From: afryer@zeus.UWaterloo.ca (A. Fryer)
Subject: Re: 68030 ACCELERATOR NEEDED!!!!!!!!!!
Organization: University of Waterloo
Date: Tue, 10 Nov 1992 19:41:08 GMT

In article <1992Nov10.132349.28032@cis.ohio-state.edu>  
juncewic@turtle.cis.ohio-state.edu (thomas michael juncewicz) writes:
> I want to have an 030-based system running at least 25-MHz.  Now, I've  
seen
> some boards like GVP's combos that have HD's with em and like 8 megs of 
> memory, but this is overkill (especially in price-$1000).  On the other  
hand,
GVP still sells their 25Mhz combo (I beleive they still sell it anyway),  
which comes with SCSI and 1Meg RAM, expandable to 13Megs.  I saw it going  
for about $650 or so a while back...


> I've also seen something called a VXL*30 or something like that which  
ran
> at 25-MHz w/ 68881 for $350.  I assume the latter has nothing else with  
it,
The VXL is nice as well... a friend of mine bought one and is very happy  
with it.  Yes, it is just a 68030 at 25 or 40MHz.  You can get it with a  
68881 or 68882 running at a different clock rate.  My friend has a 68881  
running at 66MHz on his 40MHz '030.  A high-speed 881 gives much better  
price/performance ratio than an 882.  The VXL also has an optional 32-bit  
RAM board, but it is pretty pricey (something like $650 for the 8meg  
version last time I looked).

> like RAM or HD, which is fine.  My question is, what do you guys  
recommend
> I should get?  Should I go for the higher end stuff?  Does having 32-bit
> memory REALLY improve performance?  Should I get a 40-50 MHz model--is  
the
> speed difference noticable enough to warrant the extra price (I know the  
bus
> and memory will be the bottlenecks)?  Should I just spend the cash on an  
040?

Well, yes, the 32 bit ram makes a tremendous difference.  An 030 with no  
32-bit ram will approximately double your system performance (better than  
an ADSPEED, but not great).  A 25MHz 030 with 32-bit RAM is about 10 times  
faster than a stock 7.14MHz 68000.  Another speed increase can be realized  
by remapping the kickstart to 32-bit ram.



> AAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!!!

aaaaaaaaaaarrg!!

> 
> As a guideline, I need the power for rendering software and heavily
> math-intensive applications (like Flight Simulators :)).  Also, I need
> something that can fall back to 68000 mode without having to pop open my
> case and set jumpers.  Finally, because I'm a starving college student 
> (aren't we all) it has to be as affordable as possible, certainly less  
than
The VXL and GVP boards both let you soft boot into 68000 mode.  The VXL's  
method is not quite as elegant as the GVP, but both work great.

> $1000 (otherwise I'd just get an A3000), and hopefully around $500-$600.
> Well, I think that about covers my dilema...PLEEEEEEEEEEEZE respond ASAP
> via email OR post (I read this group religiously).  Thanx in advance
> fellow Amigans...
> 
My recommendation is go for the low-end GVP.  It'll cost you more than the  
VXL, but it will also offer easier upgrade path... Just pop in SIMMs to  
upgrade the RAM (4Megs at a time), and it also has built-in SCSI.  The VXL  
on the other hand lets you start smaller, but is more expensive to upgrade  
as your needs grow.

If you are looking at rendering software, you will need gobs of RAM... and  
32-bit RAM will definitely help.

> Tom

Alun
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----      ///   afryer@zeus.uwaterloo.ca  Captian, I protest. I  ----
----     ///    Alun J. Fryer             am NOT a merry man!    ----
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