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- Path: sparky!uunet!spool.mu.edu!umn.edu!csus.edu!ucdavis!toadflax!zerkle
- From: zerkle@toadflax.cs.ucdavis.edu (Dan Zerkle)
- Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.misc
- Subject: Re: Quandry: Upgrade path
- Message-ID: <20719@ucdavis.ucdavis.edu>
- Date: 5 Jan 93 08:23:47 GMT
- References: <1993Jan5.004029.21389@fcom.cc.utah.edu>
- Sender: usenet@ucdavis.ucdavis.edu
- Reply-To: zerkle@cs.ucdavis.edu (Dan Zerkle)
- Organization: Department of Computer Science, University of California, Davis
- Lines: 39
-
- In article <1993Jan5.004029.21389@fcom.cc.utah.edu> val@news.ccutah.edu (Val Kartchner) writes:
-
- >I currently have an A2000 w/8MB of memory and a pre-ECS Agnes. I will
- >upgrade soon, but I haven't decided which path to take:
- >
- > 1) Get an accelerator (GVP G-Force '040 Combo: 33MHz '040, SCSI-2
- > controller, serial and parallel ports) and a 24-bit display
- > card (Opalvision). $1899 + $999 = $2898
- >
- > 2) A4000. $2699
- >
- >There are other considerations, but the main ones are:
- >
- > Option one gives me 8MHz more speed for $200, but only 16-bit bus.
- >
- > Option two gives me Zorro III and another Amiga, but no SCSI controller.
-
- The 4000 will give higher performance for most purposes, as it has the
- AGA chip set. This has MUCH higher bandwidth than the old, 16-bit pre-ECS
- chips on your 2000. If you are just doing number crunching (like ray
- tracing), the GVP will do better.
-
- The SCSI doesn't make much difference if you're just using hard drives
- on a single-user machine. It helps if you want tape drives, high
- capacity removables (floptical, syquest, etc.), multiple users (like a
- BBS), or more than two hard drives. CBM will release a fast SCSI for the
- 4000 in the next couple months. I can give you the press release if
- you like.
-
- Don't forget the cost of a new monitor (which you may want anyway with
- OpalVision). Also, don't forget that the 4000 comes with ADOS 3.0 and
- two megs of chip RAM.
-
- Besides, with two Amigas, you can play games on the 2000 while the
- 4000 does your number crunching. Make sure you have plenty of desk
- space!
-
- --
- Dan Zerkle zerkle@cs.ucdavis.edu (916) 756-5170
-