Beginner needs advice on next upgrade step

Bishmanrock · 11 October 2010, 19:22

Ow do,

I've been floating around the various Amiga websites absorbing information. I've learned, slowly, I'm not very good at absorbing. But I've tried! Oh, how I've tried.

I've dug out my childhood friend, the A1200. It's the basic model that came with Oscar and something else. Dennis, I think.

I've fitted a 4gb CF card inside, formatted and that's all up and working nicely with a few choice games running via WHDLoad, transferring files easily via the PCMCIA slot. The games appear to be very temperamental, some refusing to run at all due to not enough memory, some running when they feel like they want to.

I've also added a RGB>Scart cable, so everything's a bit nicer.

Where do I go from here? I'm primarily interested in gaming. Is a RAM upgrade my next visit? I've tried looking at different models, but the prices are all over the place, and I can't quite figure out what would be overkill for my purpose. Can anyone advise a specific upgrade to look out for?

Oh, and mandatory stupid question: I'm guessing you need to actually buy an expansion card before you fit any RAM, as I can't see any visible ports inside? I ask because most forums just respond to similar questions with "Buy RAM" and no additional information.

ck1200 · 11 October 2010, 19:36

Some good progress there mate, and yes you would prob be best starting with an 8mb ram card amitek or similar they do crop up on here and on e bay!! above that you could for a accelerator card (faster cpu etc) and more ram capability, depends what gaming you want to do and what else in the future

I have my main 1200 set up on classic workbench advanced and have games like doom on there and sega emulators but started off with the 8mb card and was able to run allot with that

good luck and keep us posted

chris

cosmicfrog · 11 October 2010, 22:41

did you change the maxx transfer settings when u formated the cf card ??

entry level is just an 4/8 meg ram card .. 4MB so u can use PCMIA as well

slightly better option is an 030 card but expect to pay over £100 for one

lambrettadave · 12 October 2010, 15:39

Hi Bishmanrock,

A ram card or accelorator if fitted underneath the machine via a trapdoor which can be opened using a coin the card then just pushes in sometimes you may find it easier ir you remove the top casing to help putting it in.

Dave

Bishmanrock · 13 October 2010, 22:39

Hey guys, thanks for the responses.

Cosmicfrog: pretty sure I did, although it was a few weeks back and it was the first time I did it. I'm guessing if I didn't it limits the performance?

There's a few bits and bobs on eBay at the moment. This one caught my eye:

Apollo 1230 turbo lite LC
CPU 68030FPU MC62228
33MHz

Currently at £70 unless someone else decides to nab it. I was trying to get a feel for pices, but obviously there isn't a proper market out there, so I can't really compare prices.

What you guys reckon?

Sorry about the barrage of questions, I just don't want to pay through the nose for anything that turns out to be the wrong thing (been there, done that, the scars still hurt.)

Trying to play Lemmings 2 and Shadow of the Beast via WHDLoad is a bit of a pain at the moment, lots of flickering. If I try to start SotB too fast, it crashes out. Can't quite figure out if that's a lack of RAM, or just a faulty install. Ah well, soon find out.

prowler · 13 October 2010, 22:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bishmanrock

There's a few bits and bobs on eBay at the moment. This one caught my eye:

Apollo 1230 turbo lite LC
CPU 68030FPU MC62228
33MHz

Currently at £70 unless someone else decides to nab it. I was trying to get a feel for pices, but obviously there isn't a proper market out there, so I can't really compare prices.

What you guys reckon?

Hi Bishmanrock, and welcome to EAB!

That's not a bad price for an '030 accelerator with FPU. You'll find it'll make your A1200 much more responsive.

How much RAM is included with it?

lambrettadave · 13 October 2010, 23:01

I will say this don't buy anything broken cause if you cant fix it then you may have wasted your hard earned coin.

however i use a apollo 130/40 with 32mb or ram and that is great for most games on the 1200

gona have a look at that card

have you tried www.amibay.com

lambrettadave · 13 October 2010, 23:03

did you see this one its abit less

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Amiga-1200-Acc...item336197d033

lambrettadave · 13 October 2010, 23:12

hi both these cards the one i mentioned and the one you seen on Ebay are not Pcmica friendly what this means if you put a Pcmcia card in you would to use a 4mb simm on itto make both work well and these to cards accept up to 8mb of ram

Bishmanrock · 13 October 2010, 23:14

Hey, thanks for the welcome

Comes with 4mb RAM. Figured upgrading shouldn't be too costly after that if needed.

I've had a gander at Amibay, unless I'm mistaken there's nothing going at the moment. I'm keeping my eyes on it though.

Yeah I saw that other card when having a look. Got them all in my watched queue. Probably have a stab at trying to get it, fingers crossed I get something!

prowler · 13 October 2010, 23:16

Hmm... The £70 one on eBay that comes with 4MB RAM will lose its PCMCIA compatibility if it is upgraded, whilst the slower (28MHz), cheaper (£42 ATM) one will not be PCMCIA compatible with the supplied 8MB RAM fitted.

Bishmanrock · 13 October 2010, 23:16

Quote:

Originally Posted by lambrettadave

hi both these cards the one i mentioned and the one you seen on Ebay are not Pcmica friendly what this means if you put a Pcmcia card in you would to use a 4mb simm on itto make both work well and these to cards accept up to 8mb of ram

So if I had 8mb, 4mb would be wasted on the PCMCIA?

It's no hassle to remove the PCMCIA though, once the games are on it doesn't really need to be plugged in.

How do i tell if they're friendly or not?

lambrettadave · 13 October 2010, 23:20

ok try http://www.amiga-hardware.com/ and look in a1200 accelorators

however i think it could still be worth the momey for i am sure a 4 mb simm could be picked up from someone

Bishmanrock · 13 October 2010, 23:21

Quote:

Originally Posted by prowler

Hmm... The £70 one on eBay that comes with 4MB RAM will lose its PCMCIA compatibility if it is upgraded.

Ah, I see. For basic gaming, would the difference between 4mb and 8mb be that noticable?

@lambrettadave thanks for that link, I'll keep it handy when checking the other cards out, should be a great help

lambrettadave · 13 October 2010, 23:22

ok prowler says it has 4mb of ram so this would work with your pcmcia card

lambrettadave · 13 October 2010, 23:27

i should think it will i am sure other will use that site as well

as is it any good 4 or 8 mb it would only be a1200 software and 1200 games that ask for more than 4 mb if it says so in the docs, i mean the likes of doom needs 8 mb of ram although i think doomattack can be used with 4mb not sure on that would have to check that one

prowler · 13 October 2010, 23:28

If you get the accelerator with 4MB RAM, then it will be PCMCIA compatible.

If you get the other accelerator with 8MB RAM, the upper 3MB or so of RAM will conflict with the device in the PCMCIA slot, as they will share the same memory space. In this case you will either have to remove the PCMCIA card and adapter or fit 4MB RAM in place of the 8MB module, unless the card provides a jumper for disabling the upper 4MB of fitted RAM.

Edit: Don't worry. 4MB RAM is quite sufficient for playing most games.

Bishmanrock · 13 October 2010, 23:46

Ah cool, thanks for explaining that.

I'll probably go for the 4mb one, but I'll keep my eyes on the others. I'm expecting them to jump up to a similar price anyway, but you never know. As you say, I can always just put in a 4mb stick.

Yeah I'll be running A1200 games, but won't be touching Doom. Maybe Alien Breed 3D at some point though. I guess as long as I get the classics from my childhood working, I'll be happy for a while, and at least then I have the option of just buying some more RAM.

fitzsteve · 13 October 2010, 23:50

This is a nice entry level board and quite a decent price (just been added to ebay now - no its not mine lol)

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Blizzard-1220-...item20b464a4d7

This is actually about the same speed as your MTEC 1230's

Steve.

lambrettadave · 13 October 2010, 23:56

AB3D 1 and 2 are good games and would run on either of them boards with no problems at all

ps i seen a blizzard 1220 with 4mb on it for £55 buy it now, this card would be slower than the 1230's but faster than a 4-8mb ram card

11 October 2010, 19:22	#1
Bishmanrock Registered User Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: UK, North East Age: 36 Posts: 24	Beginner needs advice on next upgrade step Ow do, I've been floating around the various Amiga websites absorbing information. I've learned, slowly, I'm not very good at absorbing. But I've tried! Oh, how I've tried. I've dug out my childhood friend, the A1200. It's the basic model that came with Oscar and something else. Dennis, I think. I've fitted a 4gb CF card inside, formatted and that's all up and working nicely with a few choice games running via WHDLoad, transferring files easily via the PCMCIA slot. The games appear to be very temperamental, some refusing to run at all due to not enough memory, some running when they feel like they want to. I've also added a RGB>Scart cable, so everything's a bit nicer. Where do I go from here? I'm primarily interested in gaming. Is a RAM upgrade my next visit? I've tried looking at different models, but the prices are all over the place, and I can't quite figure out what would be overkill for my purpose. Can anyone advise a specific upgrade to look out for? Oh, and mandatory stupid question: I'm guessing you need to actually buy an expansion card before you fit any RAM, as I can't see any visible ports inside? I ask because most forums just respond to similar questions with "Buy RAM" and no additional information.

13 October 2010, 23:28	#17
prowler Global Moderator Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Sidcup, England Posts: 10,300	If you get the accelerator with 4MB RAM, then it will be PCMCIA compatible. If you get the other accelerator with 8MB RAM, the upper 3MB or so of RAM will conflict with the device in the PCMCIA slot, as they will share the same memory space. In this case you will either have to remove the PCMCIA card and adapter or fit 4MB RAM in place of the 8MB module, unless the card provides a jumper for disabling the upper 4MB of fitted RAM. Edit: Don't worry. 4MB RAM is quite sufficient for playing most games. Last edited by prowler; 13 October 2010 at 23:47.

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11 October 2010, 19:36	#2
ck1200 CBM & Retro Mad Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: North Wales/Wirral Uk Age: 42 Posts: 611	Some good progress there mate, and yes you would prob be best starting with an 8mb ram card amitek or similar they do crop up on here and on e bay!! above that you could for a accelerator card (faster cpu etc) and more ram capability, depends what gaming you want to do and what else in the future I have my main 1200 set up on classic workbench advanced and have games like doom on there and sega emulators but started off with the 8mb card and was able to run allot with that good luck and keep us posted chris

11 October 2010, 22:41	#3
cosmicfrog The 1 who ribbits Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: leek, Staffs, UK Age: 56 Posts: 3,557	did you change the maxx transfer settings when u formated the cf card ?? entry level is just an 4/8 meg ram card .. 4MB so u can use PCMIA as well slightly better option is an 030 card but expect to pay over £100 for one

12 October 2010, 15:39	#4
lambrettadave Registered User Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: south shields Posts: 140	Hi Bishmanrock, A ram card or accelorator if fitted underneath the machine via a trapdoor which can be opened using a coin the card then just pushes in sometimes you may find it easier ir you remove the top casing to help putting it in. Dave

13 October 2010, 22:39	#5
Bishmanrock Registered User Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: UK, North East Age: 36 Posts: 24	Hey guys, thanks for the responses. Cosmicfrog: pretty sure I did, although it was a few weeks back and it was the first time I did it. I'm guessing if I didn't it limits the performance? There's a few bits and bobs on eBay at the moment. This one caught my eye: Apollo 1230 turbo lite LC CPU 68030FPU MC62228 33MHz Currently at £70 unless someone else decides to nab it. I was trying to get a feel for pices, but obviously there isn't a proper market out there, so I can't really compare prices. What you guys reckon? Sorry about the barrage of questions, I just don't want to pay through the nose for anything that turns out to be the wrong thing (been there, done that, the scars still hurt.) Trying to play Lemmings 2 and Shadow of the Beast via WHDLoad is a bit of a pain at the moment, lots of flickering. If I try to start SotB too fast, it crashes out. Can't quite figure out if that's a lack of RAM, or just a faulty install. Ah well, soon find out.

13 October 2010, 23:01	#7
lambrettadave Registered User Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: south shields Posts: 140	I will say this don't buy anything broken cause if you cant fix it then you may have wasted your hard earned coin. however i use a apollo 130/40 with 32mb or ram and that is great for most games on the 1200 gona have a look at that card have you tried www.amibay.com

13 October 2010, 23:03	#8
lambrettadave Registered User Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: south shields Posts: 140	did you see this one its abit less http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Amiga-1200-Acc...item336197d033

13 October 2010, 23:12	#9
lambrettadave Registered User Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: south shields Posts: 140	hi both these cards the one i mentioned and the one you seen on Ebay are not Pcmica friendly what this means if you put a Pcmcia card in you would to use a 4mb simm on itto make both work well and these to cards accept up to 8mb of ram

13 October 2010, 23:14	#10
Bishmanrock Registered User Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: UK, North East Age: 36 Posts: 24	Hey, thanks for the welcome Comes with 4mb RAM. Figured upgrading shouldn't be too costly after that if needed. I've had a gander at Amibay, unless I'm mistaken there's nothing going at the moment. I'm keeping my eyes on it though. Yeah I saw that other card when having a look. Got them all in my watched queue. Probably have a stab at trying to get it, fingers crossed I get something!

13 October 2010, 23:16	#11
prowler Global Moderator Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Sidcup, England Posts: 10,300	Hmm... The £70 one on eBay that comes with 4MB RAM will lose its PCMCIA compatibility if it is upgraded, whilst the slower (28MHz), cheaper (£42 ATM) one will not be PCMCIA compatible with the supplied 8MB RAM fitted.

13 October 2010, 23:20	#13
lambrettadave Registered User Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: south shields Posts: 140	ok try http://www.amiga-hardware.com/ and look in a1200 accelorators however i think it could still be worth the momey for i am sure a 4 mb simm could be picked up from someone

13 October 2010, 23:22	#15
lambrettadave Registered User Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: south shields Posts: 140	ok prowler says it has 4mb of ram so this would work with your pcmcia card

13 October 2010, 23:27	#16
lambrettadave Registered User Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: south shields Posts: 140	i should think it will i am sure other will use that site as well as is it any good 4 or 8 mb it would only be a1200 software and 1200 games that ask for more than 4 mb if it says so in the docs, i mean the likes of doom needs 8 mb of ram although i think doomattack can be used with 4mb not sure on that would have to check that one

13 October 2010, 23:46	#18
Bishmanrock Registered User Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: UK, North East Age: 36 Posts: 24	Ah cool, thanks for explaining that. I'll probably go for the 4mb one, but I'll keep my eyes on the others. I'm expecting them to jump up to a similar price anyway, but you never know. As you say, I can always just put in a 4mb stick. Yeah I'll be running A1200 games, but won't be touching Doom. Maybe Alien Breed 3D at some point though. I guess as long as I get the classics from my childhood working, I'll be happy for a while, and at least then I have the option of just buying some more RAM.

13 October 2010, 23:50	#19
fitzsteve Professional slacker! Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Kent, UK Age: 44 Posts: 6,685	This is a nice entry level board and quite a decent price (just been added to ebay now - no its not mine lol) http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Blizzard-1220-...item20b464a4d7 This is actually about the same speed as your MTEC 1230's Steve.

13 October 2010, 23:56	#20
lambrettadave Registered User Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: south shields Posts: 140	AB3D 1 and 2 are good games and would run on either of them boards with no problems at all ps i seen a blizzard 1220 with 4mb on it for £55 buy it now, this card would be slower than the 1230's but faster than a 4-8mb ram card

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