Amiga 600 - A630 Accelerator Review

Amiga 600 - A630 Accelerator Review - Episode 123

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Күн бұрын

This week on 10 Minute Amiga Retro Cast I am reviewing the new Accelerator for the Amiga 600 - The A630.
This nice 68030/50 Mhz card has 64 MB of RAM and is fully compatible with the PCMCIA Slot and works with all of the CF and SD cards I tried it with! Do we have competition for the Furia here?
Want to buy one? Check here in Europe!
programatory.archi-tech.com.p...
In North America, our good friend Frank will have them! He also sells the Buffered IDE interfaces that should let any card with with the Furia.
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Пікірлер: 59

@atatu4551 2 жыл бұрын

Thank You for your Service

@stephenbruce8320 2 жыл бұрын

Nice card. I have a Furia and I did use it for a while, I never used CF Cards with it only SD Cards and I did not have issues. I got mine about the time 3.1.4 came out and it was a bitch getting it to boot but I figured that one out but not something I was comfortable with so I replaced it with a Vampire. As for plugging anything in on an Amiga that plugs on to chips or in chip sockets I always check for potential issues and when I have a concern with shorts I just insulate the area of concern. I have another A600 that needs a speed bump and the A630 might be the solution. I have lacked motivation lately to work on my Amiga's but that will change once things at work slow down.

@10MARC 2 жыл бұрын

Lots of people say they have better luck with SD cards on the Furia. There was 100% an issue with AmigaOS 3.1.4 and the Furia, and that requires a firmware update on the Furia to resolve.

@crabfists 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for the video Doug! I was thinking about buying a Furia but watching this made me decide to buy the A630 instead. I don't need any extra headaches in my life. :)

@10MARC 2 жыл бұрын

Good idea. Unless you have to have an FPU, this just seems to be a better choice. I think the Furia is great, but the number of issues it has with certain versions of Amiga OS and CF and SD cards is just odd. No other Amiga accelerator I know of has this many issues.

@amndk34 2 жыл бұрын

Great video Doug. Great to see yet more new hw for the Amiga. 😊👍🏻

@10MARC 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks! I really like this product, too. It seems quite well made.

@edoo25 2 жыл бұрын

Excellent video, Doug! I'm convinced and will be getting this soon.

@10MARC 2 жыл бұрын

Awesome! It really makes the A600 a speedy little guy! You will love it!

@MadPeteST 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks Doug, I love this little guy! ;-) I was actually just considering getting a Furia for my 600, so you've probably just saved me a load of grief!

@10MARC 2 жыл бұрын

For a while Furia was our only real option, since Vampire for the A600 no longer exists, and Jens from Individual Computers stopped producing his A600 accelerator. Now we have an option, and in most ways a better option.

@HoldandModify 2 жыл бұрын

That’s so metal!!! Hehe. (No folks, it wasn’t me) Another great video Doug. Love the side by side of no fpu and FPU!!! Thank you!

@10MARC 2 жыл бұрын

It was an amazing difference, really. I will do some more when I test my 680LC60 vs my 680RC60 in my Amiga 1200.

@cullmaster7361 2 жыл бұрын

Nice review Doug! 👍🏻 Nice to see the A600 is still receiving upgrades and accelerator choices. For those who have a small desk footprint, the A600 Is a nice machine which doesn’t deserve the hate. I wasn’t a fan of the 600, but after owning a couple and seeing what can be done with them, especially as it’s got a PCMCIA slot like the A1200. Just a shame that Apollo aren’t making a V4 Vampire card for the A600. The V2 vampire card on a A600 was great. Now you can’t buy them New anymore 🤷🏻‍♂️

@10MARC 2 жыл бұрын

I agree it is a bummer about the Vampire. It seemed like the A600 version was one of the first of the V2 lines to come out and it's a bummer they don't make it anymore. I like my A600 much better now than I liked them 25 years ago!

@brunorbf 2 жыл бұрын

Excellent accelerator! I have an ACA620 that I bought some 9 years ago. It was the 68EC020's "successor" to the ACA630. The ACA630 was a full 68030 accelerator, but I "fortunately" didn't buy it. It wouldn't have worked in my A600 since it has one of the first revision boards (A300). I use it mainly for Whdload gaming, and for that, in most games, I don't find it very different from my other Amigas (that have 68030/68EC030s and 68040s).

@10MARC 2 жыл бұрын

Yes, for gaming even a nice 680LC20 CPU and a little RAM are sufficient. The 68030 is the sweet spot, though! I wish Jens had kept producing those ACA630 cards.

@colmmccallion9204 2 жыл бұрын

The Furia works great if you use a DOM (Disk on Module) or a Mini SSD card, you can also use Industrial CF cards which I have had no issue with. Nice Video, thanks

@10MARC 2 жыл бұрын

I really like those DOM cards. Very reliable!

@Amiga600T Жыл бұрын

My A630 has not upgraded itself to A600 yet, but hopefully soon. Hopefully I can easily transfer my CF cards from my A1200. Glad to hear it's PCI compliant.

@10MARC Жыл бұрын

Should be no problem using the same CF card on the A1200 or A600. You will enjoy the A630!

@Amiga600T Жыл бұрын

@@10MARC I was worried that the internal connector uses a new IDE version 5 and it would not fit. Like not compact flash, but bigger size.

@xsm5525 2 жыл бұрын

I want a piece of amiga600 hardware that lets you play AGA games on it lol

@10MARC 2 жыл бұрын

Unless the Apollo team brings back a card for the A600... Probably not going to happen. Just get an A500 Mini! That plays AGA games just fine

@litwarski9237 2 жыл бұрын

That card looks lovely. Now I wonder if I should get an A600, even though I'm already saving for a second A1200 XD

@10MARC 2 жыл бұрын

It is a novelty for sure. Not as useful as the other machines since it is difficult to expand. The small size is very nice. If you see a good deal on one, grab it.

@Amiga600T Жыл бұрын

@@10MARC My A1200 is extra heavy without any cards installed. A600 would be easier to haul around and play 2 player lemmings. I will save up for the FPGA versions in the meantime, but I've had too many issues with audio/video and software compatibility especially the tank mouse and physical floppy disks.

@Amiga600T Жыл бұрын

@@10MARC No number pad for flight sims and many software and games that use it. But There is an A600 number pad OEM expansion if you really need more keyboard space. The pricing is $$$$ because it's so rare (for the number pad expansion so it's more like a mix of A500 and A1200 but still light and small.)

@brostenen 2 жыл бұрын

That is a nice card. 🙂👍 I think I know who fried his A600. I just hope he can get it working again.

@10MARC 2 жыл бұрын

Yes, it's him... Poor guy. The creator of the card emailed me and told me to be careful and certainly use the rubber bumper!

@brostenen 2 жыл бұрын

@@10MARC Well... Eighter the issue was not discovered before shipping, or the rubber did not come with the card or the youtuber did not read the warning for some strange reason. Just a shame, that an 600 had to give up the ghost.

@jeppe32dk Жыл бұрын

not the first amiga retrocengo killed 🤣😉

@TukinemAmiga 2 жыл бұрын

I have a question. Can You record movie with comparision Furia vs A630? I can't choose Furia or A630 because don't know wich turbo card booting system faster. My system is Amiga OS 3.1.4 and on 68000 with fast ram and chip ram starting slow.

@10MARC 2 жыл бұрын

The A630 is faster by a fair amount since it has a nice 50 MHz 68030 and 64 MB of RAM. Everything feels faster by about 40%. The Furia is only faster with software that uses the FPU, like 3D and some graphics software.

@analognexus 2 жыл бұрын

The A630 is missing one big big point: screw hole !! Yes, the socket might be hold the card, but the screw hole gives a way better fixation to the card. Please tell Piotr, he should add a screw hole to the left of the cpu in the next PCB rev. Thanks.

@10MARC 2 жыл бұрын

Huh. Never noticed. I will mention it to him.

@Mirddes 2 жыл бұрын

Is adding a FPU to this configuration possible?

@10MARC 2 жыл бұрын

No. There is no room for a physical FPU on this version of the board.

@francescoscarpa6124 4 ай бұрын

Hello! had you any problems removing the Furia from the 68000 to put the new accelerator?

@10MARC 4 ай бұрын

Nope. It did not damage the CPU socket. I have had my A630 on and off a dozen or so times, too.

@francescoscarpa6124 4 ай бұрын

@@10MARC Hi Doug I saw that with the A630 you use Amiga Os 3.2.1 without problems On my 600 with the A630 at the first "cold" start, when the Workbenck appears, it freezes (on my 1200 with TF1230 it works at the first start). I have Kickstart 3.1 on both Amiga Do you by any chance know if I have to do any particular operation on the A600?

@Keelooger 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for making awesome videos! Have you checked out the tsunami 1230 for Amiga 1200? I just ordered one and thinks it's gonna work nicely for me until pistorm32 is Up and running.

@brostenen 2 жыл бұрын

I have a Tsunami. I have also tried a TF-1230/64. And to be honest, then I can not really tell the difference in actual use. Same number of issues on both, but they are not really the same and it is only one or two of issues that I have seen. Badically both cards are equally good and both are nice. And they are both so cheap that one can not really complain about those rare and few incompatibilities.

@Keelooger 2 жыл бұрын

@@brostenen sounds good, can't wait for it to arrive:)

@brostenen 2 жыл бұрын

@@Keelooger It is ok. Just dont expect full 100 percent compatibility. There may be a few titles or demo's that you will have issues with. After all. It is at least 4 times cheaper than a used blizzard from the 90's.

@Keelooger 2 жыл бұрын

@@brostenen ye, there Will always be some issues and if i run in to those hopefully i can use adfs instead and remove the card :)

@10MARC 2 жыл бұрын

I have a Tsunami 1230, but I am going to putting an FPU on there before I review it. It certainly won't be my main card, as I have a 68040 and a 68060 for my A1200. It seems like a nice product for sure!

@keithbeesting 2 жыл бұрын

Damn it's out of stock in the EU

@10MARC 2 жыл бұрын

Try Steve from RetroPassion - he just posted about them on Facebook this morning

@tsftm4192 Жыл бұрын

such a shame it doesn't have an FPU

@10MARC Жыл бұрын

There is a new model in testing that does! It will hopefully be released in a few months. Not many of us need an FPU, but I am certainly one that needs one!