Is FPU in an A1200 necessary for gaming?

[nivam]

Hello,
Im on upgrading RAM with a 8MB, there is an option though that an FPU can be included.
This is the module
https://amigastore.eu/en/698-a1208-v...expansion.html

Is it needed for general gaming?

Tahnk you

[Hedeon]

I would say no. Except for stuff like AB3D and the likes. Isn't an FPU itself rather cheap still? Like a couple of tenners?

Edit: I see on the site the option is 15 euros extra. I would just take it.

[nivam]

Originally Posted by Hedeon

I would say no. Except for stuff like AB3D and the likes. Isn't an FPU itself rather cheap still? Like a couple of tenners?

Edit: I see on the site the option is 15 euros extra. I would just take it.

I guess this is what I'm going to do

[chip]

FPU is used by some demoscene prods anyway

[alexh]

Originally Posted by Hedeon

I would say no. Except for stuff like AB3D and the likes.

AB3D has no FPU code.

Quake, Quake 2, TFX (FPU version). Demos (060 mainly). That is about it. Non of which you're going to be running with just an 1208.

Originally Posted by nivam

Is it needed for general gaming?

On an A1208 it has to be a definite no. You'll never use it. It will just consume more power and put out more heat.

[utri007]

Originally Posted by nivam

Hello,
Im on upgrading RAM with a 8MB, there is an option though that an FPU can be included.
This is the module
https://amigastore.eu/en/698-a1208-v...expansion.html

Is it needed for general gaming?

Tahnk you

You won't need it for gamin, but it is less than 20€ so it is not expensive and you might find it useful one day. Generally not for gaming with 68020 CPU, but some productivity software etc. It won't harm have it.

[jotd]

TFX uses it. That's the only game I know of which does. And it crawls on anything below 68030...

Maybe fanmade 3D ports as well like Wolf3D or others. But in that case maybe the 68020 is the limit...

[Radertified]

As others have said, there's a handful of games, demos and software that strictly require an FPU. Most of the games are ports and are available on other platforms where they run with no slowdowns.

What I found in my post about games that required an accelerator is the vast majority of games that suggested an accelerator don't use any special instructions at all. Obviously having 68030/040/060 would be preferable but if you have a fast enough 68020, you can run just about everything.

But as utri007 said, if the FPU is cheap and you have the means to buy it, why not? Doesn't hurt to have around just in case you need it in future.

[Bren McGuire]

there's some demoscene productions that are made for 030+FPU. Not many, but they are out there.
This one comes to mind [ Show youtube player ]

but yeah adding an fPU to a stock A1200 seems rather silly. Also the FPU would be running real slow, in an accelerator with a 030 at 50 Mhz, the FPU is usually also clocked at 50Mhz. In the 1208 case I would guess it would be running at the EC02's 14Mhz speed.

Originally Posted by alexh

AB3D has no FPU code.

Quake, Quake 2, TFX (FPU version). Demos (060 mainly). That is about it. Non of which you're going to be running with just an 1208.

[alexh]

Originally Posted by Bren McGuire

In the 1208 case I would guess it would be running at the EC02's 14Mhz speed.

FPUs can be run asynchronously and this 1208 has it's own FPU clock. But it is pointless. More heat, more electricity. Zero use.

[Bren McGuire]

i thought that was a bad thing, because the CPU speed would be a bottleneck.

Originally Posted by alexh

FPUs can be run asynchronously and this 1208 has it's own FPU clock. But it is pointless. More heat, more electricity. Zero use.

[Nightshft]

I once measured the power intake of my Amiga 1200 without and with Fpu and was positively surprised that the system only took about 1 Watt more with the coprocessor installed. The chip also didn't get warm (when running on 40Mhz). So from that I think the drawback is negligible.

As already mentioned, only very few programs use it. Some that come to mind are Amiglobe (map), Apfelkiste (fractal) and the mentioned few demos (that require fpu but not an 060). Probably the most important use: you get MFlops in Sysinfo and better results in the AIBB benchmarks.

As it's not pricey I'd take it. Just for the fun.

[Predseda]

Much more important than FPU is Fast RAM. Use or need of FPU is marginal.

[fxgogo]

Gaming - no. 3D rendering applications - hell yeah!!! If you are not doing the latter, don’t bother.