Knowledge gap. What board to use for adding Ram to A4000 ???

[Effy]

I have got a real A4000D with standard 68040/25. I wanna add Ram but don´ t want to spend lotsa money on a Cyberstorm yet. I am currently bidding on a Fastlane Z3 with 30 pins Simms. Isn´t there a card that accepts 72 pins Simms Is the only real option a turboboard I know plenty of my A1200 but as the title says, there´s still a gap in my knowledge about the A4000 ...

[Jope]

Well if you can't afford a cyberstorm, then you'd better just plug in the 16MB you can fit on the mobo and start saving for a fast slot card that takes ram onboard.

The mobo ram and ZorroIII ram are slowwww, best not invest in that (if you can call it an investment) but hold onto the money for a greater goal. :-)

[patrik]

@Effy:

If you want to add ram via the ZorroIII-bus using 72-pin SIMMs, there is the DKB 3128 card which can take up to 128MB.

(edit): Though I have heard rumours of these card being quite pricey, so an accelerator with local ram might give you more bang for the buck.


/Patrik

[TjLaZah]

[Brian]

@TjLaZah

Mixing pure fastram with slow fastram on motherboard and z3 just to go from 128Mb to 272Mb must meen you got a huge demand for memory but not for speed? :-?

I sure wouldn't trade my 128Mb of fast fastram for anything more that wasn't just as fast or faster! :-D

[Brian]

@Effy

Save the money for a CPU board that take memory, even if it's just another 040/25 board it'll be much better than the "3640 & fastram on motherboard" combo.

I've seen the price of A4000 CPU boards plumit the last year so if you're lucky you might get a 060 card for less than you think (I see them quite regulary go for as little as 110€ + p&p now that many are uppgrading to PPC for OS4 but even PPC boards can be found for as little as 200€ + p&p with ppl going over to A1). :-D

[Effy]

Patrik : thanx for the link, I found one line at the bottom that took me by surprise : " Memory on the DKB 3128 is not as fast as motherboard memory in the A4000, about 80% of normal A4000 memory speed according to AIBB. " ... I really thought it would be way faster than the 16 Mb I have now on board ... I must agree guys, it seems that an accellerator is the only option ...

[Effy]

Found this Progressive Peripherals 68040 for A3000 on Ebay for 51 USD and still two days to go, but it also uses 32 pin Simms ... and there is still that Fastlane Z3 for 35 euro that lasts an hour on Ebay ...

[jeffimix]

The Progressive 040 in my 2000 can only take up to 32MBRAM, not sure about 3000 version :\

[Lemmink]

The ProgressivePeripherals for the A3000 is quite a collectors item. Besides it wouldn`t fit physically in an A4000 (unless you take out the doughteboard) the state of being a rare card will surely make it`s price go way over it`s actual worth (maybe even more then a 060er card would cost you).
Tha Fastlane is the same in terms of RAM-speed as the DKB3128. It`s the Zorrobus that is holding down the speed. But this is only natural; every board ever made, if it is an Amiga, PC or MAC has faster access to it`s RAM then to the ISA- ZORRO- PCI- NU-bus.

Of course the the Fastlane will go way cheaper then the DKB3128 but don`t expect any speedgains from it either.

[QuikSanz]

Hi,

Only memory on an accell card will be as fast as that card. All other will be only as fast as the bus speed, slow on Zorro.
Keep as much off the bus as possable. Speed on.

Chris

[Dr_Righteous]

If your A4k came with a GVP-HC+8 card, you could always populate that... Gives you an extra 8M expansion memory. Not exactly a speed enhancer, but hey.

[QuikSanz]

Hi,

Hmm, bus speed, this also applies to HD response. If the HD controller is on "the bus" it will also be limited to bandwidth of the bus.
It's good to keep that on an accel card also.

Chris

[Effy]

Now that you keep hitting on the bus-problem, what's the use of an expensive Powerflyer IDE controller then if the bus speed slows a lot down  :-?

[QuikSanz]

Hi Effy,

The way I look at the Amiga is BIG & small things. The bus is limited but, workable. Bus load should be prioritised to... Graphics card, there's a lot, sound, I/O Goodies.. ethernet, USB etc.
Just try to logic a priority. The less you have working the bus at the same time, the better.

Chris