Blizzard 1220 VS TF1230

[NunoUFO]

Hi all,

I've just purchased an A1200 which came with a Blizzaed 1220.
Whilst it provides a certain improvement, I'm looking to get a good speed boost and also good 3D graphics performance.

Would you recommend me to keep this one or get a TF1230 68030?

Thank you in advance for your comments and help.

[supaduper]

Or if you can stretch your budget go for a TF1260

[Leon Besson]

Originally Posted by NunoUFO

Hi all,

I've just purchased an A1200 which came with a Blizzaed 1220.
Whilst it provides a certain improvement, I'm looking to get a good speed boost and also good 3D graphics performance.

Would you recommend me to keep this one or get a TF1230 68030?

Thank you in advance for your comments and help.

The worlds your oyster Bromigo! When it comes to accelerators.

You need to delve further into what you want to achieve here?

You mention “good 3D graphics performance”. But 3D graphics performance with what exactly?

A 1230 (68030) for some is a vast improvement over a 68020 CPU. But will that be enough for you?

Don’t forget if you purchase one of these newer accelerator cards then you will be joining those who will be tinkering with them with newer firmware’s to get what you want out of it. Are you prepared to do that?

[jlin_au]

Go for a Blizzard 1230 Mk IV with its 680RC30 (50Mhz w/ MMU) and real time clock (RTC) as you can add up to 128 Mb of fast ram to the standard card w/o the SCSI expansion card. The 128 Mb fast ram is compatible with a PCMCIA card in 4 Mb PCMCIA slot address range.

Or you could look at a Terriblefire TF1230 (68030) or TF1260 (68060) card w/o RTC, w/ its extra RAM and 2nd IDE interface (requires extra software patch).

A Blizzard 1220 gives you a 28Mhz 680EC20 with an RTC and either 4 or 8 MB of Fast ram with the upper 4Mb of any 8Mb RAM conflicting with some PCMCIA cards in the 4MB PCMCIA slot address space.

[NunoUFO]

Originally Posted by supaduper

Or if you can stretch your budget go for a TF1260

Wish I could, depends on how much I can sell my 1220 for. I've purchased an 86662 FPU which I plan to add.

My question is which option is the best all rounder if it makes sense

thank you
Nuno

[NunoUFO]

Originally Posted by Leon Besson

The worlds your oyster Bromigo! When it comes to accelerators.

You need to delve further into what you want to achieve here?

You mention “good 3D graphics performance”. But 3D graphics performance with what exactly?

A 1230 (68030) for some is a vast improvement over a 68020 CPU. But will that be enough for you?

Don’t forget if you purchase one of these newer accelerator cards then you will be joining those who will be tinkering with them with newer firmware’s to get what you want out of it. Are you prepared to do that?

To be fair I'm only looking to do retro gaming and some Doom and other more 3D slightly demanding games.

[NunoUFO]

Originally Posted by jlin_au

Go for a Blizzard 1230 Mk IV with its 680RC30 (50Mhz w/ MMU) and real time clock (RTC) as you can add up to 128 Mb of fast ram to the standard card w/o the SCSI expansion card. The 128 Mb fast ram is compatible with a PCMCIA card in 4 Mb PCMCIA slot address range.

Or you could look at a Terriblefire TF1230 (68030) or TF1260 (68060) card w/o RTC, w/ its extra RAM and 2nd IDE interface (requires extra software patch).

A Blizzard 1220 gives you a 28Mhz 680EC20 with an RTC and either 4 or 8 MB of Fast ram with the upper 4Mb of any 8Mb RAM conflicting with some PCMCIA cards in the 4MB PCMCIA slot address space.

Hi, the Blizzard 1230 Mk IV is a bit outside my budget. Again it depends on how much I get for the 1220..

Thank you

[trixster]

Doom will still be too slow on a TF1230.

Amiga first person shooters like Gloom and Alien Breed 3D will benefit from the extra speed of the TF1230, but AB3D2 and PC ports of stuff like Doom, DukeNukem and Quake are far too slow still.

The Bliz 1220/4 gives 5.05 Mips, a TF1230 will give about 10 Mips. For the vast majority of amiga games the 1220/4 will be just fine.

[Lord Aga]

I would stay with that Blizzard. It is an awesome card, and you can have tons of fun with it before needing something more powerful.

[Leon Besson]

Originally Posted by NunoUFO

Wish I could, depends on how much I can sell my 1220 for. I've purchased an 86662 FPU which I plan to add.

My question is which option is the best all rounder if it makes sense

thank you
Nuno

Best all rounder is a 1230 with an FPU if planning to do 3D productivity. I’ve always been a keen advocate of the classic accelerators such as the Blizzard 1230 MVIV. There are other ones like Apollo MK2 and MK3 1230 cards as well, although a few of those run moderately slower.

A TF1230 is all well and good, but no FPU option currently exists on that card.

For power a 1260. For ultimate power then you are looking at FPGA such as a Vampire.

See how you fair with the 1220 as that is good enough for Whdload games and demos.

As for Doom the. You need a 1260 or a Vampire card

Laters Mang!

[NunoUFO]

Originally Posted by Leon Besson

Best all rounder is a 1230 with an FPU if planning to do 3D productivity. I’ve always been a keen advocate of the classic accelerators such as the Blizzard 1230 MVIV. There are other ones like Apollo MK2 and MK3 1230 cards as well, although a few of those run moderately slower.

A TF1230 is all well and good, but no FPU option currently exists on that card.


For power a 1260. For ultimate power then you are looking at FPGA such as a Vampire.

See how you fair with the 1220 as that is good enough for Whdload games and demos.

As for Doom the. You need a 1260 or a Vampire card

Laters Mang!

Thanks Mang, I think I will get the 1230 as my 1220 doesn't let me play any AGA WHDLoad games as it keeps saying I don't have enough Shadow Mem...

[Leon Besson]

Originally Posted by NunoUFO

Thanks Mang, I think I will get the 1230 as my 1220 doesn't let me play any AGA WHDLoad games as it keeps saying I don't have enough Shadow Mem...

No Worries Bromigo!

Try installing and configuring this as a cheaper method for now;

https://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?t=105824

[Jope]

An FPU can also be installed on the A1200 motherboard if you really need one with a TF1230.

[Kin Hell]

Originally Posted by NunoUFO

Hi all,

I've just purchased an A1200 which came with a Blizzaed 1220.
Whilst it provides a certain improvement, I'm looking to get a good speed boost and also good 3D graphics performance.

Would you recommend me to keep this one or get a TF1230 68030?

Thank you in advance for your comments and help.

Originally Posted by Jope

An FPU can also be installed on the A1200 motherboard if you really need one with a TF1230.

If you put a 68882 FPU on the Mobo, it will run at 14Mhz like the onboard CPU. There will also be wait-states invoked when using your Blizzard 1220/4 which has a 28Mhz CPU. - Don't do this.
Fit the 68882 to the Blizzard 1220/4 & depending on the part number of the 68882 you have purchased, be sure the X-Tal on the Blizzard 1220/4 matches the speed of the 68882.
A lot of PLCC style 33Mhz 68882's will run @ 40Mhz if you're lucky enough in the PLCC Silicon Lottery.

RE the Ram on the Blizzard 1220/4:

If you have the Add-4 Board Memory Expansion, this will give you 8Mb Fast Ram, which is better than 4Mb, though you might then get PCMCIA issues.
4Mb is a tad tight for WHDLoad. Bearing in mind the Blizzard 1220/4 is fitted with DIP chips which are slower/higher Latency than 72 Pin SIMM's.

The Blizzard 1230 gives you up to 128Mb on a Single 72 Pin SIMM & no PCMCIA issues. Also, this is a 68030 @ 50Mhz with an FPU of up to 50Mhz if you use the PGA style 68882.

My money would be for the Blizzard 1230 over the TF1230 if you want Floating Point calculations.
If you don't want Floating Point Calculations, get the TF1230 68030.

Too many "If's" can cause confusion, so in an effort to appease the abuse of "if" in this post, please consider these:

If all you want to do is play games, the 1220/4, even if a tad tight for WHDLoad & only 4Mb ram, save your money all round.
If you don't want to use Desktop publishing or 3D Ray-tracing software, the 68882 you have bought is a waste of time all together.

A 50Mhz CPU & FPU is like waiting for paint to dry, but then even a 40Mhz FPU with a 28Mhz 020 will be like waiting for Hell to freeze over.

[Leon Besson]

Originally Posted by Jope

An FPU can also be installed on the A1200 motherboard if you really need one with a TF1230.

Yeah followed Chris Edwards YouTube video on this with a new RE-Amiga board. Somehow my board no longer works (Green screen). Tried everything and managed to get a garbled screen afterwards. Now off to a trusted Electrical professional I use to hopefully get it fixed

Moral Mang! If you are confident with a soldering iron and know what you are doing, then yes this is an option.

[Jope]

Yep, don't make mistakes.

Originally Posted by Kin Hell

If you put a 68882 FPU on the Mobo, it will run at 14Mhz like the onboard CPU. There will also be wait-states invoked when using your Blizzard 1220/4 which has a 28Mhz CPU. - Don't do this.

I was talking specifically about installing a motherboard FPU with the TF1230, which can't have an FPU on board. If you have an accelerator or mem expansion with an FPU socket, why on earth would you fit one on the motherboard. Sounds DUMB?! XDD XD

Also there was some enterprising soul who cut the 14MHz line and successfully fed the motherboard FPU with a faster clock.

These are OPTIONS, I'm not forcing anyone to do anything.

[utri007]

For most 3D games and Amiga minium CPU is 68040.

With 68030 Doom is just too slow.

[Leon Besson]

Originally Posted by utri007

For most 3D games and Amiga minium CPU is 68040.

With 68030 Doom is just too slow.

68040 CPUs also run too hot and can be unstable as well

You might as well bite the bullet and go 68060 in my opinion

[Jope]

All in!

The 040 seems to be the worst choice for a WHDLoad machine in my experience. Some slaves that work on the 030 and 060 have trouble.

The 030 seems to be the most compatible in a WHDLoad machine, but the 060 is a good second.

[Superman]

There is also the option of a Tsunami 1230 which does have and FPU but seems quite a bit more expensive than the TF 1230. I have a TF1230 and it’s great for my needs.