Article 322 of comp.sys.amiga.reviews: Path: menudo.uh.edu!usenet From: umking21@ccu.umanitoba.ca (Brian D. King) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.reviews Subject: REVIEW: Microbotics M1230XA-50 68030 accelerator for Amiga 1200 Followup-To: comp.sys.amiga.hardware Date: 3 Jul 1993 23:15:49 GMT Organization: The Amiga Online Review Column - ed. Daniel Barrett Lines: 313 Sender: amiga-reviews@math.uh.edu (comp.sys.amiga.reviews moderator) Approved: barrett@math.uh.edu Distribution: world Message-ID: <2153v5$5n0@menudo.uh.edu> Reply-To: umking21@ccu.umanitoba.ca (Brian D. King) NNTP-Posting-Host: karazm.math.uh.edu Keywords: hardware, 68030, accelerator, A1200, commercial PRODUCT NAME Microbotics M1230XA-50 68030 accelerator for Amiga 1200 BRIEF DESCRIPTION A 50MHz 68030 accelerator card for the A1200 with full Memory Management Unit (MMU), 68881/68882 socket, RAM SIMM socket, clock/calendar and EEPROM configuration scheme. COMPANY INFORMATION Name: Microbotics, Inc. Address: 1251 American Parkway, Richardson, TX 75081 USA Telephone: (214) 437-5330 LIST PRICE List price unknown. I paid $399 (US) for the 50MHz 68030 version with no floating point unit (FPU) and no RAM SIMM. The unit is also available in 33MHz and 40MHz-EC versions, with and without RAM and FPUs. EC denotes the absence of an MMU. SPECIAL HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS HARDWARE Amiga 1200 personal computer, with available LocalBus belly slot. A hard drive is recommended but not required. SOFTWARE OS 3.0, 3.1 compatible. Excellent compatibility. COPY PROTECTION None. The configuration and test software is hard-drive installable. MACHINE USED FOR TESTING Amiga 1200. 2 Meg Chip RAM, no Fast RAM. Kickstart Version 39.106, Workbench Version 39.29. Additional 4 Meg (70ns) Fast RAM added via SIMM socket on M1230XA. 50MHz 68882 FPU added (no oscillator necessary). GENERAL INFORMATION So you want to add speed to your new A1200? 40MHz isn't fast enough? You REALLY need that MMU... SCSI/SCSI-II isn't a priority? THIS is the accelerator for you! I've primarily been using my 1200 as a console and terminal, since the two Meg Chip RAM is not sufficient for many tasks any more. Yes, gone are the days when your Amiga could run quickly and multi-task efficiently with only two Megs of RAM. Count on 3-8 Megs for most serious applications. I had the need for 32-bit RAM expansion, knowing that this would instantly double the speed of my A1200, and also would allow the addition of a math coprocessor. My initial leanings were towards the Microbotics MBX1200Z, which came complete with clock/calendar, SIMM socket, and FPU socket. When I learned of a new Microbotics product which includes all these features, PLUS 50MHz acceleration with a TRUE 68030, I knew I had to have one. Not only has this board dramatically increased the overall speed of my machine, but also it has allowed me finally to run some of the Amiga's more sophisticated software (VistaPro, Art Department Pro, Lightwave, SAS/C 6.3, Deluxe Paint IV, etc.) which until now was out of my reach. Overall speed improvement estimates are: Item Speed Increase ============================================== Hard drive 40-50 % Graphics 70-100 % Serial port performance 10-15 % AIBB 6.0 results are as follows: Integer Graphics Floating Machine ===================================================================== 11.70 4.72 19.16 A600, 2 MB Chip RAM 4.99 2.05 9.07 A1200, 2 MB Chip RAM 1.99 1.93 2.00 A3000/25 + Fast RAM 1.30 0.66 0.60 A4000/040 + Fast RAM 1.10 1.05 1.11 A1200 - See below... Thus, as indicated, the A1200 with M1230XA is 11.7 times faster at integer math operations than the A600 (no surprise here!). The last entry needs some explanation. The M1230XA comes with excellent configuration software (SetXA), which allows setting of many board parameters including RAM wait-states. When you configure the board for 50MHz, and 70ns RAM SIMMs, SetXA sets the wait-states to 4, which turns out to be rather conservative. Instead, I set the wait-states to 3, which not only runs reliably, but also runs faster as indicated by AIBB. The machine was 1.10 times faster with 3 wait states than with 4. However, doing this IS a risk, although I've had no problems with this so far. AIBB also revealed the HUGE difference between the RAM access of the A4000 and the M1230XA. The A4000 simply cannot keep up to the 68030-equipped A1200 in sheer RAM access speed. SOFTWARE The included SetXA utility is excellent, eliminating the need for many jumper blocks from the board and providing easy configuration. However, the software is rather conservative in its settings for wait-states, as outlined above. Another problem with the software is its need. Once the board is configured, you should not have to run the SetXA utility again. Unfortunately, the M1230XA does NOT AutoConfig its RAM on startup, and the SetXA software must be placed early in your startup-sequence in order to add the Fast RAM to the system. By this time, however, your drive buffers and graphics/Intuition libraries are already in Chip RAM. The operating system will run more quickly with this data in Fast RAM. While this is a problem, it is a minor one. It would be interesting to see how having graphics/Intuition in Fast RAM would affect the above speed comparisons. Also, games that need extra memory and don't behave will not be able to access this memory. I hope that most newer games will allow hard drive installation, or not need more than 2 Megs of RAM. Kickstart/AmigaDOS 3.1 is supposed to allow full AutoConfig ability. It seems that the present PCMCIA address space is right in the middle of the AutoConfig space. This doesn't stop the GVP accelerator from AutoConfiguring, however! Seems a small slip by Microbotics. The other included software is the TestRAM program, which does cyclic testing of RAM and is great for finding that bad RAM chip or area. I used it extensively when experimenting with the RAM wait-state settings, since I was worried about changing the SetXA defaults, but no errors occurred. HARDWARE As noted above, this thing really FLIES! Also, the clock/calendar module is fully AmigaDOS compatible, allowing you to use the existing system's Time and Date commands. The full 68030 is a boon to programmers using tools like Enforcer, as well as allowing the Kickstart ROMs to be mapped into Fast RAM. Even though this gobbles up 512K of your system RAM, it is recommended for full speed processing. If memory is really tight, you can always disable the FastROM option with the AmigaDOS CPU program. The SIMM socket is excellent quality, featuring the metal-latch type connection, rather than the typical plastic catches on most SIMM sockets. The FPU socket is a typical PGA socket, and takes a fair amount of force to insert your own 68881 or 68882. This is typical, however, and good contact is made. DOCUMENTATION The included documentation consists of two double-sided 8.5" x 11" pages, the User's Guide, and a registration card. Although the production quality is low (no booklet, colour, etc.), the content is very clear and concise. The User's Guide is laid out nicely, including a detailed diagram of the M1230XA circuit card. The Guide progresses through the following sections: 1. General Description 2. Basic Installation 3. SIMM Memory Installation 4. Math Coprocessor (FPU) Information 5. Realtime Clock Information 6. SetXA Configuration Software Guide 7. Troubleshooting The only concern about any of these sections lies in the Basic Installation section, Part 3: "..firmly press it completely onto the card edge. Because the connector is so wide, it may require some strength to press the card onto the Amiga's bus." ^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Wow! SOME STRENGTH??? I had to reef on the sucker with a screw-driver as a lever, along with my hands stuck in there to keep things aligned. Getting it in was extremely difficult and frustrating, and getting it out will be damned impossible. It took about 5 minutes of aggravation until a solution was ironed out. In all fairness to Microbotics, I don't believe the problem lies at their end; and once the board is fitted, it makes great contact. Commodore's L-shaped bus slot makes insertion and removal very difficult, and NOT for the faint of heart. LIKES AND DISLIKES LIKES o The SetXA EEPROM configuration software is excellent and eliminates jumper blocks. o Instructions, while skimpy, provide all necessary information. o The SPEED!!! o The RAM!!!!! DISLIKES o Non-AutoConfig RAM expansion, while not terrible, is slightly annoying! (See above review for details and explanations.) SUGGESTIONS o Two SIMM sockets would have been better, but there is not enough room. COMPARISON TO OTHER SIMILAR PRODUCTS There are a number of other accelerator products out there, including GVPs, ICDs, CSAs and soon more. However, if you don't need SCSI-II capabilities, then this board exceeds the GVP A1230+ board in specs, and costs only slightly more. Here is a comparison chart: Board Speed RAM? RAM Amount Clock/Cal Full 68030 (MMU) ======================================================================= M1230XA 50MHz YES up to 128MB YES YES A1230+ 40MHz YES up to 128MB NO NO The clock/calendar option is worth $30 US anyway, and the MMU is necessary for the serious programmer and for virtual memory support, as well as UNIX/Linux/Mach support. BUGS None found. VENDOR SUPPORT No experiences yet. WARRANTY One year, complete. CONCLUSIONS If your need is for speed, then this board is simply the fastest right now! The RAM speed excels over that of the A4000/40, and drive speed nearly doubles due to the processor speed and FAST RAM. Until a 68040 accelerator appears for the A1200, this card will provide king-of-the-hill performance. Microbotics is said to be working on a 68040 version of this product, but cost will be prohibitive to most mere mortals. King Rating = 96% COPYRIGHT NOTICE Copyright 1993 Brian D. King. All Rights Reserved. Any comments, or for reviewing jobs, contact me at: Brian King 456 Shelley Street Winnipeg, MB Canada R3K 1G3 +-----------------------------------------+-------------------------------+ | Brian D. King, Computer Engineering IV | "Lassie kills chickens!" | | University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada| Amiga, a success despite the | | umking21@ccu.umanitoba.ca | efforts of Commodore. | --- Daniel Barrett, Moderator, comp.sys.amiga.reviews Send reviews to: amiga-reviews-submissions@math.uh.edu Request information: amiga-reviews-requests@math.uh.edu Moderator mail: amiga-reviews@math.uh.edu