RadeonHD 4650 + PCI-to-PCIe adapter for SAM440ep/flex and A1XE

[Themamboman]

Okay, so I purchased this combo, following the suggestions on the website of the RadeonHD driver author because I had planned to purchase an Acube SAM440ep-flex board.

However, they went out of stock, and I don't have time to wait for them to come back.

So, here is the combo unit.  Would be great for a SAM 440 user or maybe even an A1XE user if you have the settings he recommends on his website.  I think someone either on amigans.net or amigaworld.net were having issues with their A1XE due to "fixes" on the motherboards or something.

Anyway, here's the link:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/261493388873

[Lurch]

A shame it doesnt work with the Peg II board. Doesn't really matter at the moment until the sort the 3D support.

Might have to buy the sam 460 :-/

[Iggy]

The idea of running a PCI-e video card in a PCI slot is appalling.
And the Sam460 and X1000 have PCI-e slots (no adapter needed).
Also, it would make sense to buy a higher end card.

[Lurch]

The idea of running a PCI-e video card in a PCI slot is appalling.

For those that can't afford it, it is a great option for SAM440/A1 and Peg II (if they updated the openfirmware).

Gives us an upgrade path without the huge cost of purchasing a partially supported SAM 460. All this doesn't really matter anyway as you can't buy any motherboards brand new at the moment.

[som99]

I also have the PCI-E to PCI and a radeon 7770 that I do not use that I was planning to use in my sam440ep-flex but without 3D support I haven't bothered yet. I know the 7770 is overkill over the slow PCI bus but since I don't use it it's better then buying something else.

Waste to use PCI cards on PCI machines? Not really since it's faster then the old PCI cards we can use even over the PCI bus plus the large amounts of memory if able to use in the future, well if drivers get useful that is.

To TS good luck selling

[Iggy]

I don't think you guys realize how poorly these cards will perform IF 3D support is ever finalized for them.
It would be nice if a reliable, more powerful PCI-e solution (than the SAM460) that cost less than the X1000 or X5000 was available.
A board similar to the SAM460, but with something like a Freescale T1042 would be nice.

[Lurch]

Better performance than a 9000 series :-)

[som99]

I don't think you guys realize how poorly these cards will perform IF 3D support is ever finalized for them.
It would be nice if a reliable, more powerful PCI-e solution (than the SAM460) that cost less than the X1000 or X5000 was available.
A board similar to the SAM460, but with something like a Freescale T1042 would be nice.

As I said the PCI bus is a big bottleneck but still faster then the 9000 series PCI cards. I only bought the sam440ep-flex because I got it for a really good price and wanted to try out AOS4.x, I don't use it much enough to justify buying a more expensive machine so I do what I can with what I got.
Id rather spend that money on my other retro interests

[Iggy]

Better performance than a 9000 series :-)

With a 733 MHz processor pushing it?
Via a PCI bus?
Don't set your expectations too high.

[Hans_]

The idea of running a PCI-e video card in a PCI slot is appalling.
And the Sam460 and X1000 have PCI-e slots (no adapter needed).
Also, it would make sense to buy a higher end card.

Just in case this makes anyone consider a Radeon HD PCI card, a PCI Radeon HD card is in fact running a PCIe card in a PCI slot. Those cards just have a PCI-to-PCIe bridge chip on-board. I used to think that a mid to high-end Radeon HD card plugged into a PCI-to-PCIe bridge was pointless, but tests performed by others show that they do, in fact, make a noticeable improvement over the low-end Radeon HD PCI cards.

Regardless, I also encourage people to get a machine with an actual PCIe slot, if they can.

Hans

[Jeff]

Just in case this makes anyone consider a Radeon HD PCI card, a PCI Radeon HD card is in fact running a PCIe card in a PCI slot. Those cards just have a PCI-to-PCIe bridge chip on-board. I used to think that a mid to high-end Radeon HD card plugged into a PCI-to-PCIe bridge was pointless, but tests performed by others show that they do, in fact, make a noticeable improvement over the low-end Radeon HD PCI cards.

Regardless, I also encourage people to get a machine with an actual PCIe slot, if they can.

Hans

I have a Sam 440 system with a Radeon 9250. I beta tested the RadeonHD driver with a PCI Radeon 4350 card. I purchased the final RadeonHD driver from Aeon. Would  there be any advantage to upgrading my 9250 with the stock 4.x drivers to the HD4350 PCI (not PCI-E with an adapter) and using the RadeonHD driver that I have? I haven't tried it out yet.

[Iggy]

Obviously, even bottle necked by a really slow bus, a more powerful GPU should perform better.
It just seems wasteful to place further limits on a decent GPU's performance.
Acube's use of slow, relatively low power PPCs without AltiVec already limits performance.
While the X1000 supports AltiVec (and is quite faster), the X5000 won't and at 2.2 GHz it has a real speed disadvantage when compared to the X86 systems that modern video cards are usually run in.

While all these developments ARE improvements to our environment, we still operate at a disadvantage when compared to mainstream systems.

This, when combined with uncompetitive pricing, discourages further expansion of our community.

[Hans_]

I have a Sam 440 system with a Radeon 9250. I beta tested the RadeonHD driver with a PCI Radeon 4350 card. I purchased the final RadeonHD driver from Aeon. Would  there be any advantage to upgrading my 9250 with the stock 4.x drivers to the HD4350 PCI (not PCI-E with an adapter) and using the RadeonHD driver that I have? I haven't tried it out yet.

You'd be better off asking someone who has actually tried this. Personally, I think that you'd miss being able to use 3D games/apps.

Hans

[Lurch]

I would pay money for an updated driver that gave 3d support to the 9800pro (warp3d would be a bonus).

My other option is to switch to MorphOS as I see you can use 9800pro with 3d games, still no warp3d though.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PoYfGDSDVB0

Only downside is I like AmigaOS's workbench over MorphOS...

Atleast with the Peg I can run both :-)

[Lurch]

Did a google don't see a bounty, a shame :-/