Is it worth it fitting faster chip/slow Ram to A500?

imperious · 10 December 2013, 04:12

I recently ordered and received a spare Rev 6a mobo rom Amigakit for my A500, well worth it for the price even with postage to Australia.
I have developed an obsession with acquiring spares for my retro computers, 3 c64's, a Vic-20, and my original 1989 Amiga 500, as I don't
like the idea of one dying and my not being able to fix it.

What I'm wondering is that I can get 50ns or 60ns 514256 RAM chips fairly cheap from ebay, and what performance benefits might there be in swapping the slower 120ns chips out?
The Rev 6a board has 4 Ram chips compared with the 16 in my Rev5 board. The 512k trapdoor I bought in 1990 also has 4 Ram chips

I am ordering (whenever I am next on the list) a 8mb fast ram with CF card from Kipper2k, so that should also be taken into consideration.

Jope · 10 December 2013, 07:07

There are no performance benefits from swapping the RAM. The computer is already going as fast as it can.

Loedown · 10 December 2013, 10:11

The speed of the ram denotes its maximum performance. Even if you put faster chips in the board won't run any faster because it's all locked to clock cycles. If you can get the chips cheaply do so by all means as then you have spares.

imperious · 12 December 2013, 14:41

Thanks for the replies Everyone.

I guess if I had looked at this the same way My PC Ram works then that makes perfect sense, as in if I had Ram capable of 2100mhz Cas 9, but was running 1333mhz Cas 11 because that is all the motherboard allows, then adding faster Ram would make no difference.

In the Amiga I have no control over Ram speed or timings, so no point adding potentially faster Ram. I'll still buy some spares but not as many now.

10 December 2013, 04:12	#1
imperious Registered User Join Date: Nov 2013 Location: Brisbane, Australia Posts: 14	Is it worth it fitting faster chip/slow Ram to A500? I recently ordered and received a spare Rev 6a mobo rom Amigakit for my A500, well worth it for the price even with postage to Australia. I have developed an obsession with acquiring spares for my retro computers, 3 c64's, a Vic-20, and my original 1989 Amiga 500, as I don't like the idea of one dying and my not being able to fix it. What I'm wondering is that I can get 50ns or 60ns 514256 RAM chips fairly cheap from ebay, and what performance benefits might there be in swapping the slower 120ns chips out? The Rev 6a board has 4 Ram chips compared with the 16 in my Rev5 board. The 512k trapdoor I bought in 1990 also has 4 Ram chips I am ordering (whenever I am next on the list) a 8mb fast ram with CF card from Kipper2k, so that should also be taken into consideration.

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10 December 2013, 07:07	#2
Jope - Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Helsinki / Finland Age: 43 Posts: 9,900	There are no performance benefits from swapping the RAM. The computer is already going as fast as it can.

10 December 2013, 10:11	#3
Loedown Precious & fragile things Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Victoria, Australia Posts: 1,946	The speed of the ram denotes its maximum performance. Even if you put faster chips in the board won't run any faster because it's all locked to clock cycles. If you can get the chips cheaply do so by all means as then you have spares.

12 December 2013, 14:41	#4
imperious Registered User Join Date: Nov 2013 Location: Brisbane, Australia Posts: 14	Thanks for the replies Everyone. I guess if I had looked at this the same way My PC Ram works then that makes perfect sense, as in if I had Ram capable of 2100mhz Cas 9, but was running 1333mhz Cas 11 because that is all the motherboard allows, then adding faster Ram would make no difference. In the Amiga I have no control over Ram speed or timings, so no point adding potentially faster Ram. I'll still buy some spares but not as many now.

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