A500 vs A500+

Hey Guys!

I've got an A500+ here in gorgeous condition but the battery has shot its load all over the Motherboard, I'm in the process of cleaning it up and will at least have to replace the 'Gary' socket, but in the event it cannot live again whats the difference with the A500 Motherboard?

Will it fit into the 'plus' case? And what would I loose sticking a regular A500 Motherboard in?

I have a really battered A500 here, case is near enough scrap so I was thinking maybe that would be an option.

Cheers!

Steve.

You would loose the ability for 2Mbytes Chip RAM and that is about it.

No idea about fitting though... I would imagine it would. They wouldn't want to be manufacturing new plastics. Can you tell from photos of the motherboard on Amiga Hardware database?

Hi Steve!

Check this thread out mate:

http://www.amibay.com/showthread.php?t=10110

Lots of info here, including pics of one of my A500+'s in uber condition :thumbsup2:

Taj

Indeed, both boards have the same form factor, so you could put one board in the other's case. You can also just swap the OCS Denise for an ECS Super Denise in the A500 and get the enhanced graphics modes.

As Alexh says, the thing you'll lose is the 2MB Agnus and the Chip RAM. There are ways to get an A500 up to 2MB, but you'll need a megachip or similar and they're not so common.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by alexh

You would loose the ability for 2Mbytes Chip RAM and that is about it.

No idea about fitting though... I would imagine it would. They wouldn't want to be manufacturing new plastics. Can you tell from photos of the motherboard on Amiga Hardware database?

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Hi Alexh,

Thanks :)

They look identical on the hardware database so I guess it will fit, I'm not sure I'd ever need 2mb Chip on a system I'd probbaly only use for floppy based games so might even just stick a 1.3Rom in it and be done.

That might change when the ACA530 comes along (Imagine a Blizzy1260 hooked up to that bad boy) :D

So the Chip limitation in the an ECS/OCS thing?

Cheers,

Steve.

---------- Post added at 09:27 ---------- Previous post was at 09:26 ----------

Quote:

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Originally Posted by AndyLandy

Indeed, both boards have the same form factor, so you could put one board in the other's case. You can also just swap the OCS Denise for an ECS Super Denise in the A500 and get the enhanced graphics modes.

As Alexh says, the thing you'll lose is the 2MB Agnus and the Chip RAM. There are ways to get an A500 up to 2MB, but you'll need a megachip or similar and they're not so common.

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Cheers mate, so not a lost cause then.

Well first thing is to see if I can save the A500+ if not I know I have other options :)

---------- Post added at 09:28 ---------- Previous post was at 09:27 ----------

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Tajmaster

Hi Steve!

Check this thread out mate:

http://amibay.com/showthread.php?t=10110

Lots of info here, including pics of one of my A500+'s in uber condition :thumbsup2:

Taj

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Ahh I remember that thread - time for another read, thanks mate :thumbsup:

Hi Steve

If you are wanting to play floppy based games with the A500 motherboard, you could go for a rev 6a motherboard and also do the mega quick 1MB chip RAM hack too (its on a thread here by Zetro and just take a few minutes). This way games that take advantage of the extra Chip RAM will work better :)

Ill find the link when I get home if you dont know which thread I mean :thumbsup:

Taj

Quote:

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Originally Posted by fitzsteve

So the Chip limitation in the an ECS/OCS thing?

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No it is an Agnus & motherboard thing. The A600 & A500+ all have a variant of the 2Mbyte 8375 Agnus, extra Chip RAM and AFAIK the required motherboard wiring between the chips.

Thanks guys :)

I popped the A500 Motherboard in and it all works fine :thumbsup:

Hopefully I can fix the A500+ Motherboard at some point, but this will be fine for now.

http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/m...e/IMG_1294.jpg

http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/m...e/IMG_1295.jpg

http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/m...e/IMG_1296.jpg

http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/m...e/IMG_1297.jpg

http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/m...e/IMG_1299.jpg

Quote:

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Originally Posted by alexh

Quote:

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Originally Posted by fitzsteve

So the Chip limitation in the an ECS/OCS thing?

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No it is an Agnus & motherboard thing. The A600 & A500+ all have a variant of the 2Mbyte 8375 Agnus, extra Chip RAM and AFAIK the required motherboard wiring between the chips.

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Well, yes and no. Depending on what you define as 'ECS Chipset'

Full ECS is Kicstart 2.04, Super Denise and an 8372B or 8375 2MB Agnus.
OCS is Kickstart 1.x, Normal Denise and a 512K Agnus.
The 1MB 8372 Agnus is debatable. I think of it as the 'half-ECS' Agnus.

Of course, you can't just drop-in replace Agnuses. They aren't all pin-compatible, and even if they were, you'd still need to find a way of adding the extra ChipRAM for it to be worth the bother.

I said you needed an A500 :)

good luck with the plus