Have PPC in A1200. Now add Mediator or G-Rex ??

[Effy]

 Mediator 1200 SX at Vesalia

is a Mediator for A1200 and costs 278 euro.

 G-Rex 1200 at KDH Datentechnik

costs only 99 euro. What's the difference ?? Anybody can tell me the pro's and the con's ??  :-?

[Acill]

Well the G-Rex is no longer supported. It sort of is using openPCI, but you can get a lot more stuff for the Mediator. I would never give mine up. Elbox is still writing updated software for it.

[amigamad]

i would go for the mediator the g rex is not very popular . :-)

[Crumb]

The G-Rex 1200 sometimes gives more problems than the 4000 version with certain boards (and is less compatible too), and some people has toasted their ppcs... although the number of drivers is similar, you should remember that OS4 probably won't support G-Rex... If you plan to use MorphOS then it's no problem. The price difference is important... if it was supported by OS4 I would buy it, but with the current situation it seems unlikely that we see G-Rex supported...

An added problem is with the G-Rex is that if your ppc dies you'll have to buy another expensive ppc... in contrast if you use a mediator you can plug in any turbo card.

[olegil]

Personally, I would go Mediator. But it's not my choice (or rather, I already made that choice and bought one ages ago (allthough not an SX... :-( ))

The list of supported cards for the G-Rex isn't very long, is it?

Whichever way you go, there's not much that beats Workbench in 1600x1200, 24bit on a 21" screen. Too bad my V3 is a LITTLE bit slow for that, so get a slight flicker due to low refresh rate. But the screen doesn't handle a lot more either, so I guess an upgrade would be EXPENSIVE :-)

[KennyR]

Grex Pros: It's slightly faster technically, will support openpci (useful for newer things coming out these days, like the catweasel).

Cons: Lack of driver support.


Mediator Pros: More drivers for PCI cards.

Cons: No openpci and no outside support (many coders have argued with elbox in the past), so only elbox will ever code drivers.

[tjaoz]

You can also look at the technical comparison between different PCI boards at the Elbox website.

[PulsatingQuasar]

Don't buy the G-Rex! I have one and allthough it works, the support is crap. But what is new from DCE and the other people who made the product.

OpenPCI? Bull. Only with the newest flash and if your BlizzardPPC revision is not 2( which most aren't) you have to send the BlizzardPPC to DCE to update the basic ROM to rev 2. Otherwise, stick a Voodoo3 in and lo and behold, it won't boot.
So, you have to flash back and you also can't use the newest Cybergraphx 4.3 and have to stick to the 4.2 beta 11 version. Or send it to DCE and possibly never see it back.

Your only chance is asking the French company that also repairs BlizzardPPC and CyberstormPPC if they can flash to rev 2.

So, does this suck? YES, it sucks. :-x  (But what else is new. The tradition of crap support has been handed down from Phase 5 to DCE).

[Effy]

How come ?? If you add a Voodoo and a SB128 and a supported network card, then what is the problem for a G-Rex ??

[Effy]

Sorry, my message was made a few hours ago but I forgot to save it and now I just saw your reactions. I must thank you guys for such a detailed info. It really does seem to be very difference from the Mediator.  Guess I have to think it over and rob an old lady to get me cash for a Mediator or so ... or maybe it's safer to work a few days in the week-end too ?! :-D

[PulsatingQuasar]

How come ?? If you add a Voodoo and a SB128 and a supported network card, then what is the problem for a G-Rex ??

If you use the newest flash which supports OpenPCI, there is a timing problem with rev 0 BlizzardPPC which causes the system not to boot anymore. You can't use the newest drivers then.

[lempkee]

go for an Mediator , no matter what ...

grexx is dead, that openpci thingy...sure it might become a hit but its VERY unlikely to happen, also os4 for grexx ...forget it , wont happen unless DCE start to work as a team.

anyway as a last note, don't do the mistake i did...buy an MEDIATOR SX  , thats the best choice, i know they cost more but u wont regret it.

when i bought the mediator, well that was before SX came , so basically i did'nt know

also..i had a grexx that died same day as i installed it , got too hot and melted some #### on it, still waiting for a replacement card...
this was 18 months ago ...so hurrah!..
NOT!!!!!!!!!!! ;(

cheers, and good luck effy

[DaveC]

I have the older version of the Mediator in my A1200, and have been happy with it.  I don't have enough experience with the GRexx to have an opinion one way or another about it.

[Lando]

I bought a G-Rex for my A1200PPC because it was cheap.  after an hour of trying to get it working (and failing), it got so hot I could smell burning, and the hot glue on the board melted.  When I removed the board, my A1200 would no longer boot - it was dead and I had to order a new motherboard from Eyetech.

I sent the G-Rex back and got a mediator instead which worked flawlessly.

Bottom line is that G-Rex is faster but its a pain in the arse to get it working, there's no support, less drivers, and risks damaging your Amiga.

[Ponos2D]

10 months ago I had also this dilema, Mediator
or G-Rex!
Go for Mediator! Maybe you should try to get
second hand one, if new is to expensive!
New is SX version i think. I have old 4 slot
version and I use 3 slots, so it's enough for me!

Mediator is very qualitative manufactured!
(Uf, I think I wrote this sentence wrong. Did I? :-D)