#60ns SIMMs on A4000?
12 messages in this thread
I have 2 questions concerning the memory for my A4000/040/
1) Use of 60ns SIMMs
I was reading "Denis Atkin's Best Amiga Tips and Secrets", and it says
that :
"…Note that if you decide to enable 60ns access (to do this, you"ll
need a special program that wasn't yet available when this book went
to press)…"
Could someone tell me what "special program" he is talking about, and
possibly where I might find one? The price of RAMs are finally
falling back to where it was this summer, and I really could use some
more memory, preferrably faster ones.
2) Use of slower RAMs
Back in the good old days when CPUs were 8 bits and DRAMs were in the
realm of black magic because of their "refreshing," I used to use
slightly slower RAMs than the specs, like 250ns where the requirement
was 200ns. I thought that there would be margins in the production,
so the chips would be able to handle a little over specification.
Now, would it be acceptable to apply this stone age rule of thumb to
the '90s and save myself $10 per SIMM?
>Now, would it be acceptable to apply this stone age rule of thumb to the
>'90s and save myself $10 per SIMM?
Repeat after me: I like my computer to run error-free. I will never ever
run underspec parts on my system.
Underspec'd parts are really evil. They might work fine. For a
while. Until your room gets warm or humid. Until a day when the
power is a little under voltage. Or until a few months have passed.
Underspec'd parts tend to overheat, and that can cause all kinds of
problems in surrounding parts even before the overspec'd parts go.
OK, I'll repeat. "I like my computer to run error-free. I will never
ever run underspec parts on my system. Not that I really intended to
DO such a thing…. But thanks for clearing me with this ill idea.
there is a little PD program on the new Fred Fish CDROM which does the
refresh speedup hack if you really do have 60ns ram in your A4000. I
tried it on my A4000 with 80ns ram and, as it warned, it crashed
immediately. If you want to use this little speedup program (a few
percent gain, perhaps) you really DO need 60ns ram and it is
definitely more expensive. I concur with the judgement that you
should NEVER use parts which aren't up to spec if you want reliable
performance. Anything else is just experimental hacking.
there is a little PD program on the new Fred Fish CDROM which does the refresh
>speedup hack if you really do have 60ns ram in your A4000. I tried it
Thanks for the info. I'll try it, just for the heck of it.(grin)
—————————– Hiroo YAMAGATA
Sorry, you will have to leave your Amiga at home or bring a
converter. 110,60HZ,AC.
Actually, I work at a Best Buy, and a lot of the supposedly 70ns RAM we are
getting in has "-60" stamped on the chips.
Kevin Ragsdale
Does the 4000 come stock with 100ns RAM? This is the evil rumour
I've scraped my nose on a couple of times. Do you know, is there a
way to upgrade the ChipRAM to 60ns?
Excuse me butting in, but I recently bought A4000, and it came with a 70ns
SIMM.
————————Hiroo YAMAGATA
I don't believe the ram in my A4000 was 100ns, I think it was 80. I don't know
about speeding up chip ram to 60ns.
"Now, would it be acceptable to apply this stone age rule of thumb to the
'90s and save myself $10 per SIMM?"
No. I have 70ns DRAMS and the speedup trick won't work (sorry, I deleted
the program long ago).
-Chris
Ah, too bad. But the book ("Best Amiga Tips and Secrets") made it sound like
there's some software for the 60ns things that's coming up in the future….
Oh well, I might as well right to the author of the book what he meant.
Does he, by any chance, frequent this forum?
Tthanks for the info anyway. I really appreciate it.
—————————– Hiroo YAMAGATA