Should I Pistorm my 500/1000 or 1200?

[Port89]

I'm curious to try a Pistorm, and note that versions are available either as a 68000 socket or 1200 trapdoor.

I was thinking I'd put it in my 1200 until I considered that it's already fairly good spec. It has 8+2MB RAM and a 68881, it's got OK video out (via GBS control), it's got a CF Flash HD plus it's 020.

If a Pistorm gives a 500 or 1000 all of the above is it reasonable to conclude that it's a much more worthwhile upgrade for those that leaves things in the same spot by adding hi-res RTG, RAM, speed and hard disk?

[giantclam]

I'm doing it to my rev.6A board, but then that's going into a big-box, which makes it easier for external cabling blabla ... I probably wouldn't do it to a replete stock A500 ; they're worth more unmolested =)

[itsmedoofer]

I think you need to ask yourself, what do you hope to achieve, what do you want to run,play? What do you do on your 500 that you can't on the 1200 ?

One possible way to go, upgrade the 1200, you then have a really excellent high end amiga, plus you then have the fall back of the 500 for the remote possibility of a small amount of really old software not liking the 1200....

You say the 1200 is fairly high spec, processing wise its pretty stock really, a fpu that's hardly used and some fast mem, the PS32 is many many orders of magnitude faster both on processor and storage speed.....

[derSammler]

The A1000 is a bad candidate due to its chip-ram limitation.

I would opt for the A500, as it's a greater improvement. Like it allows you to play many games that support AGA and RTG only (e.g. Simon the Sorcerer 2), which would run on the A1200 even without the PiStorm.

I did install it in an A500 as well (my options were A500, A600, A1200).

I probably wouldn't do it to a replete stock A500 ; they're worth more unmolested =)

The A500 outsold the A1200 by a factor of 10. Also, or because of this, the A1200 is way, way more valuabe than the A500. Besides, installing a PiStorm can be reversed at any time. It's just a CPU replacement.

[Jope]

I would opt for the A1200 because the A500 is just so slow that if you want to do anything with native graphics modes, stuff will crawl regardless of the fast CPU.

Also the A500 is more difficult with regards to data transfer. The A1200 has a PCMCIA socket where you can plug in a network card or memory card adapter to move data in/out instead of having to turn off the Amiga and yanking your boot drive.

And another matter of preference; a specific turbo card slot is much more elegant and robust than pulling chips and shoving riser cards in their place.

[nikosidis]

A1200 without a doubt. You will even be able to disable Pistorm32 with a simple keypress and run the original 020 if you like. Think about all the nice AGA demo stuff!

[derSammler]

Originally Posted by Jope

I would opt for the A1200 because the A500 is just so slow that if you want to do anything with native graphics modes, stuff will crawl regardless of the fast CPU.

You apparently never used a PiStorm in an A500, because that is simply not true. ADoom e.g. runs at full speed on ECS with a PiStorm. Nothing is "crawling". And since when is AGA considered to be fast? Also, you would use RTG most of the time anyway. If not, the PiStorm would be the wrong choice.

The A1200 is and always was easy to upgrade. You could get a PPC accelerator for it. It's nothing special. But the A500 was not. Turning the A500 into a powerhouse is a much more satisfying experience.

It's also worth noting that the original PiStorm is more mature than the PiStorm32, which still has some nasty bugs and compatibility issues.

[Calabazam]

A1200 is just a matter of plugging the card on the expansion port, unlike others which need to tinkle with CPU and sockets and remove native CPU.
Besides, i am under the impression it works better in the 1200 version with the chip ram speed but i may be wrong.

[Kin Hell]

Originally Posted by derSammler

You apparently never used a PiStorm in an A500, because that is simply not true. ADoom e.g. runs at full speed on ECS with a PiStorm. Nothing is "crawling". And since when is AGA considered to be fast? Also, you would use RTG most of the time anyway. If not, the PiStorm would be the wrong choice.

The A1200 is and always was easy to upgrade. You could get a PPC accelerator for it. It's nothing special. But the A500 was not. Turning the A500 into a powerhouse is a much more satisfying experience.

It's also worth noting that the original PiStorm is more mature than the PiStorm32, which still has some nasty bugs and compatibility issues.

Hey.... more mature doesn't mean it's faster. We all get slower as we get older ya know!

@ Port89

Definitely A1200 for more native speed & much better connectivity all round.

[itsmedoofer]

Originally Posted by derSammler

It's also worth noting that the original PiStorm is more mature than the PiStorm32, which still has some nasty bugs and compatibility issues.

Not really the case since Beta 2.1, compatability is now excellent, mainly things that use SMC are the problem, quirks with the fpu have recently been identified, fixes identified and currently being implemented. Certainly not aware of any nasty bugs, care to elaborate, or maybe report them on GIT ?

[Port89]

Originally Posted by itsmedoofer

I think you need to ask yourself, what do you hope to achieve, what do you want to run,play? What do you do on your 500 that you can't on the 1200 ?

Well, realistically nothing....isn't that what we all do?

Originally Posted by itsmedoofer

One possible way to go, upgrade the 1200, you then have a really excellent high end amiga, plus you then have the fall back of the 500 for the remote possibility of a small amount of really old software not liking the 1200....

What I was thinking is that with a Pistorm even a 500 is that same high spec. That's the guts of my question. I've got a couple of working 500's (plus the 1000 and 1200) anyway.

Originally Posted by itsmedoofer

You say the 1200 is fairly high spec, processing wise its pretty stock really, a fpu that's hardly used and some fast mem, the PS32 is many many orders of magnitude faster both on processor and storage speed.....

High spec as in it's got much better native AGA/CPU/RAM/HD and 3.2.2 than my older machines.

Another way of asking might be "Is a 1200 with Pistorm materially better than a 500 with Pistorm"?

[Jope]

Originally Posted by derSammler

You apparently never used a PiStorm in an A500, because that is simply not true. ADoom e.g. runs at full speed on ECS with a PiStorm. Nothing is "crawling". And since when is AGA considered to be fast? Also, you would use RTG most of the time anyway. If not, the PiStorm would be the wrong choice.

Yeah i own one of each, PiStorm and PiStorm 32 lite.

Can you understand relative slowness and fastness? The speed difference is noticeable between ECS and AGA, especially when the screen depth is higher. It is also noticeable between an A500 030 and an A3000 030. I also own an A500/030 and an A3000/030 in case this means anything.

And likewise, I would mainly use RTG myself. However a friend of mine who just got his PiStorm A500 running loves 15kHz CRT action on his Amiga. He actively tries to run many things over the CRT even though my comment is usually that it will not necessarily be nice and playable compared to RTG. However I don't forbid him or chide him for it, just try to set his expectations.

I still stand behind my opinion that the 500 is the worse choice if you get to choose between A500/A1200, because the A1200 is a better platform for CPU expansions regardless of how those expansions are implemented.

Personally I prefer the A4000 though, you don't have to plug as many things upside down on top of chips in those machines, but have actual expansion slots for things. However no PiStorm for the Fast Slot, so it's the wrong thread for that.

[itsmedoofer]

Originally Posted by Port89

Well, realistically nothing....isn't that what we all do?



What I was thinking is that with a Pistorm even a 500 is that same high spec. That's the guts of my question. I've got a couple of working 500's (plus the 1000 and 1200) anyway.



High spec as in it's got much better native AGA/CPU/RAM/HD and 3.2.2 than my older machines.

Another way of asking might be "Is a 1200 with Pistorm materially better than a 500 with Pistorm"?

Personally I think the 1200 & AGA would benefit more from the PS and may open up more avenues for you, for example high end aga demos. Not everything is rtg compatible, what happens when you need to fall back to native? Personally I don't even use the rtg capabilities, ps and aga rocks it for me.... But as I said that is my personal opinion, have a good think about what you want to achieve so you're not disappointed...

[Port89]

All very good points, which turned this into an expensive question.

I've ordered both.

[demether]

Same here. Pistorm everywhere !

[Jope]

Originally Posted by Port89

I've ordered both.

The only reasonable choice! :-D

[Kin Hell]

Originally Posted by Port89

All very good points, which turned this into an expensive question.

I've ordered both.

Perfect!

[huggy70]

this riddle is hard to resolve for me too:

already have pistorm in A500 with musashi (cos I need the network connection) with rgb2hdmi giving me brilliant native picture in games and wb. Ok this is no ideal games machine.
Cannot go emu68 here, will have no network.

I want to go even faster with emu68 in my A1200, but:
-don't have rgb2hdmi, which is sad. Don't have fast network, need to use my slow wifi card instead
-this machine is already a brilliant whdload machine
-what should I do with my blizzard 1230/50? Sell it to fund my pistorm32? keep it in a warm and cozy place?
-isn't it enough? what will I use it for

So my mouse pointer keeps turning circles over the pistorm32 buy button :-o
So I know sometime I will hit the buy button just for the peace of mind :-)

[Kin Hell]

Click it now!

[huggy70]

I will, no doubt