CompuServe Thread

Gforce 040

3 messages in this thread
#49498From: pat beaulieuFeb 16, 1992 5:09 PM
We just received a GVP GForce 040 today in store and let me tell you that it is a speed deamon!!! The 16MHz A3000 in which we installed it is running at least 8 times faster!!!!! (41 times faster than a 1MB Amiga 500) we still have to make more tests because of some frequents Software failures! – Pat, Whapping from Quebec City!
#49518From: John DraperFeb 16, 1992 9:47 PM
Pat, What's the cost on that GVP Gforce board? -larry
#49654From: Gregory B. TibbsFeb 17, 1992 7:37 PM
One of the problems is that the A3000 generates a Bus Error exception via hardware when bad software accesses non-existant RAM (read or write). The handler code for this is 030 specific and causes an Illegal Address Exception (Usually). My next version of Fastrom040 installs its own handler if an 040 is detected and crashes are less frequent. Also the CacheControl functions are badly broken in 2.04 because they assume only the default setup for the Data Transparent Translation registers, where the MMU is off. The weird thing is the 2.04 030 Bus error handler just fakes the access and returns, effectively eliminating the need for the Bus Error generator in hardware. -Greg – via Whap!