

@Bodie

Hmm, I would have preferred an A3000 for the z3 slots, unfortunately, I doubt I will ever find one (the guy I purchased the A2000 from also had an A3000 but got rid of it last year).

If he was out in Pascoe Vale, I can tell you where his 3000 ended up.

 Still, an A2000 with a new processor and a cybervision 64 should be enough for what I need to do :-).

To be honest, I really couldn't believe how much it slowed the graphics on my A2k. I was very happy to plug the VGA monitor back into the 2032 and have flicker free ECS modes back. I wouldn't recommend a CV64/3D to any 2000 owner.
Of course, for an A3000 or A4000 it's the bees knees.

[Bodie]

Desmon wrote:
If he was out in Pascoe Vale, I can tell you where his 3000 ended up.

 

Well in the ad it stated that he was in Brunswick. He was a big bulky man, with an Elvis  :-D hairstlye!

Anyhow, should I search for an alternative? Perhaps one of the older RTG cards for the 2000?

Cheers

[Crumb]

The best card you can fit is a Picasso IV, it includes a programable flicker fixer (you can put it at 100hz for example)

The second card I would use would be a CV3D (to use the optional monitor switcher with scan doubler you will need to modify a little the video slot)

I would avoid old cards with old chips like picasso2 or GVP spectrum... Their blitter is too slow and you will notice it if you put them for example at 1024x768 and 16bits. In addition to that the graphic chip can't set up screens of high refresh rates if you use more than 256 colours.

For example, if you use a non-interlaced 1024x768 16bit screen with a picasso4/CV3D you will be able to put it at 82hz, but with an old Picasso2/GVP Spectrum  you won't be able to do that.

Go for a modern 4Mb card, they are way better.

[Oli_hd]

Hi,

Can anyone recommend the best video card (I'm on a somewhat limited budget)

I would recomend the Picasso IV, It has to be the best graphics card ever, It works fine with the Amiga 2000, Has a built in scan doubler so you can use a standard PC monitor, you can fit a TV card, A TV out and a sound card to the card so saving room and they are not that expensive any more (second hand), Have a look at Ebay as a few come up for auction from time to time.

what would be the best accelerator for this machine?

Well any 68060 card, They all have an SCSI interface if I remember correctly and they can all take 128MB of memory.
Im still using my 030 so I cant recomend anything specific.