A1200 PCI busboard - G-Rex or (guru) Mediator ?

coze · 17 February 2007, 12:13

Well, well, I had a long standing a1200 tower project, that I gave up building a few weeks ago after realising I will never find the time to complete it, and my stuff is rotting in the closet. So I took out my bppc 210 / 060 / scsi + Bvision out of the closet to give them a go before I put them to ebay.
After a few days of pain installing os 3.9, boing bags, lib updates, and blizkicking, I finally managed to install a stable system. But hey, it was much better than I thought so I changed my mind selling them

I gonna build a nice sleek tower for these babies. In fact, I thought maybe I could add a busboard to make things more interesting, especially a cheap ethernet card, I'm not sure how well the pcmcia cards perform. And maybe a voodoo ?

So here's my question, which busboard route should I go and why ? I found some benchmarks which claim mediator performs better than the G-Rex here . but I'm sure I read somewhere G-Rex is best PCI solution for amigas.
which is better ?

DJBase · 17 February 2007, 12:21

Well, the best/fastest solution would be the GRex4000D but for A1200 I think the mediator would be better (more driver available) for AmigaOS, if you want to use also morphos than the G-Rex is the right choice.

Mad-Matt · 17 February 2007, 12:47

mediator is incredably slow compared to grex. as you already have the bppc, the grex should be the only choice, but if cost is a factor, then the med is far cheaper. as youce also got a bvision, youll notice the step backwards once changing to a mediator based card and the loss of basic aga rtg is very annoying using the mediator (ie you cant see what your doing if anything goes wrong in the boot sequence).

Zetr0 · 17 February 2007, 13:42

@mad-matt
not to sure about the mediator being incredably slow in comparison to the grex on the a1200, I know that the GREX is only slightly faster when you get one with the DMA fix and obviously use the DMA port with say a graphics card. but retro-spectively that isn`t really that much when compaired with a mediator sharing graphics card memory across the pci.

insofar as losing native graphics when using an rtg card, there are so many ways to negate this.

i have both a vodoo 5500pci and a SD/FF, I have two types of kvm at my disposal. one where i just double tap the ctrl key and it changes screen over so theres no real loss at all.

there are plenty of 15khz to 31khz+ signal converters on ebay for arround £30 add that to the native out of your amiga and plumb it to you kvm its all good specifically for games etc!

to be honest. I would most likely sell the bvision and get EITHER a mediator or GREX and lump a decent vodoo on it

(and network card / tv-incard / sound card etc

) and enjoy all the wonderfull things that PCI can offer the miggy!

I have Z4 busboard with Z4 pci setup, it runs 3 zorro cards and 4 pci

zorro
( emplant board )
( GVP 4000 +8 scsi )
( Multiface 3 IO board )
pci
< vodoo 5500 >
< sound blaster >
< 10/100 Network card >
< TV in card >

what more could one want?

AMIGAZ · 17 February 2007, 13:52

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mad-Matt

mediator is incredably slow compared to grex. as you already have the bppc, the grex should be the only choice, but if cost is a factor, then the med is far cheaper. as youce also got a bvision, youll notice the step backwards once changing to a mediator based card and the loss of basic aga rtg is very annoying using the mediator (ie you cant see what your doing if anything goes wrong in the boot sequence).

Remember that he needs a rev. 2 Blizzard PPC (DCE) for it to work 100% with a G-rex

AMIGAZ · 17 February 2007, 14:01

I think he's better off with a Mediator since you'll probably won't notice any speed difference between the G-rex and a Mediator unless you for example play a PPC Amiga game
For general use the Mediator is just fine but a bit more tricky to set up with all it's drivers and special settings but I'm glad to help out if necessary

just set up my A1200 with Mediator again after finding a new BPPC

Mad-Matt · 17 February 2007, 14:02

using anything ppc related games/apps become noticable slower when they have towork across the mediator. Running something as simple as amigamp and a visualastion will prettymuch make the system usless for anything else. kind of makes a soundcard redundant also as there isnt enough cpu power to drive the card and allow the rest of the system to do something.

DJBase · 17 February 2007, 22:50

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zetr0

@mad-matt
not to sure about the mediator being incredably slow in comparison to the grex on the a1200, I know that the GREX is only slightly faster when you get one with the DMA fix and obviously use the DMA port with say a graphics card.

About this DMA-fix....this fix adds only a second DMA-able Slot, so there are 2 versions around....one with 1 DMA Slots and another one fixed with 2 DMA Slots...just to explain what this fix is.

Zetr0 · 18 February 2007, 22:09

to be honest DJbase I am unsure what this *fix* other than the fact it adds two dma ports, but as Amigaz says you need a rev 2 bppc card to actualy get 100% useability of the DMA.

I found this on Amiga.org
http://www.amiga.org/modules/newbb/v...=31259&forum=8

the dma fix involves a little re-soldering (and programming of the pld's)

DJBase · 18 February 2007, 22:50

The first batch of G-Rex1200 had only 1 DMA Slot.....later DCE added a second DMA Slot by soldering some wires onto the busboard and logicboard (maybe also reprogramming the pld's a bit). Thats all.

Yes, for best performance you should get a Rev.2 BPPC.

coze · 19 February 2007, 03:32

Hmm, I have a phase 5 version of the bppc. This means no DMA for me ?

AMIGAZ · 19 February 2007, 06:56

Quote:

Originally Posted by coze

Hmm, I have a phase 5 version of the bppc. This means no DMA for me ?

mmm...it rather means either it won't boot or crash or PCI cards won't be recognized but a guy at Amiga.org claims it work when he uses an older BPPC flashrom version

Bamiga2002 · 19 February 2007, 11:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by AMIGAZ

mmm...it rather means either it won't boot or crash or PCI cards won't be recognized but a guy at Amiga.org claims it work when he uses an older BPPC flashrom version

Is there any meaning with different BPPC flashrom-versions when using a Mediator?

DJBase · 19 February 2007, 12:17

Quote:

Originally Posted by coze

Hmm, I have a phase 5 version of the bppc. This means no DMA for me ?

You have to check the Revision with the tool Boardtype -> http://powerup.amigaworld.de/index.php?lang=en&page=24

phase5 was the manufacturer.

AMIGAZ · 19 February 2007, 12:59

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bamiga2002

Is there any meaning with different BPPC flashrom-versions when using a Mediator?

Nope

coze · 19 February 2007, 16:09

Ok, now I've got a problem. The board type tool said I had a lowly revision 0 ! What's up with this revision thing ? Actually, I don't think I need a graphics card or so, I just wanted a fast ethernet device. Bvision is fine for me, as I want to see some demos on this thing, and I heard going voodoo can cause compatibility problems.
So, since dma is possibly not possible with my rev 0 card, is mediator a better option ? or should I not bother at all for a pci ethernet card and be done with a pcmcia ethernet card ?
Also, any of you tried morphos ? will it run on rev 0 ?

DDNI · 19 February 2007, 16:19

Just seeing TV on my miggy made my mediator worth it !

coze · 19 February 2007, 16:26

Sorry, I'm not interested watching crap Japanese tv, I don't even understand more than half of it

(yet)

AMIGAZ · 19 February 2007, 16:47

Quote:

Originally Posted by coze

Ok, now I've got a problem. The board type tool said I had a lowly revision 0 ! What's up with this revision thing ? Actually, I don't think I need a graphics card or so, I just wanted a fast ethernet device. Bvision is fine for me, as I want to see some demos on this thing, and I heard going voodoo can cause compatibility problems.
So, since dma is possibly not possible with my rev 0 card, is mediator a better option ? or should I not bother at all for a pci ethernet card and be done with a pcmcia ethernet card ?
Also, any of you tried morphos ? will it run on rev 0 ?

Elbox Fast ethernet.device needs the PCI gfx card as DMA buffer so you'll have to use a MediatorNET.device compatible card instead
From what I believe you gonna use PCI cards for you'll be fine with a mediator

DJBase · 20 February 2007, 00:44

You could use PCMCIA card, is much cheaper and does the job too.

17 February 2007, 12:13	#1
coze hastala vista winny vista Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: mt fuji Age: 46 Posts: 1,335	A1200 PCI busboard - G-Rex or (guru) Mediator ? Well, well, I had a long standing a1200 tower project, that I gave up building a few weeks ago after realising I will never find the time to complete it, and my stuff is rotting in the closet. So I took out my bppc 210 / 060 / scsi + Bvision out of the closet to give them a go before I put them to ebay. After a few days of pain installing os 3.9, boing bags, lib updates, and blizkicking, I finally managed to install a stable system. But hey, it was much better than I thought so I changed my mind selling them I gonna build a nice sleek tower for these babies. In fact, I thought maybe I could add a busboard to make things more interesting, especially a cheap ethernet card, I'm not sure how well the pcmcia cards perform. And maybe a voodoo ? So here's my question, which busboard route should I go and why ? I found some benchmarks which claim mediator performs better than the G-Rex here . but I'm sure I read somewhere G-Rex is best PCI solution for amigas. which is better ?

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
WTB: Mediator PCI Busboard for A4000T	Jon Hare	MarketPlace	1	08 October 2010 18:14
WTS/Trade Mediator PCI 4000Di Busboard	soulboy	MarketPlace	10	05 December 2009 07:13
Micronik PCI A1200 Busboard	Fingerlickin_B	MarketPlace	2	15 November 2008 10:39
WTD:mediator pci board or any busboard	webhead	MarketPlace	1	30 August 2007 11:43
Mediator PCI A1200	girv	support.Hardware	11	17 October 2004 16:59

17 February 2007, 12:21	#2
DJBase Amiga is my Religion Join Date: May 2005 Location: Germany Posts: 578	Well, the best/fastest solution would be the GRex4000D but for A1200 I think the mediator would be better (more driver available) for AmigaOS, if you want to use also morphos than the G-Rex is the right choice.

17 February 2007, 12:47	#3
Mad-Matt Longplayer Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Lincoln / UK Age: 45 Posts: 1,852	mediator is incredably slow compared to grex. as you already have the bppc, the grex should be the only choice, but if cost is a factor, then the med is far cheaper. as youce also got a bvision, youll notice the step backwards once changing to a mediator based card and the loss of basic aga rtg is very annoying using the mediator (ie you cant see what your doing if anything goes wrong in the boot sequence).

17 February 2007, 13:42	#4
Zetr0 Ya' like it Retr0? Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: United Kingdom Age: 49 Posts: 9,768	@mad-matt not to sure about the mediator being incredably slow in comparison to the grex on the a1200, I know that the GREX is only slightly faster when you get one with the DMA fix and obviously use the DMA port with say a graphics card. but retro-spectively that isn`t really that much when compaired with a mediator sharing graphics card memory across the pci. insofar as losing native graphics when using an rtg card, there are so many ways to negate this. i have both a vodoo 5500pci and a SD/FF, I have two types of kvm at my disposal. one where i just double tap the ctrl key and it changes screen over so theres no real loss at all. there are plenty of 15khz to 31khz+ signal converters on ebay for arround £30 add that to the native out of your amiga and plumb it to you kvm its all good specifically for games etc! to be honest. I would most likely sell the bvision and get EITHER a mediator or GREX and lump a decent vodoo on it (and network card / tv-incard / sound card etc ) and enjoy all the wonderfull things that PCI can offer the miggy! I have Z4 busboard with Z4 pci setup, it runs 3 zorro cards and 4 pci zorro ( emplant board ) ( GVP 4000 +8 scsi ) ( Multiface 3 IO board ) pci < vodoo 5500 > < sound blaster > < 10/100 Network card > < TV in card > what more could one want?

17 February 2007, 14:01	#6
AMIGAZ Amiga-Mad Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Sweden Age: 47 Posts: 1,291	I think he's better off with a Mediator since you'll probably won't notice any speed difference between the G-rex and a Mediator unless you for example play a PPC Amiga game For general use the Mediator is just fine but a bit more tricky to set up with all it's drivers and special settings but I'm glad to help out if necessary just set up my A1200 with Mediator again after finding a new BPPC

17 February 2007, 14:02	#7
Mad-Matt Longplayer Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Lincoln / UK Age: 45 Posts: 1,852	using anything ppc related games/apps become noticable slower when they have towork across the mediator. Running something as simple as amigamp and a visualastion will prettymuch make the system usless for anything else. kind of makes a soundcard redundant also as there isnt enough cpu power to drive the card and allow the rest of the system to do something.

18 February 2007, 22:09	#9
Zetr0 Ya' like it Retr0? Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: United Kingdom Age: 49 Posts: 9,768	to be honest DJbase I am unsure what this fix other than the fact it adds two dma ports, but as Amigaz says you need a rev 2 bppc card to actualy get 100% useability of the DMA. I found this on Amiga.org http://www.amiga.org/modules/newbb/v...=31259&forum=8 the dma fix involves a little re-soldering (and programming of the pld's)

18 February 2007, 22:50	#10
DJBase Amiga is my Religion Join Date: May 2005 Location: Germany Posts: 578	The first batch of G-Rex1200 had only 1 DMA Slot.....later DCE added a second DMA Slot by soldering some wires onto the busboard and logicboard (maybe also reprogramming the pld's a bit). Thats all. Yes, for best performance you should get a Rev.2 BPPC.

19 February 2007, 03:32	#11
coze hastala vista winny vista Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: mt fuji Age: 46 Posts: 1,335	Hmm, I have a phase 5 version of the bppc. This means no DMA for me ?

19 February 2007, 16:09	#16
coze hastala vista winny vista Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: mt fuji Age: 46 Posts: 1,335	Ok, now I've got a problem. The board type tool said I had a lowly revision 0 ! What's up with this revision thing ? Actually, I don't think I need a graphics card or so, I just wanted a fast ethernet device. Bvision is fine for me, as I want to see some demos on this thing, and I heard going voodoo can cause compatibility problems. So, since dma is possibly not possible with my rev 0 card, is mediator a better option ? or should I not bother at all for a pci ethernet card and be done with a pcmcia ethernet card ? Also, any of you tried morphos ? will it run on rev 0 ?

19 February 2007, 16:19	#17
DDNI Targ Explorer Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Northern Ireland Posts: 5,433	Just seeing TV on my miggy made my mediator worth it !

19 February 2007, 16:26	#18
coze hastala vista winny vista Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: mt fuji Age: 46 Posts: 1,335	Sorry, I'm not interested watching crap Japanese tv, I don't even understand more than half of it (yet)

20 February 2007, 00:44	#20
DJBase Amiga is my Religion Join Date: May 2005 Location: Germany Posts: 578	You could use PCMCIA card, is much cheaper and does the job too.

Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)