Would a Super Denise (8373 R4 390433-02) work in my A500?

[appiah4]

I came across someone selling a Super Denise chip for real cheap. I have an A500 with a 1MB ECS Agnus; I was wondering if I should grab the chip in question. Would replacing with my Denise give me any benefits? Would it even work?

[Fingerlickin_B]

Hi,

You actually need this for ECS screenmodes to work, so yes, it will be of benefit

PZ.

[Toni Wilen]

It works but I don't see any benefit with ECS screenshots on unexpanded A500, they require too much chip ram bandwidth to be usable without faster cpu and fast ram. (=A3000)

btw, some demos show only blank screen with ECS Denise. ECS Denise fixes OCS Denise bug that some programs accidentally required.

[Fingerlickin_B]

Interesting points Toni.

Thread hijack time!

Obviously ECS is beneficial on my "faster-than-stock-A3000" A2000 with '030, extra RAM, etc, which I regularly use for internet browsing.

However, I have an A500 with nothing more than an '010 & 512kb fast board (hacked to be switchable to make 1mb Chip).

The A500 mentioned above is used for nothing else but playing .adf file games with a Gotek.

Would I be correct in assuming that you are saying there would be no benefit in the scenario from having ECS chipset fitted? As in, all non-AGA games will still load if I revert to OCS chipset?

PZ.

[Toni Wilen]

Originally Posted by Fingerlickin_B

Would I be correct in assuming that you are saying there would be no benefit in the scenario from having ECS chipset fitted? As in, all non-AGA games will still load if I revert to OCS chipset?

I am quite sure no A500 game or demo use any of new ECS Denise features.

You already have reduced compatibility due to 68010 so adding ECS Denise does not make it much worse (or better)

- 68010 reduces compatibility more than any OCS/ECS option.
- Few games and demos are OCS Agnus or ECS Agnus only. (corrupted graphics). This is not related to 1M/0.5+0.5M memory selection.
- Very few demos (possibly games too) have blank screen if ECS Denise.

Note that A500 with ECS Agnus (8372A) can be called simply as ECS A500, even if it does not have ECS Denise. A500 + ECS Denise was extremely rare combination. A500 + ECS Agnus was quite common because it was factory config in later A500 revisions.

[Fingerlickin_B]

So I should ditch the 68010 & replace it with 68000?


Done!

PZ.

[Toni Wilen]

Originally Posted by Fingerlickin_B

So I should ditch the 68010 & replace it with 68000?

Only when/if some program fails to work

[Leffmann]

Originally Posted by Toni Wilen

It works but I don't see any benefit with ECS screenshots on unexpanded A500, they require too much chip ram bandwidth to be usable without faster cpu and fast ram. (=A3000)

btw, some demos show only blank screen with ECS Denise. ECS Denise fixes OCS Denise bug that some programs accidentally required.

What bug is this?

[Toni Wilen]

Originally Posted by Leffmann

What bug is this?

Quick and too simple explanation: horizontal diwstrt values 0 and 1 will open horizontal display window if OCS Denise. ECS does not, value needs to be at least 2.

Full explanation:

http://eab.abime.net/showpost.php?p=627835&postcount=65
http://eab.abime.net/showpost.php?p=628336&postcount=66

[Fingerlickin_B]

Originally Posted by Toni Wilen

Only when/if some program fails to work

Chase H.Q. wouldn't load past intro screen before with '010 installed & machine would lock up...'000 back in place & it now loads

Thanks Toni

PZ.

[appiah4]

Revisiting this old thread; Now that I own an ACA500Plus and can run an 68EC000 at 42MHz, should I replace my Denise with a Super Denise

[Jope]

Probably not, but feel free if you can find one cheap. :-)

The ECS Amiga really likes 15kHz horizontal refresh. Above that, the performance is just disappointing.

[appiah4]

Originally Posted by Jope

Probably not, but feel free if you can find one cheap. :-)

The ECS Amiga really likes 15kHz horizontal refresh. Above that, the performance is just disappointing.

Yeah I'm kind of keeping eyes open for a good bargain grab but they don't seem to be very common, interestingly. One would think battery damaged A500+ boards taken apart and sold for spares would be a thing..

[idrougge]

What would you use it for? Using Productivity or Superhighres screenmodes?

[appiah4]

Originally Posted by idrougge

What would you use it for? Using Productivity or Superhighres screenmodes?

The only valid reason I have is using high res modes for wordprocessing.

[idrougge]

You do know that you need a VGA/multisync screen for Productivity?

[appiah4]

Originally Posted by idrougge

You do know that you need a VGA/multisync screen for Productivity?

Yeah, that's the next logical step

[zipper]

I did some time use Productivity as the 60 Hz refresh was so easy to eyes compared to 50 Hz flicker - 4 col WB was pretty ugly yet.