Best Accelerator?
24 messages in this thread
I am in a serious hunt to buy an accelerator. The applications I would be
using is LightWave 3D, Imagine, and other 3D rendering programs. I am also
doing some DTP via PageStream on the side. I am looking for something that
would be FAST and compatible with most software and hardware. I currently
have an A2000 with a GVP RAM+SCSI card. I am considering lot's of things.
I want the best accelerator for the money. I am not rich so price is a
variable in my hunt. I want something that would not cripple me in the
future but won't break me either. If anyone has any ideas on a happy
medium, let me know. Any and all suggestions, advice would be appreciated.
For those that already have accelerators, I would appreciate and info on
there experiences with installation and with the net result. Are the '030
the best for the price? Are '040 accelerator's worth the extra money??
Are they very compatible??
Thanks in advance for the help!!!!!
-Jonathan
28 mhz RCS Management '040 – under $1000 US.
Can't beat it. And yes, you bet it's worth the $$$.
–Ben
Ben,
Is the RCS 040 the same as the "Fusion 40" board? I read a posting
concerning a very generous user group offer, and I am VERY interested. I am
running a 2630 card now and need more than 4megs of 32 bit memory. I you
put together what I would spend for the DBK memory board and what I could
get for my 030 board I've got the price for this 040 board. How much 32 bit
memory will this 040 board hold?
-Paul-
Yes, RSC Management makes the Fusion 40 – and that's the one I'm talking
about.
The one we have has 8 megs of ram on it; I have heard, but do not know for
certain, that it can use 4mb SIMMs, and *if* that is so, then it should
hold 32mb of ram. Either way it holds more than the 2630 does by itself.
There is no extension bus, however.
Using the 2630, with the DKB 2632, you can have a LOT more memory – 118
megabytes – and there may be situations where that is more important than
2-3x the CPU power.
Also, we got a flyer from CSA, for a "doubler" for the 2630; this puts a
50mhz cpu and fpu on the 2630 board (somehow). It sounds interesting, at
the very least. Again, don't know anything more about it.
–Ben
Ben, Thanks for the info. Boy, choices, choices, so many ways to spend my
money! I'll have to consider the merits of greater memory over a faster
machine. What I REALLY need is that mythical product; the "chip RAM
accelerator"!!! Either that or hope that someone comes out with a single
frame acurate VCR that won't require a second mortgage to own!
-Paul-
Paul,
Most, if not all other accelerators max out at 32 MBytes of 32bit RAM.
The DKB2632 populates upto 112 MBytes. The suggested retail price is
$699.95 for the DKB2632 with 4MBytes, street prices vary. The memory
modules it uses are industry standard 72pin 1,2,4,&8M x 32. There are four
SIMM sockets that can be populated with any mixture of module types.
Also available for your 2630 is the Rocket Launcher from CSA. This is a
small board that plugs into your 2630 that takes the clock speed of the
68030 and 68882 up to 50 Mhz. The Rocket Launcher and the DKB2632 work
extremely well together to provide a performance and memory boost.
If anyone is interested in additional information, EMAIL me with your
mail address and I'll get some literature out to you.
Dean
DKB Software
Thanks for the info. I'm now leaning toward the the DKB2630
solution since the lack of memory is a real limit to what I can do.
Now with 112mb AND a solution to the chip ram bottleneck problem I
would be one happy camper!!! Jee Dean you've worked miracles with
Amiga hardware before. A chip ram accelerator would be a nice weekend
project. 😉 What do think?
While a Chip RAM accellerator isn't impossible, it certainly isn't
a weekend project and is likley to cost as much as the computer
itself. The only way to do this is to create a bus seperate from the
Amiga motherboard between an accellerator and Chip RAM. Such a bus
would be extreemly sensitive to noise which would cause reliability
problems that would need to be solved.
I realized that it was not an easy project. I guess a display device
that did not rely on the custom chips would be one soluion.
I just had a thought. (Sometimes ignorance is a key to
creativity.) Would it be possible through the use of the mmu to fool
the system into looking at 32 bit fast ram for it's image data and
use pure CPU power to move the data rather than the slower custom
chips. . . OR . . . Given large amounts of 32 bit ram could a whole
series of frames be setup in 32bit fast ram, and then use the mmu to
"point" to each each frame to be displayed? (Then again sometimes
not. :') )
The custom chips in the Amiga actually address and access chip ram
themselves, not using the CPU. MMU remapping only affects memory
accesses through the CPU.
Oh well, guess I'd better start looking for a good used single frame
acurate VCR :'(.
Or you can keep an eye out for the Chip Ram Accelerator soon to be seen
from the makers of the Fusion Forty '040.
🙂
–Paul
Whappin' from the Wine Country
Paul,
That is the "mythical" product I referred to earlier in this thread. It
has been vaporware for so long that I have lost faith in it's ever comming
out. Do you have any new info?
-Paul-
Paul,
Using a custom display device that was not limited by the Chip RAM
bandwidth _is_ the best solution. Unfortunatly without Device Independant
Graphics there would be a major software problem. (ie.. none available that
would run unmodified)
The MMU trick is one that just would not work. For an image to be
displayed on an Amiga screen, the data MUST be in Chip RAM, the MMU is of
no help here whatever.
Dean
DKB Software
Oh well, 🙁 I can rememnber when I used to bragg about those custom chips.
Now they have become a bottleneck on the road toward progress. Maybe the
next generation of custom chips will solve the problem. If CBM ever
introduces them!! Then again they won't help my 2000. "Rejuvinator 2000",
that has a nice ring to it! ;')
-Paul-
Could you please tell an Amiga ignorant user what the difference in the
MegaChip 2000 with and without Super Agnus means? why would I spend the
apprx. $90 to get"super agnus" ? thanks, Brian
Brian,
Simple — the MegaChip allows you to install the Super Agnus (which was
intended only for the Amiga 3000) into a 2000 or 500.
You have the option to purchase the Super Agnus chip at the same time as
the board, or from another source.
Either way, you need the board AND the chip.
Pete
Brian,
The MegAChip is basicly a board that adapts the 2Meg Agnus (super Agnus)
from the A3000 to the A2000 and A500, it also provides the additional 1Meg
of RAM needed to bring total Chip RAM to 2Meg. When the MegAChip leaves
DKB's warehouse is does so without the required 2Meg Agnus.
While this does require an extra purchase by the end consumer, it is
actually more cost effective this way since the dealer channel can get the
2Meg Agnus for the same price we can. This way you get the Agnus without
the markup that we would have to add to cover the costs we would incur to
provide it.
The short answer is, the MegAChip is no good without the 2Meg Agnus, and
the 2Meg Agnus is of no use without the MegAChip.
Dean
DKB Software
thanks for the explanation !
A 28Mhz '040 for under a thousand bucks? I've looked everywhere and
haven't seen anything priced that low, could you tell me where you got it?
-Jonathan
I got it from RCS management, the people who make the fusion forty. It's a
great board.
–Ben
Names, Addresses phone numbers please !!!!
68040 at 28mhz and 4mb 32bit memory for < $1000. Sounds too good to be
true. thanks, Brian
Do you have any idea where this '040 board for less than a thousand bucks
came from. I want to get it yesterday!
-Jonathan
yes – it came directly from RCS Management, the manufacturer of the board.
You should be able to find the address in AmigaWorld and so on. I don't
have it handy.
–Ben