Value of RTG Card in a A3000?

[Sandman]

Hi,

I recently picked up a A3000 that had a Retina card installed. I'm not sure what version yet.

Don't flame me, but what is the value of having a graphics card in a A3000 that already has VGA support?  Would it be mainly a speed issue?  Would this card be better off in my A2000 instead, in your opinions?

As always, thanks all for your help!
Tim

[chiark]

Higher resolutions, higher colour depth, higher refresh rate.  1024x768 at 8/16/24 bit depending on memory (and version of the Retina - there's a Z2 and Z3 version).

Definitely worth having if it's a Z3.  Z2 with EGS is still worth having, too...

This assumes you're using Workbench of course!

[countzero]

all of that and less usage of chip ram of course. it's definately worth having one. though I'ld say Retina Z2 is rather rubbish.

[Sandman]

Forgive me for sounding noobish......

So it would be best for running WB through the Retina and have another monitor hooked to either vga or rgb for pass-thru of games, etc.?

I'll have to look to see if I have the Z2 or Z3, sysinfo shows 18mb total memory so I don't if the Retinas mem would show up here or not...

[Jiffy]

You have:

A4000D 18mb,WarpEngine040w/128mb,Picasso IV,X-Surf,18GB SCSI,8GB CF,IDE CDRW->SCSI 8-)
A4000D-30,18mb,CDRW
A3000, A1200(x2), DKB 1202 w/8mb
A2500 GVP 030,GVP 2000HC+8,Bridgeboard,ROM Switcher,CDRW,DCTV,Toaster,TBC II,etc.
A2000(x3),8-UP,Spitfire,...

...and you say:

Forgive me for sounding noobish......

...because you don't know what to do with a Retina-card in an A3000, while you also mention:

sysinfo shows 18mb total memory so I don't if the Retinas mem would show up here or not...

Right?

I am slightly puzzled, to say the least.

Amused, but puzzled.

[Sandman]

LOL!

Well, I did play around a bit with my A500 back in the day.... was away from the Amiga for most of the 1990's..... never could afford an A2000, A3000, or A4000 back then let alone RTG cards, accelerators, etc. so hence not alot of experience with those goodies.

Now fast forward to the last year where I have managed to accumulate quite a bit of kit that I am really not up-to-speed on but I am trying to put together the best configurations of hardware for each computer that I have.  

So you see, I am the one that is kinda puzzled. I'm part veteran, part noob

[Caius]

I think he's puzzled because your signature implies that you already have an A4000 with a Picasso IV, so it's a little strange that you don't already know how much better most RTG cards are compared to the A3000 native output.

[Sandman]

Now I'm puzzled and not so much amused....I was merely asking opinions on having a Retina in a A3000.  I questioned if perhaps a graphics card for a 2000 might have negative effects in a A3000, I dunno that is why I was asking.  

As for me having a PIV, all I know is that I got the card in a A4000 and hooking it up to VGA was apparently better than the RGB.  Didn't make me an instant expert on Amiga RTG cards.  I did try to do some research online but figured opinions would be more valuable.

I was just asking a question which I thought was part of the purpose of this site, not asking to have my inadequate post critiqued line by line, sheesh.

To those of you who did offer constuctive input, thank you.

[new2amga]

I don't know if there any true value in having an RTG card in an A3000, but I have a low end one in my A3000, a Spectrum 28/24 (or are those numbers reversed?).  I have noticed that it runs very well and having the ability to run background pics and a higher resolution is nice, although loading a background does slow down considerably considering I pretty much have a stock A3000.  It's worth trying.  If you don't like it you can always remove the RTG, sell it, or put it in another machine.  My opinion on my system is that I like it.

Nathan

[J-Golden]

At this point it would be best to crack open the case and get a good look at the card.

You can compair it to pics on amiga hardware sites like:

 http://www.amiga-hardware.com/

Infact, just looking at the pics on this site and the back of your Vid. card should tell you which one you have...

As for being a long termer/neewbe, Join the boat.  I used to WORK on the beasts and now I'm lucky to navigate a CLI!

IF you DO have a Z-II version, I'd follow chiark's advice.  EGS is old but is free and has some fun add-ons that I haven't seen on any other Amiga graphics software. Example, You can have your monitors side-by-side and move across them real time like you can NOW with Windows...  CyberGFX and P-IV software don't do that to my knwoledge .

Good luck and keep us posted!

PS- The memory on a video card won't show up with your chip or fast ram in SYSinfo, FYI.

[T3000]

The Z2 version doesn't use P96 or CyberGraphX drivers. Z2 model can have 1, 2 or 4 mg ram onboard while the Z3 has 4 mg ram. Oviously the Z3 model would be the better one to have in the A3000, while the Z2 is suited for the A2000. The Z2 is a smaller card than the Z3.

<-Z2 - Z3->  

[Flashlab]

@Sandman

Hey man, don't get too down! I too was asking myself how can a guy that owns a PIV ask this question? That's not criticism, just curiousness.

You have a PIV in your A4000 which is in my opinion the best RTG card for the Amiga. Have you installed P96 for it? If not then you're just using the scandoubler/flicker fixer part of it at the moment which enables you to use a VGA monitor for display. It can do so much more!

[Caius]

I was just asking a question which I thought was part of the purpose of this site, not asking to have my inadequate post critiqued line by line, sheesh.

I didn't mean this as critisism, nor did I sense anyone else meant it as such. Let me try being more helpful then. I think the best option for your A3000 is to get a graphics card with a passthrough port so you can route the machine's builtin scandoubler/flickerfixer through it and get a one-monitor solution. These cards also have a built-in monitor switcher so that the front most screen is displayed no matter whether this is RTG mode or native mode. The CyberVision 64 is arguably the best choice (I'm sure someone will disagree though), however the Spectrum 28/24 is probably easiest to get a hold on since SoftwareHut seems to be selling these now.

[Sandman]

Hi,

Well, I'm learning already I hope. I keep forgetting that the A3000 scandoubler is just that -a scandoubler and doesn't offer any 'graphic card' capabilities per se, correct?

I need to research what you mentioned about some cards having passthrough capabilities as I need to get up to speed on which ones do and don't and the value of such.

Thanks again.... I'll get there slowly!
Tim

[Flashlab]

Hi,

I keep forgetting that the A3000 scandoubler is just that -a scandoubler and doesn't offer any 'graphic card' capabilities per se, correct?

Correct I believe!

Hi,

I need to research what you mentioned about some cards having passthrough capabilities as I need to get up to speed on which ones do and don't and the value of such.
)
Tim

I agree that the CV64 is a very good fit for the A3000. There are more cards that offer passthrough though like the Piccolo SD64. Look at http://amiga.resource.cx/exp/gfx or http://www.amiga-hardware.com/showcat.cgi?CATID=16 for more info!