A1200 DBOX Mediator Fast ata ETC

[LawlessPPC]

I have just recently recieved my DBOX1200 Tower (thanx AmigaKit (cant touch till Xmas) so shortly I will be re-towering my A1200. What I am eager to know is which is the best PCI solution for the A1200 (GRex or Mediator) what are the geniune transfer rates. Also in terms of IDE interfaces which is the best solution for speed. The ones that split the drives into 4GB chunks is there a way round this as the filesystem can take care of that now. Also where and how much is the cheapest right angle PCMCIA adapter, I want to drop her on the network. I hav'nt switched this baby on for nearly 2 years. I thought Amithlon at one point was my saviour then that all crumbled.

[Comi]

 Mediator 1200 SX!

[motorollin]

Mediator rocks :-)

--
moto

[humppa]

Get a Mediator and a 100mbit PCI Ethernetcard instead of that PCMCIA adapter.
The pricey Mediator 1200 SX is only necessary if you are keen on using ATX PSUs and really know how to fill 6 PCI slots.
Otherwise get the Mediator 1200 LT4 with four PCI slots. You can put in a Voodoo3, Ethernetcard, Soundcard and TV-tuner.

[Comi]

 And in slot number 5 === Spider USB!  

[adonay]

I have a mediator it is not as fast as the g-rex but the drivers are better and its bug free. and mediators are better supported.

Also in terms of IDE interfaces which is the best solution for speed

that would be the FAST ATAmkIII (POWERFLYER) i have one, only problem with it is that it eats my cpu.but it is the fastest ypu can get on yhe a1200


adonay :-D

[LawlessPPC]

what is the best price anyone can get the meditor sx and does it do real DMA for

[adonay]

the best prise would be second hand or check elbox.com

it is fully DMA all channels

adonay :-D

[doctorq]

You can also get a Mediator ZIV setup. Then you will have 4 PCI slots like the Mediator LT, as well as 5 Zorro slots. The Zorro slot can be useful for a Kickflash card or Vlab cards for instance, and the busboard will have a connector for a PowerFlyer ZIV. Doubt the PowerFlyer ZIV is faster than the PowerFlyer MK3 though.

[humppa]

doctorq wrote:
You can also get a Mediator ZIV setup

...for example from doctorq who is currently selling one.

[amigakit]

@LawlessPPC

Thanks for your purchase :-)


The MediatorSX is a great mature product.  It supports ATX as standard and the 6x PCI slots are certainly useful.  I have my MediatorSX fitted with the 100Mbit Network Card (essential for broadband), Terratec 512i for 4.1 surround sound, Spider II USB, Voodoo 2D/3D card, TV & Radio card with Remote.

The G-Rex is a good product, supported by OpenPCI initiative but no longer in production and is limited to BlizzardPPC owners only. Due to supply problems, we don't stock them.

[doctorq]

...for example from doctorq who is currently selling one.

Correct :-D

I'm selling it because the solution doesn't fit my tower. Only 2 of the 4 PCI slots can be used, since the backplate of the tower blocks the rest :-(

I'm too lazy to go searching for a PowerTower for it, but if anyone has one for cheap I'd be interested :-)

[humppa]

I also have a ZIV-board lying around here. Unfortunately, the adaptor for the CPU-slot has a bad lead which causes the -12V rail not being transferred to the MoBo.
Does anybody know if I still can get such a connector somewhere?
I suppose you won't sell the adaptor separately, doctorq?
Sorry for being a little OT.

[Legerdemain]

If you happen to have a SCSI Kit I'd recommend you'd go for some SCSI drives since you will get better results when it comes to speed. Also, as far as I know the DMA on the Mediator is a bit funky, since it uses the GFX-card (or the network card, not sure) to enable DMA (long time ago since I discussed this very issue with someone that knew exactly how it worked). Anyhow, my point is, the DMA-handling will also be better with SCSI.

If someone knows this better than me, please correct me, because like I said, I'm not really remembering exactly how this actually is working.

[keropi]

I never used a mediator, but as a G-Rex owner I can reccomend one, just look for the newer version that has 2 DMA slots. G-rex is said to be faster than the mediator, and can utilize the full gfx mem (not only the 8mb like the mediator) but you can only use up to 2 dma cards (a soundcard and a tv tuner for ex.) and there is no usb support for cards...
Also I have not discovered any bugs yet on the g-rex, it functions as it should be  :-D