Why do you accelerate your Amiga?

[Kola]

Just wondering why.

As far as I know all of the games are made and they all are wrote for the habitat of a specific computer, say A1200.

So by making your A1200 how ever many times faster what does it do? I understand coding a PC up as the newer software requires greater hardware.

Scuse if this is a dumb Q. I just don't get it.

[alkis]

Games very rarely benefit from acceleration, as you say.

Everything else though, like ray-tracing, word-processing, programming (assembling, compiling) becomes much faster.
So, you don't accelerate for games but everything else.

[Paul_s]

useful to have for running later (mid 1990's onwards) demo's too

[Kola]

Thanks guys.

So, basically if you accelerate it my 1200 can do more modern tasks. Or similar tasks just with updated softwares?

How fast in computer terms can you get a 1200? 386? Pentium class? Multi core?

[jimbob]

Because it is cool

Also, extra speed is great for pretty much everything except the games, (lots of them as you say) which have fixed performance by the custom chips. Even those will benefit from an upgrade because WHDload can then eliminate much loading time.

3d games like Frontier and Interceptor feel nearly unplayable to me on a basic amiga but are super smooth with a bit of acceleration. Stuff like computer turns in civilisation is much improved too.

[zipper]

To be able to play hw accelerated Descent on my A500T/060/Cybervision64/3D. (320x400 max...)

[Kola]

Hi Jimbob,

hmmm, seems very expensive to me. Stuff I looked at seemed tot be around the !75 mark all in. Maybes more.

I do get it if your hobbyists tho. That makes sense. Im starting to think after these few replies thats that is more what it is as opposed practical use? (Sorry don't mean to offend, dumb musician here, computers are not my strong point)

[Paul_s]

Originally Posted by Kola

Thanks guys.

So, basically if you accelerate it my 1200 can do more modern tasks. Or similar tasks just with updated softwares?

How fast in computer terms can you get a 1200? 386? Pentium class? Multi core?

I'd say the 1200 would be on par with a 486DX perhaps?

Accelerated Amiga's are essential for running OS 3.9 too and certain Doom clones (4.x requires PPC acceleration).

I personally don't bother with it as it's;

a) expensive (depending on what you want in terms of speed - 68030 will suit majority of users... anything beyond that is pie in the sky in terms of cost)
b) I like to fry my eggs in a pan rather than on a CPU
c) only play the odd game or two

[Kola]

b = haha,

Id like to give it a shot. The amiga has been a big part of my upbringing the same for most of us on this site no doubt.

But re the expense involved ill have to wait until I have more money. Was more just wondering how 'essential' it is and it seems to be in the optional bracket, for me anyhow.

[amiman99]

Why accelerate my Amiga you ask?

It makes it more bearable to use especially in graphic and productivity applications, the basic A1200 is a very underpowered machine. The Amiga is a multitasking computer which allows you to run more then one program at the same time, more programs require more CPU power and more memory (RAM).
So, basic A1200 comes with 2MB RAM and 68020 14MHz CPU, it's enought to run simple games and some software, but if you need more, then you need to upgrade and make it faster.
Paint programs with filters will benefit from more CPU and RAM to speed up rendering, any 3d software will benefit greatly.

The 68020 is equivalent to Intel 386SX, the 68040 is close to 486.

[Thorham]

Originally Posted by Kola

I just don't get it.

Because I don't just play games on my A1200.

[Washac]

I had mine accelerated because I used to play around with 3D art packages, the main one being Imagine, 3D model builder and ray tracer.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imagine...ng_software%29

[prowler]

I discovered WinUAE before I bought my first Amiga in 2001.

When I fired up my Amiga (Escom AT1200 Magic Pack) for the first time, I was dumbstruck by the fact that Workbench didn't run anything like as fast as it did in the then current version of WinUAE running on a P200MMX PC running Windows 95.

Adding a 1230/40 accelerator fixed that little problem.

[turrican3]

i accelerate my amiga because it was my everyday computer, and it was really great, at this time perhaps 1998, it still a really fast OS and for me better than windows (speed). You can't really enjoy the workbench without an accelerator and don't think to install wb3.9 with a basic a1200, it won't work. You know by this time i had a lot of fun with the workbench.
It flies with 68040 or 68060, it was really impressive in the last part of the 90's and it still impressive even today when you think about the hardware which running it !!!! If you like to tweak your OS, the wb is really good to play with.

[Supamax]

Originally Posted by alkis

Games very rarely benefit from acceleration, as you say.

Everything else though, like ray-tracing, word-processing, programming (assembling, compiling) becomes much faster.
So, you don't accelerate for games but everything else.

Isn't it better to emulate it on a fast pc, then, rather than using a real Amiga?
I mean: using PC+WinUAE you get better monitor (less eye strain), faster speeds, better keyboard, better mouse... and so on .

[turrican3]

Originally Posted by Supamax

I mean: using PC+WinUAE you get better monitor (less eye strain), faster speeds, better keyboard, better mouse... and so on .

You can use modern monitors with the amiga (scandoubler-flicker fixer)...new mouse and keyboard too (you can add usb ports to the amiga). [ Show youtube player ]
The feeling is not the same, i think if you have the money it's good to have a real accelerated amiga.
If money is your priority just stick on pc.

[saimon69]

At the time i accelerated my 1200 because i wanted to work with it: not only 2d but also 3d with lightwave and DTP using shapeshifter

[Thorham]

Originally Posted by Supamax

Isn't it better to emulate it on a fast pc, then, rather than using a real Amiga?

Not for everyone. Plenty of people want the real deal, including myself. The only thing I use WinUae for is GCC (and only because I'm a C compiler n00b who doesn't know how to adapt source code to compile with faster native Amiga compilers).

Emulation just doesn't feel the same (and it has nothing to do with nostalgia for me). I'd constantly be reminded that I'm working on my peecee, while I want to work with an Amiga.

[Mrs Beanbag]

I write games. I write them to run on an unexpanded A1200 but some extra speed and especially extra memory makes some of the tools a lot more pleasant to use. I have to know that everything will run on genuine hardware. Blitter speed, too, is important, not just CPU. I could do some development on an emulator but it would be terrible to find out too late that the real thing can't handle it!

[Retro-Nerd]

For faster OS operations/sytem tools and to have more than 8 MB fastram.