#VXL/Accelerators
14 messages in this thread
Hi, I'm thinking about buying an accelerator card for my A2000. I've heard
about a Microbotics VXL30 accelerator that is priced too good to be true.
Can anybody give me a review of this board, is it true 32bit? Does it use
the co-processor slot? I know that it needs an additional memory board, is
this available yet, and how much memory (32bit) will it hold. THANKS! Nick
It is truly 32-bit. It doesn't use the coprocessor slot, instead it plugs
directly into the 68000 slot and the 68K goes into the VXL. I don't have a
2000 so I don't know what, if anything, it blocks.
Performance increase is decent (maybe two-fold) without any 32-bit memory,
using the 40-MHz version on an A500. The memory boards are available as of
this coming Friday (I just bought one of the first ones) and come in 2 and
8 meg sizes. They use 32-bit burst-mode DRAMS and should make the boards
go zoooooooom.
Overall I am quite pleased with mine; I heartily recommend it if you need a
substantive performance increase but don't feel like dropping $1500 for an
040 board. The memory boards are expensive, I should note; $379 for 2 megs
and $849 for 8 megs. 2 megs of the superfast RAM should serve you in good
stead, however; just make sure that your application programs load into
that memory block and that your ramdisks and data go to your slower memory.
I have noted no incompatibility problems with the board itself; some comm
software (JR-Comm and NComm) act flakey if the board has cache mode turned
on, but don't actually crash. Other than that it has worked fine with
Superbase III, Superbase IV, WordPerfect, and other mainline apps.
What does the board itself cost?
Ron
I dunno. I don't have my receipt handy (didn't buy it for myself, 'twas a
gift.) Look it up in Amigaworld.
Thanks for your reply. I hope that the 2meg memory board can be expanded
to 8?? Please drop us a line when you get the memory module and tell me
how it all works out. Thanks! Nick
It can be expanded to eight; Microbotics claims that they have to do it,
but I imagine this is a crock.
Bob
Nick,
I bought one in February. It didnt' work on my 2000. I've sent it back
to Microbotics 4 times (it is there now) and it still doesn't work.
It does not use the co-processor slot. It is a plug-in to the 68000
socket.
Bill, K3OZM
That's odd, Bill – do you know why it doesn't work? IE, is there a fault
with the VXL itself that microbotics can't seem to fix or is there
something flaky with your 2000, or is it just not very compatible with the
2000?
Just curious (nosy).
Bob
Robert,
I have no idea. The VXL works in 68000 mode, but won't come up in 68030
mode. I don't know why, and Microbotics doesn't seem to have an answer
either.
Bill, K3OZM
The fact that it works in 68K mode would imply that the traces through the
board are all fine, since your 68000 is on the very top of the VXL chassis.
It sounds like your 68030 is bad.
Bob
I'd agree, except there have been 4 different units.
Bill, K3OZM
I have supplied two of these to A2000 owners. One guy has an older (4.2)
motherboard and is having occasional weird problems with WorkBench 2.04.
The other guy's motherboard is newer and he is running problem-free and
loves it. EMAIL me for the price – it is very very reasonable. These also
work just fine in A500's. I think the VXLis good value for the $$.
Somebody at MicroBotics has to figure what the deal is with some A2000s
though before there accumulate many unhappy folks. My customer with the
4.2 MB has swapped 68030's, too and that's not the problem. I suspect PALs
or one of the other 'usual suspects'. The VXL is much like the CSA
MegaMidgetRacer in concept – plugs into the 68000 socket. Microbotics now
has the unit which is having problems. Hope to hear resolution of the
issue soon.
Bill, Bad news! Do you have an older rev A2000? I purchased a used one,
and it has a very old rev board, 4.X? It had the CHERRY keyboard, so I
know it's old. Maybe I should stick with an 030 board for the processor
slot. Please keep me informed of any progress with your board problem.
Nick
Nick,
My 2000 is a 6.2 motherboard. I have no idea why the VXL doesn't work,
and apparently Microbotics is as much at a loss as I am.
Bill, K3OZM