Building an A4000T - What do I need?

Jon Hare

Jon Hare

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Dear Community,

I have an A4000T with a Cyberstorm PPC 060 604e 233Mhz board, but nothing else. I'm not really used to A4000s, so I wanna ask you what extensions are just great and usefull to make it High-End like :D

Thanks for your thoughts :)
 
I have a PicassoIV as you know and its totally phreaking awesome :D

Every A4000 should have one (y)

I'm in two minds for mine whether to get Deneb or get an X-Surf with the option to run Subway USB off the clock port.

Steve.
 
DENEB works great on my A4000D, now I have USB LAN adapter, SATA to USB docking station and a external HDD enclosure (this one, for backup purpouses) via a D-Link USB host with 7 ports (with external PSU).

Also I tested one SBlaster 5.1 Surround USB, it works but is useful only to play, built-in DSP and other features are no recognized by AHI drivers & OS 3.x

Not tested the clockport. I opened a thread about this, because I'm thinking to buy one Delfina Flipper....

Cheers
 
You have a PPC card, so a CyberVisionPPC is a best option imho. 8MB plus Warp3D.
 
CybervisionPPC is really a great board.

I don't know... but I read this board don't have an automatic monitor switch for AGA=RTG & not passtrough for standard screen modes. So you need one external VGA switch.

In anyway, as Phantom said, is one of the best because have 8MB, more faster than other boards & Warp3D compatible.

I'm also mounting one A4000D-T with a CSPPC. and have:

Mediator 4000D (not Di): Because more Zorro slots & one Video slot.
Picasso IV
Voodoo 3 3000 16MB PCI (maybe useful, maybe not, in combination of Picasso IV)
Mobility Radeon 9200 256MB

I thinking, Picasso IV & Radeon on A4000D-T, and IndivisionAGA & Voodoo3 on my A4000D. But I need to test every combination....

........

Picasso IV built-in scandoubler/flickerfixer for AGA modes, automatic monitor switch for Workbench AGA/RTG mode, passtrough for all video modes......

Voodoo 3 3000 16MB:.... More possibilities for RTG modes and a major performance on Warp3D games & apps. Needed external/internal switch.

Radeon 9200/9250: Best is the DVI output and the possibility to use part of the VRAM as FastRAM.... Be carefull, alot of "standard" Radeons 9200/9250 Universal or 5v.... don't work on Mediator 4000D/Di. Best is to buy one Radeon "made in Elbox". Great if you use one LCD/TV monitor (usually have VGA and DVI). Problem.... not Warp3D compatible.

Cheers
 
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Finding a CVPPC might not be the easiest task.
And if you plan on running 1280x1024 or higher I would suggest either a Voodoo3/4/5, if you need Warp3D, or a Radeon 92x0 if you don't care about 3D-support.
The Permedia2 on the CVPPC is not the fastest card by todays standards... sure.. it's probably the fastest native Amiga gfx-card but not compared to a Voodoo or Radeon.

I would probably go for something like this...

Mediator
Voodoo3/4/5 (Or Radeon 92x0 if you don't need 3D)
PCI sound card
PCI network card
Spider II USB / Deneb USB
Indivision AGA (hmm.. if you have an original CBM/AT A4000T you might have to pray Jens @ Ind.Comp makes a version that fits those computers)
 
Jon Hare said:
What about a Mediator PCI Busboard?
Click to expand...

By all accounts, if you want to do this properly, you'll want to seek out G-Rex PCI busboard. By all accounts, those leave Mediators in the dust. That said, they tend to be less-common and have matching pricetags...
 
Now this has me interested.

Can some of you gurus please tell me the difference between say the Mediator and the G-rex?

Also, I was lead to believe that a decent pci gfx card running on a Mediator etc board was faster than the fastest native Amiga gfx card, such as the Cybervision ppc or PIcasso IV.

Some more info would be nice.
 
Hi

Very interesting....

How about drivers for G-Rex. All of them are openpci?

Anyone have an updated compatibility list of boards for G-Rex?

Thanks
 
abraXXious said:
Now this has me interested.

Can some of you gurus please tell me the difference between say the Mediator and the G-rex?

Also, I was lead to believe that a decent pci gfx card running on a Mediator etc board was faster than the fastest native Amiga gfx card, such as the Cybervision ppc or PIcasso IV.

Some more info would be nice.
Click to expand...

The biggest win with the G-Rex is that it plugs directly into a Cyberstorm III/PPC card, rather than via the Zorro III bus. Mediators and Prometheuses are limited by the Z3 bus speeds, so whilst they give nice performance between PCI cards, the connection back to the guts of the Amiga isn't tremendously fast. The G-Rex doesn't have this problem and represents the fastest PCI solution for classic Amigas.
 
Ok then, if I buy a Mediator PCI with a Radeon 9200 and a Spider II USB 2.0 PCI card, can I leave the DENEB then? Looks like the Spider provides USB ports...
 
@Jon

If I not remember bad, Spider II provides you four external ports. But, without a registered version of Poseidon Stack... Don't Work.

Also, latest versions of Poseidon are for OEM products with the "key" inside the firmware/ROM.

Best USB solution for Z2/Z3 Amigas is DENEB with three USb 2.0 ports, one internal, two external.

But don't worry about that. I have two self-powered hosts conected to my DENEB and works great.

Cheers
 
cosmicfrog said:
G-rex is blizzard only
oh its not.
for an A4000 hehehehehehhe it works :whistle:
amazing what u learn when u actual read the words .....

http://grex.amigaworld.de/index.php?lang=en
Click to expand...

Yeah, almost true. G-Rex busboards require an appropriate Phase5/DCE accelerator card for the Amiga model in question. If you're talking the A1200 version, that's the BlizzardPPC (maybe also the 1260). The A3000/A4000 require a CyberStormPPC (or a CyberStorm III) -- It's the Phase5 card that makes these such awesome busboards.

Jon Hare said:
Ok then, if I buy a Mediator PCI with a Radeon 9200 and a Spider II USB 2.0 PCI card, can I leave the DENEB then? Looks like the Spider provides USB ports...
Click to expand...

DON'T BUY A SPIDER USB! You can't get drivers for it, it's just a waste of a load of money and a PCI slot. There's a whole bunch of tedious and boring history there, but basically Chris Hodges (who wrote the drivers) fell out with Elbox (who make the hardware) and now the Spider USB is completely unsupported. Either get a DENEB, or something with a Clockport (The X-Surf springs to mind) and a Subway. (Or maybe you might track down another Zorro USB card. I've got a Thylacine USB card for my A4000)
 
Thanks for this.

So, would this make sense?

A4000T
CS PPC 060 233Mhz
Mediator PCI + Radeon 9200
DENEB
Ariadne II

What if I buy a Picasso IV? Any use for it if I have the items above?
 
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