DKB Cobra VS ACA 1232

[Grue]

Hi there, long time lurker, first post. You guys have got me to dig my old 1200 out of the attic and start pimping her out.

I straight away bought a bundle of bits from Amigakit, completely forgetting I had a Cobra card in her already from the early 90's.

So.... I've got these two cards on my desk. Both have 68030's. So the question is, which do i sell, and which do i keep. If i upgraded the Cobra to 128MB (and flash the card) is there going to be any difference between them?


ACA 1232/33Mhz with 128MB RAM

DKB Cobra 33Mkz, 16MB RAM

[magnetic]

Id say the cobra card would be the one to use, but the ACA has cool features like kickstart rom and things and probably much faster.. If you dont use the cobra card i'd be willing to buy it from you as a backup card for my a1200

[Oldsmobile_Mike]

The Cobra card will let you add an FPU, which can be clocked higher than the CPU, if you care about that sort of thing. Also it already includes an RTC, and optional SCSI. And it's less likely to require any of the "timing fixes" that some A1200's need with the ACA's. But the memory access speed on the ACA will most likely totally crush the speed on the DKB.
 
I've got an idea - try them both, and post benchmarks! :idea:

Oh - and welcome!

[Gulliver]

The Cobra card will let you add an FPU, which can be clocked higher than the CPU, if you care about that sort of thing. Also it already includes an RTC, and optional SCSI. And it's less likely to require any of the "timing fixes" that some A1200's need with the ACA's. But the memory access speed on the ACA will most likely totally crush the speed on the DKB.
 
I've got an idea - try them both, and post benchmarks! :idea:

Oh - and welcome!

I agree with everything Oldsmobile_Mike said, and would like to remark that for the ACA timing fixes and the lack of FPU I will not hesitate to choose the DKB Cobra.

If you want to reach ACA performance, just simply overclock the card a bit (the Cobra is very friendly to overclock and so are 68030 cpus).

[midway]

I have upgraded my dkb 1240 to 50 mhz and 68882-50. Its stable, runs a little hot without cooling but its a good card.

The scsi upgrade would be nice but i have not seen one in the last two years so i got myself another card with scsi.

Have a blizzard iv too, but no scsi, which is probably the best of all mentioned.

Never had an aca, but as it is the newest and probably longest lasting would go for that, if it runs stable.

[gertsy]

I have upgraded my dkb 1240 to 50 mhz and 68882-50. Its stable, runs a little hot without cooling but its a good card.

The scsi upgrade would be nice but i have not seen one in the last two years so i got myself another card with scsi.

Have a blizzard iv too, but no scsi, which is probably the best of all mentioned.

Never had an aca, but as it is the newest and probably longest lasting would go for that, if it runs stable.

Keep the ACA as a spare and use the Cobra until it dies. You can update the 16GB to 64GB. Impossible to find a Ferret(SCSI) but with a PCMCIA CF Card reader and an internal 4GB CF Card you don't really need SCSI.

[klx300r]

@ Grue

welcome aboard :pint:

I would pimp out the Cobra and keep the ACA for a spare.  Also this is a great chance to run side by side comparisons and post them here;)

[RobertB]

The scsi upgrade would be nice but i have not seen one in the last two years...

As the late Dave "Lord Ronin" Mohr of the Astoria Commodore User Group found out, the SCSI connector from the Cobra is it Achilles' heel.  Seems that when the rubberized SCSI cable breaks, it is impossible to repair it and really impossible to find a replacement for it.

On vacation,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://videocam.net.au/fcug

[Megamig]

The Ferret SCSI module hard to come by... *laughs* I have two of them!

[gertsy]

The Ferret SCSI module hard to come by... *laughs* I have two of them!

Cool, you can sell one to Grue then.

[motrucker]

DKB made excellent cards! I used a Cobra in my old A1200 for years with 128Mb or RAM and their SCSI interface. The DKB is an great choice, I would say the better of the two here.

[gizz72]

Greetings,

Hello Grue, I have exact the same model on my A1200 right now, but I only have 32Mb on her and no FPU. I would suggest, keep the ACA as a spare. DKB memory modules are hard to get by these days or try Amigakit. If you still have some spare $$$ you could buy an FPU for the old DKB! Pretty nice too, specially for Emulations which require it or FPS games like Genetic Species.

Regards,
GiZz72

[Grue]

Thank for the ideas chaps, and a warm welcome - as soon as the motherboard is back from the Capacitor Doctor, some benchmarks will be posted!

[magnetic]

megamig  glad you are bragging about your *hoarding* or should I rephrase that as *laming*