ACA 630/25 Stealth Accelerator

[SteveSJB]

I keep going to Amigakit and looking at this every day debating with myself to buy it or not, had a couple of questions if anyone knows the answers:-

I like the idea of the extra 32mb of memory, would this actually make my A600 any better for gaming?  Would the 600 actually utilise it say when I run games in whdload - I would hope I could run every game without any problems, is this true?

Also, it upgrades the processor to a 030, does this mean that old games I play on it still work with the new processor without the need of an earlier kickstart?

Its quite expensive so can't jump into buying it without a bit of research.

Many thanks

[utri007]

Games shouldn't be problem, IF you use whdloadized games.

[Daedalus]

Well, for a start there are many games that won't run in WHDLoad *without* extra memory, so in that sense, yes, the extra memory will help. WHDLoad is very good at getting games to work on 030 CPUs which otherwise would crash. It also helps when you have a newer kickstart than the original machine came with, but I'm not fully sure what you mean when you say "without the need of an earlier kickstart" - have you upgraded the Kickstart in your 600? Because the stealth accelerator won't affect your kickstart...

[alexh]

Depends on how much money you want to spend.

For ~£25 you could buy a 2Mbyte PCMCIA SRAM card and run most of the WHDload games from hard drive.

What you'll see is workbench speed improvements, disk access will be a lot faster and so will window refresh etc.

If you don't mind how sluggish the UI feels when starting the games then just get a PCMCIA SRAM card.

[SteveSJB]

Thankyou for the responses, where would I get the PCMCIA 2mb card? Can't see any on Amigakit

[cv643d]

2MB PCMCIA cards are obscure technology, you will most likely find one on ebay.com

[tone007]

I've run across at least a couple of WHDLoad games that don't like a plain old 68000 CPU, some tricks or patches or whatever complain they want '020+.  '030 has been the most compatible CPU I've used for WHDload.

The PCMCIA SRAM cards only seem to be available on eBay these days.

[fitzsteve]

Another problem playing WHDLoad games on a 68000 CPU is the quit key for many games does not work, this is something to with how the slaves were coded.

If you did go for the ACA630 you can still play your old non WHDLoad games that don't support the upgraded CPU/Ram as there is a disable jumper and you can fit a switch to the jumper pins.

The ACA is a pretty serious upgrade for an A600 though, you could for example spend circa £70 on an A1200 and 4/8mb upgrade and play most of the WHDLoad catalogue of games including AGA.

Steve.

[Buzzfuzz]

I wondered the same thing, but I'm just going for it, I want at least 1 A600 with turbo.
I'm still awaiting email for a 630/30 64MB, if it can be ordered, if not I will think on getting the 25Mhz/32MB, but that if it's really not possible anymore.

[alexh]

Another problem playing WHDLoad games on a 68000 CPU is the quit key for many games does not work

CTRL+A+A?

When you consider how fast the A600 will reboot (when streamlined) this isn't a problem.

[alexh]

where would I get the PCMCIA 2mb card?

If it has not sold yet there was one here :

http://www.amibay.com/showthread.php?t=12387

[amigakit]

@BuzzFuzz

I cant find your email: but I can confirm the only model available is the ACA 630/25 and Individual Computers stated they have no plans to make any more ACA630 (25Mhz and 30Mhz) versions.

[Buzzfuzz]

@BuzzFuzz
 
I cant find your email: but I can confirm the only model available is the ACA 630/25 and Individual Computers stated they have no plans to make any more ACA630 (25Mhz and 30Mhz) versions.

That's because the order was placed somewhere else, but if that doesn't go trough, I'll get it refunded.
So on that note I have just placed an order for an ACA630/25, just to be on the safe site.
Should be in the system by now.

[TjLaZer]

I keep going to Amigakit and looking at this every day debating with myself to buy it or not, had a couple of questions if anyone knows the answers:-

I like the idea of the extra 32mb of memory, would this actually make my A600 any better for gaming?  Would the 600 actually utilise it say when I run games in whdload - I would hope I could run every game without any problems, is this true?

Also, it upgrades the processor to a 030, does this mean that old games I play on it still work with the new processor without the need of an earlier kickstart?

Its quite expensive so can't jump into buying it without a bit of research.

Many thanks

You want this for your A600 trust me.  A stock 600 is only good for simple apps in WB off the HD and floppy only games.  Whdload does not work well, but some games will work, especially with a PCMCIA SRAM card to add some fast mem.  A 030 and 32mb will really bring this little Amiga to life and all ecs Whdload games will be playable.

Only issue with the 030 is floppy only games.  Most old A500 games will not work unless you degrade the system or use the disable switch. (like psygnosis games)  But the 030 is not too bad and most disk games can be made to work by using the startup menu.  For better results you can just install a switch to turn if off, but I wouldnt bother.

[alexh]

Whdload does not work well, but some games will work, especially with a PCMCIA SRAM card to add some fast mem.

I have empirical evidence to the contrary. With KS3.1 (v40.63) and an A608 RAM card I was hard pressed to find titles that didn't work. Take the top 20 WHDload Amiga games and I bet 16+ work.