Selecting an accellerator (A1200)

[Legerdemain]

whdload is also much better with a 1260

Really? Then I must have missed out on something! I've had way much more trouble with WHDLoad games since I upgraded to Blizzard 1260 (previously had a Blizzard 1230). Not only did MANY games stop running like they should with the NTSC tooltype active, but also many slaves, at least at the time (It has gotten better by now, and will get better in the future aswell, but anyways), weren't really written with the 060 in mind.

I can't think of many games at all, besides the 3D ones, which really benefits from the 060. So, please, it would be great to know why a 060 is so much better to use together with WHDLoad?

[Amigaz]

Legerdemain wrote:

whdload is also much better with a 1260

Really? Then I must have missed out on something! I've had way much more trouble with WHDLoad games since I upgraded to Blizzard 1260 (previously had a Blizzard 1230). Not only did MANY games stop running like they should with the NTSC tooltype active, but also many slaves, at least at the time (I have gotten better by now, and will get better in the future aswell, but anyways), weren't really written with the 060 in mind.

I can't think of many games at all, besides the 3D ones, which really benefits from the 060. So, please, it would be great to know why a 060 is so much better to use together with WHDLoad?

Was alsp suprised to see this statement, there's slot of games that also stopped working here...
The '030 is a much more compatible CPU with whdload games.

[rustednail]

Is $250 USD a good price for a  Blizzard 1230 MK4?

[Amigaz]

sounds very expensive, half that price is also a bit high

70-100 US dollars is more reasonable

[Legerdemain]

Is $250 USD a good price for a Blizzard 1230 MK4?

No, with those money you can get a Blizzard 1260. You shouldn't have to pay more than $70 - $100 to get hold of a BLizzard 1230 MKIV. Above that is expensive.

[Ilwrath]

sounds very expensive, half that price is also a bit high

70-100 US dollars is more reasonable

It depends where you are.  In the US, you won't find a Blizzard '030 for that price.  Or at least not one that actually works and isn't a scam.

$250 sounds a bit high even for here, though.  Half that, $125, is fair to slightly cheap, from what I've seen.  Another option in the US, the more common GVP model is also good, if it comes with enough memory on the GVP simms.  (If not, the GVP simms are a real bank breaker!)

There are also other cheaper '030 cards, but they have various other glitches and inconsistancies.  (Apollo, CSA, and 50mhz DKB version, I'm looking at you.)  Do some research, and see what you can live with.

[Doppie1200]

I think the blizzard is hyped. It's blizzard this blizzard that. Like all the others are utter crap. I always had a Taifun and it worked like a charm. If you can find an 030 accelerator and it is not a blizzard, do some research. If you are not after scsi, a blizzard is not your only option. Ther pleny other cards.

[Andeda]

I'm about to buy an Amiga 1200 too, i would like to use it for web browsing and that for i'll need a pcmcia network card and a accelerator card. My OS should be Amiga os 3.9.
where can i found some information of what hardisk an pcmcia card is compatible with my Amiga? And then i of course need a cd drive too.
What kind of cards and drives do you guys use?

[AmigaEd]

by Andeda on 2006/1/8 14:11:21
I'm about to buy an Amiga 1200 too, i would like to use it for web browsing

If you haven't used an Amiga for Web browsing before...
Lets just say, you are certainly in for an experience.

-AmigaEd

[Argus]

It's okay for browsing Amiga.org though.  Anyone know when Ibrowse 2.4 is coming out?  I still get the occasional crash on some sites and the Javascript handling/speed could certainly be improved upon.

[Jiffy]

If you haven't used an Amiga for Web browsing before...
Lets just say, you are certainly in for an experience.

That certainly is an understatement... ;-)

I have an A1200 with a 128 MB equiped Blizzard 1260, pcmcia nic plus all kinds of extras (but no RTG-video!) and must say that browsing the web like this is a hideously painful experience.

Lets just say browsing the web on a classic Amiga is more or less possible. Technically.

[humppa]

Jiffy wrote:
I have an A1200 with a 128 MB equiped Blizzard 1260, pcmcia nic plus all kinds of extras (but no RTG-video!) and must say that browsing the web like this is a hideously painful experience.

Blizzard 1260 but NO graphic card? Something does not fit together here... ;-)
I guess even browsing the internet with a 030/25Mhz AND RTG could be more fun than that...

[mr_khyron]

Argus wrote:

bubba wrote:
I'm waiting for the Power Vixxen LT (PPC@400mhz).  Rumor has it it is in production now with a target price of $299 US.  -bubba

Wow!  Any news on an exact release date?  Where to buy?

In February.
You can read more about PowerVixxen here

[Wayne]

the Apollo 1240 or 1260 are fully compatible with pcmcia port,it doesn't matter how many memory are inserted
however I recommend the 1260 if you haven't a towered A1200
cause the A1240 needs a fan and there's no place on a normal A1200 case for that board
Also Apollo cards are a bit faster than blizard cause faster memory access

[Hyperspeed]

Yeah the +8MB problem only affects the trapdoor memory expansions and not anything with an '030 or higher in. Not sure where this leaves SRAM in the PCMCIA port but I've read that someone has 128MB on their Blizzard 1260 and 4MB lying in the PCMCIA slot...

For retro gamers I would reccomend the Blizzard 1230-IV over the 1260. It doesn't need any modifications to SetPatch or the libraries and dummy libraries associated with a 1260. It also works at full speed without having to enter Workbench for the libraries to take effect. The downer is that Alien Breed 3D/3D2 will be 4x slower on the 1230-IV and so too games like Nemac-IV, Breathless, Quake, Doom, XTreme Racing etc.

The advantage of the Blizzard boards is the option of the SCSI-IV kit which allows you to attach CD burners, fast scanners etc. Other cards have SCSI adaptors but none are as well developed, have proper DMA and extra SIMM slot.

Doppie: I see your point of view but the UK Amiga magazines always reccomended the Blizzard range over the Apollo/Magnum cards. After all it was Phase5 that gave us the PowerPC! The 75MHz Apollo '060 doesn't have an FPU for 3D games/apps and none ever reached the Amiga Format GOLD award like the Blizzards. See the AIBB, SysInfo and SysSpeed tests and you'll see that with the Blizzard's MapROM feature the memory access is like nothing else (it copies Kickstart into FastRAM). Another advantage of the Blizzard range is that the new CPU can be temporarily disabled by holding '2' down on bootup for fully compatibility (hold reset for 15 secs to revert).

Argus/Jiffy: IBrowse 2.3 is very slow with javascript but it gets you there (and informs you it's thinking about it!), I too am eagerly awaiting IBrowse2.4. Surfing without an RTG card is dead slow, I think the ChipRAM bottleneck slows downloads, particularly with serial transfers.

humppa: How do you get a GFX card in an A1200 without spending the equivalent of a 1260 on just a new case, busboard and adaptors etc.?

[Oliver]

Hyperspeed wrote:

Argus/Jiffy: IBrowse 2.3 is very slow with javascript but it gets you there (and informs you it's thinking about it!), I too am eagerly awaiting IBrowse2.4. Surfing without an RTG card is dead slow, I think the ChipRAM bottleneck slows downloads, particularly with serial transfers.

humppa: How do you get a GFX card in an A1200 without spending the equivalent of a 1260 on just a new case, busboard and adaptors etc.?

I previously wanted to get my 1200 online, but then I thought, the benefits one gets for the costs invloved are just ridiculous.  Putting and 060, RAM and gfx card into a 1200 costs rather a lot.  I only wanted to do it because I could (maybe if I'm rich one day).  I tried with UAE, and the browser situation is as much an issue as the hardware.  The only reason I would put my 1200 online now, would be to make it easier to grab some downloads directly into it, rather than transfering via a PC.  Now, I'm more interested in using Yellow TAB's Zeta for net access.  Hope it should be fun and fast.  I'm rather sick of XP and its shabby programming, poor security, and sluggish response.