#Upgrade my Amiga 3000 ??
6 messages in this thread
Hello !
I have some questions: I have an Amiga 3000 (25 Mhz) with 6 MByte and the
Retina Z2 graphical card. I would like to upgrade, but I don't know what I
should do first… Please help me make up my mind:
Should I:
– replace my Retina Z2 into a Z3 ?
– replace it with a Picasso II ?
– buy a 4000/040 ?
– put the 3.1 ROM in it or use the Kickstart disks ?
– rather invest in a bigger monitor (now 1940) ?
– rather invest in a bigger HD (now 100 Mb + 6 x 40 Mb Syquests) ?
– …
Please let me know what YOU should do in my case, or send me your 4000/040 if
you don't use it anymore…
Thanks, and keep praying for the Amiga… (or buy Commodore yourselve)
Stef 😉
Don't move to a PicassoII – it's just another Z2 board. The RetinaZ3 is, as
far as I know, the fastest board out there, but there might be a better, more
user-friendly board on the horizon – the CyberVision, now coming in June.
An 040 board for your 3k is one option you didn't mention. That or a RetinaZ3
is likely to give you the most results, but they're both expensive options.
Still, with an RZ3, you can sell the Z2 and cut your costs a bit. A 4000/040 is
going to be way too expensive now. And harddrives… depends on your storage
needs.
Hope I helped.
Mr. Zombie
What to upgrade depends on what you plan to do. *If* you really don't need
access to AGA, then your 3000 can be as useful as a 4000. I'd find a 040
accelerator for a start, and upgrade to 3.1 for better compatability,
especially with graphics cards. A Retina Z3 will give you faster screen
redraws, but you'll need a Buster-11 chip, which will not be compatible with
all 040 accelerators. More RAM is always good, and maybe a bigger hard drive
if yours is getting too small.
Regards, Keith.
I guaruntee you that a Buster11 is not needed for a RetinaZ3.
Mr. Zombie
I've read enough messages which gave me the opinion that you needed the
Buster-11 to run the Retina-Z3. Did something change, or has the Buster
problem been blown out of proportion? It really doesn't suprise me since I'm
running an EGS-Spectrun card in Z3 mode with the older rev 9 chip.
Regards, Keith.
No, the Retina never needed a Buster11. I've got a Buster9 (I think, if not
older) in my 3000, and have no problems with my Retina. The Buster11 is only
needed for DMA stuff, like for hard drive controllers, as far as I know. And
the Fastlane can actually work without it, albeit with diminished performance
and increased CPU overhead – i.e. no DMA.
Mr. Zombie