Found Suitable RAM for an Amiga 1200

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boyo

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I'm a noob when it comes to this - just got an Amiga 1200 and a compact disk type hard drive with some whdload games on it. Looking to buy some memory or any other appropriate hardware so I can get the games to load from Workbench.
 
Option 1. Source a PCMCIA SRAM card. This'll give you up to 4MB FastRAM, but uses up your PCMCIA socket.
Option 2. Source a trapdoor RAM expansion. These come in 4MB or 8MB variants. If you use an 8MB, it wipes out the PCMCIA address space, so you can only put up to 4MB in if you want to use the PCMCIA
Option 3. Source an accelerator card for the trapdoor. These are more-expensive, but give you a lot more performance. Some of the lower-end ones have the same RAM limitations (4MB max for PCMCIA, 8MB max and no PCMCIA). The mid- to high-range cards will allow you to install 32MB+ of FastRAM with no conflicts on the PCMCIA port.
 
Ok, looks like in the first instance I need option 2 I think. Can anyone help?
 
I should soon be able to offer an expansion card which you might find meets your needs. It's a 28MHz 68020 + 8MB RAM upgrade card. I'm still waiting for delivery (bought it from eBay on Wednesday).

I won't need it, as I sourced a Blizzard 030 from here :)

I will probably be looking for somewhere around £60+P&P, but will obviously post more details when I've tested it to make sure it's working.
 
I should soon be able to offer an expansion card which you might find meets your needs. It's a 28MHz 68020 + 8MB RAM upgrade card. I'm still waiting for delivery (bought it from eBay on Wednesday).

I won't need it, as I sourced a Blizzard 030 from here :)

I will probably be looking for somewhere around £60+P&P, but will obviously post more details when I've tested it to make sure it's working.

Sounds like a plan - let me know how you get on and some pics would be good. Has it arrived yet as well? Can I have a link to the auction?
 
I should soon be able to offer an expansion card which you might find meets your needs. It's a 28MHz 68020 + 8MB RAM upgrade card. I'm still waiting for delivery (bought it from eBay on Wednesday).

I won't need it, as I sourced a Blizzard 030 from here :)

I will probably be looking for somewhere around £60+P&P, but will obviously post more details when I've tested it to make sure it's working.

Sounds like a plan - let me know how you get on and some pics would be good. Has it arrived yet as well? Can I have a link to the auction?

Hi, I'm lacking a camera phone or working digi-cam so can't take any photo's. I picked the card up from the sorting office on Saturday. It's a 25MHz 68020 plus a 68882 FPU and 4MB RAM, not 28MHz and 8MB as I originally thought.

It does make a nice difference in speed and the additional RAM is handy.

The link (hope I'm allowed to put this) : http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=280547429364

The FPU is a nice bonus. Means I can give AmiBlitz a try :)

If I put in in the 'for sale' section on AmiBay, I will give you first refusal (again, hoping this is within the rules).

**EDIT** - As it cost me £53, this is what I'll put it up for sale for. Plus P&P though. Not out to make a profit, just covering costs. Not that I didn't consider it, for a moment. Only human :)
 
Well I would like it - just let me know when you would like to sell it to me please.
 
Hi there,

well, it is all up to three things - personal preference (how far you want to go), budget and availability.

If you only want to run a few WHDLoad games then the cheapest and, in my opinion, best way to go is a trapdoor ram card. These usually come with a real time clock, so check the battery as they can die from old age, leak corrosive compounds into the machine and destroy not only the ram card, but also the entire Amiga.

I, personally, would never buy a ram card. Why? Because the stock A1200 is quite slow, not by modern standards, but by usable workbench standards. Workbench 3.0 or 3.1 can run reasonably snappy as long as you dont mind 8 colours and 640 x 256 screenmodes, but these to be quite honest suck.

Also, you will not be able to play any of the later amiga games, even games like Gloom, Nemac IV, Doom etc will not be enjoyable on such a machine.

Buying an Sram card for ram expansion on the A1200 is SUCH a bad idea as to be considered ludicrous. Firstly, Sram cards are EXPENSIVE, far more than a trapdoor ram card. Secondly, they hang out the side and take up your pcmcia card slot which can be used for other things. Thirdly, and most importantly, they are INCREDABLY slow. Using Sram memory will actually slow down your A1200 to about 70% of s stock system! Why pay a fortune for a ram card that will actually make your amiga slower?!?!

Crazy.

To be honest, and again this is personal preference, if you are going to use the A1200 for workbench, running some nice audio etc apps and playing games of the later AGA era, then you are best off buying a cheap 030 cpu card with ram. These are quite affordable, will make your amiga roughly 5 times as fast, will give you access to cheap ram (usually 72 pin simms) will leave your pcm cia slot free and let you run 99% of the latest games.

Of course, you can get an 040, or 060 or even PPC card, but these are far more expensive and only a fraction of games and apps require them. 030 will give you the best bang for your buck.

Hope this helps.
 
I've created a For Sale in the appropriate area just now.

You might have been better to do the transaction here, now you've got other people declaring interest in the card...

Yes, I did make that cock-up!

Boyo has first refusal on an Apollo Turbo 1220 (25MHz 68020 + FPU) with 4MB RAM. £53 with free P&P.

**EDIT** Guaranteed working.

Also, I tend to agree with abraXXious. a 40MHz 68030 with 4 or maybe 8MB RAM would be a good minimum spec to enjoy some of the slightly more demanding games. 8MB will mean you won't bump into any low-RAM issues with WHDLoad games.

The Turbo 1220 does give a nice speed boost, but it doesn't come close to a nice Blizzard 1230.
 
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So how do I change the thread to "Found" this being my first purchase on this great forum :)
 
A passing moderator will do that for you - all you have to do now is wait for your purchase to arrive and then give feedback to the seller :)
 
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