FPGA Replay Board

[pampers]

AB3D II The Killing Grounds !!!

Maybe some NovaCoder's stuff like his Quake I or Quake II port for AGA.

[mikej]

Although there is only one physical DRAM interface, the current core uses it as a single random access memory. As long as the address(es) are in a separate physical bank inside the memory it is possible to effectively do several reads at the same time. So, for the display controller it can bust read memory at the same time as the CPU without impacting its performance.

A clever memory controller will automatically open as many banks as possible at the same time, so by careful address mapping of chip / fast regions we could speed things up.
/MikeJ

[yaqube]

I have made some tests using bustest and my A4000 and both of my Replay boards (Rev.A with daughterboard and standard Rev.B). What do you think?

Code: [Select]


BusSpeedTest 0.19 (mlelstv)   Buffer:     262144 Bytes, Alignment: 32768
memtype op A4K PAL A4K VGA A4K RTG RP PAL RP VGA 060 PAL 060 VGA 060 RTG
fast readw 33.7 33.6 33.7 20.9 19.4 52.9 52.3 52.8
fast readl 39.6 39.2 39.5 28.4 28.2 60.2 60.5 60.3
fast readm 39.5 39.6 39.4 29.3 29.2 60.7 60.7 59.7
fast writew 27.7 27.4 27.6 5.8 4.7 49.3 48.8 49.0
fast writel 27.5 27.6 27.6 7.7 6.2 48.6 49.1 48.6
fast writem 27.6 27.7 27.5 10.9 8.3 49.3 48.9 48.7
chip readw 1.7 0.7 2.3 5.8 4.7 7.1 7.1 7.1
chip readl 3.4 1.4 4.7 7.7 6.2 14.1 14.1 14.1
chip readm 3.4 1.4 4.7 10.9 8.3 14.1 14.1 14.1
chip writew 2.4 1.1 3.5 5.8 4.7 11.7 8.9 14.0
chip writel 4.8 2.2 7.0 7.7 6.2 23.1 17.7 27.9
chip writem 4.8 2.2 7.0 10.9 8.3 23.1 17.9 27.9
rom readw 33.5 33.7 33.7 20.9 19.4 52.6 52.9 52.5
rom readl 39.5 39.4 39.4 28.4 28.2 60.0 60.1 60.5
rom readm 39.3 39.2 39.0 29.3 29.2 60.7 60.3 60.5

A4K - A4000 w/ CS MKII 060 60MHz + 128MB 60ns DRAM + Picasso IV
RP - Replay w/ Minimig AGA core + TG68K 28MHz dcache/icache + 8MB FAST RAM
060 - Replay w/ Minimig AGA/RTG core + Rev.6 68060 106MHz + 128MB 53MHz SDRAM
PAL - 640x512x256 (PAL High Res Laced)
VGA - 640x480x256 (Productivity)
RTG - 1024x768x256

[xyzzy]

Damn!

[Crumb]

@yaqube

impressive values! I would love that the 060 board included some kind of SATA port but USB2 will be better than nothing :-)

[ChaosLord]

I have made some tests using bustest and my A4000 and both of my Replay boards (Rev.A with daughterboard and standard Rev.B). What do you think?

Code: [Select]


BusSpeedTest 0.19 (mlelstv)   Buffer:     262144 Bytes, Alignment: 32768
memtype op A4K PAL A4K VGA A4K RTG RP PAL RP VGA 060 PAL 060 VGA 060 RTG
fast readl 39.6 39.2 39.5 28.4 28.2 60.2 60.5 60.3
fast writel 27.5 27.6 27.6 7.7 6.2 48.6 49.1 48.6
chip writel 4.8 2.2 7.0 7.7 6.2 23.1 17.7 27.9


A4K - A4000 w/ CS MKII 060 60MHz + 128MB 60ns DRAM + Picasso IV
RP - Replay w/ Minimig AGA core + TG68K 28MHz dcache/icache + 8MB FAST RAM
060 - Replay w/ Minimig AGA/RTG core + Rev.6 68060 106MHz + 128MB 53MHz SDRAM
PAL - 640x512x256 (PAL High Res Laced)
VGA - 640x480x256 (Productivity)
RTG - 1024x768x256

Woohoo!  I can easily attain triple speed AGA blitting on a Replay+Daughtercard!  

Copy MyBankAccount:#? ALL FORCE QUICK  to Yaqube:BankAccount/


I noticed you listed VGA mode times.  Is that the way to get flickerfree AGA gfx on a replay?  To use DoublePAL, DoubleNTSC or VGA modes?

Luckily my gamecode already supports both PAL and DoublePAL even though DoublePAL is mostly useless on a real A1200.

[gaula92]

Copy MyBankAccount:#? ALL FORCE QUICK  to Yaqube:BankAccount/

Hahaha! Nice to see I'm not the only who loves AmigaDOS (not WB) around here
I always wondered why the Los Gatos team decided to include connectives in commands like "from", "to", etc... it makes AmigaDOS a very fun yet easy DOS to use. My favorite over Linux and Risc OS.

[yaqube]

I noticed you listed VGA mode times.  Is that the way to get flickerfree AGA gfx on a replay?  To use DoublePAL, DoubleNTSC or VGA modes?

Yes, all programmable modes like DoublePal, DoubleNTSC, Multiscan etc are supported.

[ChaosLord]

Yes, all programmable modes like DoublePal, DoubleNTSC, Multiscan etc are supported.

I meant is that the only way to get a flickerfree interlaced AGA display?

Like does Replay have a hardware flickerfixer built-in that can deinterlace the Amiga's interlace modes?  And if so, is it free?  Or does it use the same amount of bandwidth as the corresponding Double#? mode?

My real Amiga has a hardware flickerfixer so all my PAL and NTSC interlace software displays to my VGA monitor without costing me any extra bandwidth.

I'm just trying to figure out what to tell ppl when they play my games on Replay.

[freqmax]

I have made some tests using bustest and my A4000 and both of my Replay boards (Rev.A with daughterboard and standard Rev.B). What do you think?
[CODE]
BusSpeedTest 0.19 (mlelstv)   Buffer:     262144 Bytes, Alignment: 32768
memtype   op    A4K PAL   A4K VGA   A4K RTG   RP PAL   RP VGA   060 PAL   060 VGA   060 RTG
fast    readw    33.7   33.6   33.7   20.9   19.4   52.9   52.3   52.8
chip    readw    1.7   0.7   2.3   5.8   4.7   7.1   7.1   7.1

My conclusion:
 * Video modes that use more bit/s will leave less capacity for other stuff.
 * Faster memory  interface = more capacity
 * Separate memory for CPU = faster read/writes

The RP+060 is perfect in all those aspects.

[Heiroglyph]

Considering it's almost finished and not yet optimized, those numbers are incredible.

Congrats guys, that's so much better than existing motherboards that you're really making me want one.

[cunnpole]

Will using the expansion board without the 060 give any performance boost over the vanilla Replay? Or would I be best to get my hands on the cheapest RC model I can find?

[yaqube]

I meant is that the only way to get a flickerfree interlaced AGA display?

I don't have any plans to implement a flicker-fixer. Productivity and DoublePAL/NTSC modes are much faster on Replay than on any AGA Amiga (over 8 times) so it's not a problem. Besides you have a bunch of nice RTG screen modes so why not use them?

[bloodline]

Hahaha! Nice to see I'm not the only who loves AmigaDOS (not WB) around here
I always wondered why the Los Gatos team decided to include connectives in commands like "from", "to", etc... it makes AmigaDOS a very fun yet easy DOS to use. My favorite over Linux and Risc OS.

It would have been the MetaComCo guys who included those commands from TripOS, not the Amiga guys

[Hattig]

I don't have any plans to implement a flicker-fixer. Productivity and DoublePAL/NTSC modes are much faster on Replay than on any AGA Amiga (over 8 times) so it's not a problem. Besides you have a bunch of nice RTG screen modes so why not use them?

What about when you want to fire up a game and it runs in non double PAL and you're wired up to a monitor that can't take 15kHz?

Nevertheless I'm sure someone will come up with a solution. WHDLoad+Mode Promotion?

[Darrin]

What about when you want to fire up a game and it runs in non double PAL and you're wired up to a monitor that can't take 15kHz?

Nevertheless I'm sure someone will come up with a solution. WHDLoad+Mode Promotion?

Do you have a particular game in mind?  Remember, you have a scan doubler, just not a flicker fixer.

Off the top of my head, the only games I remember playing that made use of a flicker fixer were Sim Ant and SimCity2000.  I think Sim City could use other screen modes, not sure about Sim Ant.