Emac 1.25ghz + MorphOS+AGA games?

[haywirepc]

I'm considering getting an emac for morphos. Does it choke on more demanding classic amiga games? 1.25ghz on pc wouldn't do it... But I thought I saw youtube videos awhile back of someone running aga games on a 1.25ghz emac and it looked pretty good.
 
Any thoughts or comments about this, especially from people who have a 1.25ghz emac I would really appreciate.
 
Steven

[XDelusion]

At present, UAE on an Emac will only run the most basic 020 AGA games. That is till the JIT to PPC bounty is complete, then things will improve.

Though you really don't want an Emac anyhow. I bought one, and while I'm pleased at how well MorphOS runs on it, not to mention many of the classic Amiga apps (without emulation), I do get frustrated with how freaking dark the built in screen is, not to mention the fact that you are stuck with a mere 32Mb of GFX ram. So no eye candy (if that's your thing), and minimal multitasking.

I'd learn from my mistake, be patient and buy one of the higher end Mac Mini's or a Power Tower.

[haywirepc]

Yes I was thinking it may be underpowered for what I generally do amiga wise, which is old games and some creative things.
 
Steven

[kickstart]

not to mention the fact that you are stuck with a mere 32Mb of GFX ram. So no eye candy (if that's your thing), and minimal multitasking.

Minimal multitasking?... sometimes is better not read forums.

[kickstart]

@haywirepc

If you can buy a bargain emac, buy it, is easy to diassembly it and use with any tft.

[fishy_fiz]

@haywirepc

Sorry, I cant offer any info in regards to Emac 1.25ghz + MorphOS+AGA games, but I have noticed you seeming to have problems trying to scratch your particular itch whe it comes to an amiga system for a while. I appologize if Im mistaken, but Im under the impression youre after something that is quite usable, while giving you access to all your old favorite software at a good speed (including ecs/aga stuff that benefits from, or requires somewhat more than stock a1200 specs) ?
I too struggled trying to find something to scratch that itch completely, but having damn near driven myself mad trying to find the best solution for me (I tried 101 different setups with various amiga based systems) I settled for amithlon. Unparalled speed for system friendly 68k stuff, and besides AROS on x86 (ie. jit cpu emulation), currently the fastest uae speed for amiga based systems. 68k uae does re-emulate the entire system, even on amithlon/real amigas/etc., so the 68k cpu speed will be much slower than amithlon itself, but its fast enough not to be an issue (actually somewhat faster than Id thought in your thread about amithlon semi-recently,... I only just learned how much quicker running on lower res screens makes to performance a few weeks ago, by up to a factor of 2 or 3 depending on screenmodes). After all any truly heavy software is system friendly anyway (mame/quake1+2/descent freespace/video players/browsers/etc.).

The main downsides being of course that it's no longer commercially available, and that it can be a little tricky to get running. If you do decide to give it another try though, feel free to ask for help. I could even help you in "real time" over a chat client or similar if youre interested.

Anyway, sorry for being a bit off topic, but in the overall scheme of things it seemed relevant. Im not trying to talk you into anything here either, and MOS is a nice system if you do decide that's what you want. As I mentioned before I'd noticed a bit of a trend in some of your threads in recent times, so thought Id let you know what I decided was my best option when umming and aahing about the same things you seem to be umming and aahing about  

[commodorejohn]

Yes I was thinking it may be underpowered for what I generally do amiga wise, which is old games and some creative things.

No experience with MOS myself, but I will say that Power Mac G4s are easily had for very affordable prices and are by far the most expandable G4 machines. If you're not planning to use it for OS9, I'd just go ahead and nab a refurbished 1.25GHz MDD model from GainSaver - they're cheap because it's only single-CPU, but IIRC MOS can't use dual anyway, right? Max it out with 2GB DDR233 and a nice sizable IDE disk and you're set, it even comes with a Radeon 9000 Pro - not the creme de la creme, but certainly enough for a good starting point.

Also, in regards to the OP and comparing PPC/x86, my PowerBook G4 @ 1.33GHz benches just behind my Eee (Atom N270) @ 1.6GHz (and would probably equal it if it had DDR2,) and actually surpasses it in a variety of applications in practical use. For whatever that's worth.

[haywirepc]

I suppose for what I do what I've been using works fine (a 2ghz dedicated winuae machine) seems a bit slow and needs alot of tweaks for some of the really demanding classic games.
 
Yes I have been trying different things amiga for awhile. Amithlon sounds good. I even got a video and soundcard for it from ebay but like many things I start and not finish I never ordered a compattible network card. If you suggest one, I'll order it this week... I have a couple of 2ghz systems I could try it on just sitting here. If it seems like a nice home for my amiga things, I will get a faster pc for it I suppose.
 
On MOS I suppose I just have watched it from the sidelines for a long time, but I'm afraid I'll start with a cheap system and like mos enough to need a faster computer for it, so I may just wait till I can afford a power mac. For most everyday things I think mos is probably better then amithlon or aros, because of the browser.
 
Steven

[Crumb]

@haywirepc

eMac is quite nice (1.25Ghz, USB2.0,...) although If you can choose between a powermac and an eMac you'd better go for the powermac as it allows you to put different graphic cards and allows you to fit mac cpu accelerators too. Powermacs are also cheap, try to get a 1.25Ghz MDD

[XDelusion]

I second that, go with the power tower, I'm telling you!

I own an eMac and yes it works, and yes it works well, but the dark screen and GFX RAM issues WILL eventually drive you crazy and you'll be wishing (like me) that you'd had saved back a little and invested into a Tower instead!


One thing to keep in mind in the world of MorphOS is that it, unlike classic Amiga OS, REALLY does not play friendly with your Gfx RAM. Where the Amiga only needed 2Mb of GFX RAM to fly and get by, MorphOS will require 64 for most media related uses, it'll work with 32, but you'll be running out often. That is if you plan on having a bunch of programs and screens open at once.

Also with the eMac you'll want to run your system at a lower resolution, and if that DARK built in screen should die....

...well guess what, the Mini-VGA port on the side of the eMac is not supported by MorphOS so you can not use an external VGA monitor as a back up...

...you are screwed and have to order a new copy of MorphOS to use with another Mac (unless the MorphOS guys are willing to be kind and allow you to transfer your license.)

Just avoid it like the plague is all I can say. A Tower or a Mini with 64Mb of RAM don't cost that much and at least with those you are not forced to have a HUGE ass piece of crap monitor taking up precious space like I'm having issues with.

[haywirepc]

I'm going to wait on the morphos machine for awhile. Next up is building an amithlon box. I have to find and buy a supported network card first.
 
I never owned a mac or osx machine, so eventually I'd like a dual booting power mac... I think the emac is too underpowered to be very useful, and I never heard about these dark screen issues before. I think I'll pass on an emac.
 
Steven

[XDelusion]

I'm going to wait on the morphos machine for awhile. Next up is building an amithlon box. I have to find and buy a supported network card first.
 
I never owned a mac or osx machine, so eventually I'd like a dual booting power mac... I think the emac is too underpowered to be very useful, and I never heard about these dark screen issues before. I think I'll pass on an emac.
 
Steven

At last, I have saved someone from making a grave mistake!!!

Done my good dead for the day! And I know some people are going to come in here and probably bash me for talking you out of it, but seriously, the eMac is a piece of crap...

On the other hand it is quite amazing at what all MorphOS is capable of, even on a piece of crap such as it! Though, it's not worth buying just to be amazed for a little while, then begin to run into brick walls later on down the road.


As for Amithlon, I've got a machine set up at home, though at the moment I have having a REAL TOUGH time finding someone to help me get my USB working, not to mention figure out how to display more than 256s color in 640x480.

[spihunter]

The G4 towers are just going to get cheaper and cheaper as time passes. Mac folks don't want anything pre-Intel these days. I got the one in my Sig for free from a guy at work.

[commodorejohn]

Not surprising, I'm afraid; the folks at 68kMLA and PPCMLA seem to be by far in the minority among Apple fans. Well, their loss is a retrophile's gain