My GREX 1200 Project =D

[fitzsteve]

Hi Guys!

I got this GREX quite a while ago, after testing it lived in a drawer whilst I used a Mediator 1200SX in my A1200T, what a waste lol oh:

Finally I was able to see sense and replace the Mediator with the awesome GREX

Here are some pics of the new install

Bus board and bridge in place, you can also see I'm using a Subway USB:

Closer look at the Subway & case LED's fitted (It's the small Amigakit adapter)

Nice overview of the GREX PCI and BPPC without the PSU in the way!

And the BPPC from the other side (This is one of Stachu's 060/66 PPC330 upgades) It's Rev-2 so ideal for GREX

Voodoo 3 fitted (Other PCI cards to come later)

*Don't worry I have full inserted it the Voodoo before turning on, the bus board needed a lot of adjustment as I don't the original 'stand offs' oh:

There's a 4Way EIDE with CF reader mounted at the front of the case:

Also USB Card Reader & DVD (which I'll attach to the 4Way EIDE later!)

This was a failed experiment (SCSI-IDE-SATA) Nope, Don't work - yellow screens ahoy!!!

Booted first time from my backup CF card over IDE

This was the CF I setup before so it was ready to rock & roll and test some Games!

Lastly a little Quake II TimeDemo

[m]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgr1SnNZOuY[/m]

I hope you enjoyed the pics! More extensive Video to come (In HD) when I get my 50mbit Fiber next week

Thanks guys for the help in PSU modding:

https://www.amibay.com/showthread.php?t=41226

 

[keropi]

Awesome setup Steve! Thanks for sharing

Had a g-rex1200 setup too at some point, you can't beat it. It's simply the best solution if you have a suitable BPPC

 

[fitzsteve]

Awesome setup Steve! Thanks for sharing

Had a g-rex1200 setup too at some point, you can't beat it. It's simply the best solution if you have a suitable BPPC

Thanks my friend, for the longest time I was trying to get OS4.1 Classic running well on the A1200, and whilst it did that was the only benefit of the Mediator and I lost the Warp3D in OS3.9 using the Radeon.

I'm much happier with GREX for OS3.9 use, really seems much more responsive

It stays this way now

 

[keropi]

Absolutelly! On the same system a Mediator will be slower, and AOS4 just doesn't cut it for classic amigas IMHO

 

[fitzsteve]

Well some how I broke it oh:

I was getting weird popping sounds when booting though the speakers and eventually during running too.

So I swapped out the Motherboards for one that mjnurney re-capped for me and now the Voodoo isn't detected

I can try another mobo but I've decided to step away for today!

I already double and triple checked all connections and tried to Voodoo in 4 different PCI slots...

 

[keropi]

we jinxed it!
any visual damage? maybe a bad connection between the cards? tried another voodoo?

 

[roy_bates]

i had a similar problem with my mediator where the baord was at a strange angle in the tower and the first card(sound card in the top slot) was never in all the way.

i had to pack out the motherbaord spacers to raise it so it was level in the case.

probably not the same issue your having,but it can be a pain if left for too long.

 

[fitzsteve]

Yippee! It's working with a third Motherboard (this is same board I use for my BPPC/BVision) so maybe it was timing issue with the second board? Also I'm give the whole lot a second dose of Power with this PSU!

But also this is a different PSU as I didn't strip the case so I also need to eliminate that from my list of possible faults! Could of course be connectoin issues, i don't have the correct stands for it and it is a funny fit in the EZ Z4 case, maybe I should get a D-BOX Tower? I had one before but never got round to using it and sold it on oh:

Good news is, all working fine with this board & PSU, sound is perfect (another board MJ re-capped) the guy is a legend!

Maybe I just keep it setup like this?

Check out my ingenious insulation!

And besides everyone loves naked hardware right?

ADoomWOS with QuakeII Wad

Other option is to get some flexible PCI riser ribbons and mount the whole lot in my A1000 chassis (which was one idea I had!)

 

[johnim]

nice setup steve

so what sort of speed difference between the mediator and grex

 

[fitzsteve]

nice setup steve

so what sort of speed difference between the mediator and grex

Thanks mate!

Going by QuakeII Time Demo:

BPPC 330 + Mediator 1200/Voodoo 3 = 14.7fps
BPPC 330 + GREX PCI/Voodoo 3 = 18.1fps

Same A1200, Same Voodoo 3, Same OS

That's 23.13% faster

 

[johnim]

ooh that's a nice increase have fun mate

 

[jack-3d]

If I may, I did the same tests recently (Mediator TX versus G-Rex on 330 MHz + 66 MHz + Voodoo3 3k OC 185 MHz):

Q2 Time Demo 640x480
M: 15,3
G: 18,6

Q2 Time Demo 1024x768
M: 14,4
G: 14,5

encore/Sulaco (Window mode, average fps)
M: 31,32
G: 28,24

GearsPPC (Window mode, option 3 = both gears)
M: 17,5
G: 23,4

 

[fitzsteve]

Hi jack-3d,

Thanks for sharing the benchmarks

 

[roy_bates]

can the pci bus speed on that card be adjusted in the menu on the bppc steve?

 

[fitzsteve]

can the pci bus speed on that card be adjusted in the menu on the bppc steve?

I have no idea!

 

[fitzsteve]

Little update.

So I think things are stable now (1 hour of Gaming this morning without any lockup, etc.) Quake/Quake2/Wipeout2097 so plenty of strain on the PPC & GREX

I found that the Eyetech Keyboard adapter I was using sat under the GREX bridge board and caused a slight twist after I put plastic under to insulate, and this slight twist was enough to cause cards not to be picked up by GREX! Have now fitted a Lyra instead which is clear of any other component.

On the third motherboard I'm still getting corruption to the Paula sound so it's wither interference or driver issue? The board don't exhibit any problem without the GREX and strangely I don't recall it happening when outside the case

However having just installed my ESS Solo-1 Sound Card I have crystal clear audio via AHI @16bit

So, all in all I'm happy for now and having just updated lots of Icons, etc I'm backing up the CF!

All in all it's a seriously awesome setup so I'm really pleased! One to bring to the next Amimeet

Steve.

 

[Phipscube]

Looks great Steve! Thanks for sharing the pics

 

[roy_bates]

have you got spacers on that busboard steve?

it would be worth having one of these anyway just for the extra pci slot,i think four just aint enough