08/1997
Path: news.uh.edu!barrett
From: tur@sta.eurocontrol.de (Cem Turgay)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.reviews
Subject: REVIEW: Blizzard 1220/4 accelerator/RAM expansion for A1200
Followup-To: comp.sys.amiga.hardware
Date: 30 May 1994 12:49:36 GMT
Organization: The Amiga Online Review Column - ed. Daniel Barrett
Lines: 283
Sender: amiga-reviews@math.uh.edu (comp.sys.amiga.reviews moderator)
Distribution: world
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Reply-To: tur@sta.eurocontrol.de (Cem Turgay)
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Keywords: hardware, accelerator, 68020, RAM, A1200, commercial
Originator: barrett@karazm.math.uh.edu
PRODUCT NAME
Blizzard 1220/4 Turbo Memory Board.
[MODERATOR'S NOTE: This review was very slightly updated on Nov 30,
1994. -Dan]
BRIEF DESCRIPTION
This expansion board for the Amiga 1200 includes 4 MB Fast RAM, a 28
MHz 68020 processor, a clock, and a socket for an optional FPU.
AUTHOR/COMPANY INFORMATION
Name: phase 5 digital products
Address: Homburger Landstrasse 412
60433 Frankfurt
Germany
Telephone: (069) 5481844
LIST PRICE
List Price: 499 DM
I paid: 469 DM (Includes 15% VAT, postage & handling.)
DM is Deustch Mark. 469 DM equals approximately $275 (US).
SPECIAL HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS
HARDWARE
An Amiga 1200.
SOFTWARE
None.
COPY PROTECTION
None.
MACHINE USED FOR TESTING
Standard Amiga 1200:
14 Mhz 68EC020, 2 MB Chip RAM, AGA chip set
AmigaDOS 3.0
1 internal 880K floppy drive
Western Digital (Caviar2420) 405 MB 3.5" IDE hard disk (internal)
1 external 1.76 M floppy drive
INSTALLATION
Installation is quiet easy. There are no switches and no setup
program. You simply open the trapdoor and push the device into expansion
port. The manual explains installation in 2 paragraphs with 2 pictures.
Unfortunately, I had trouble with the installation. The metal cover
of my A1200's main board did not allow me to install the board easily.
Probably my 3.5" hard drive inside puts some pressure on the metal cover. I
made some bendings on the metal cover near the expansion slot. Now it works
without any problems.
If you have a 2.5" hard drive in your A1200, this will not be a
problem; otherwise, you will need a little effort to fix it.
OVERVIEW
When you open the black box, you will find a booklet and a Blizzard
1220 card in antistatic pocket. It is a good quality product with a well
designed printed circuit board and electronics.
The parts of the product are:
* 4 MB RAM
* Additional RAM socket
* 28 MHz 68EC020
* Clock & calendar
* Optional FPU socket
Lets look at those parts individually.
4 MB RAM
There are 8 factory-installed memory chips (DIP) on the board. Its
access time is 70 ns, and it is 32-bit-wide autoconfig Fast RAM. (DIP -
Dual inline pocket.)
4 MB ADDITIONAL RAM SOCKET
It is possible to add 4 more MB of RAM directly into the board. The
booklet says you may order a BLIZZARD 1220/4/ADD4 memory module for this
upgrade. But I think they are ZIP type RAM chips. (I haven't seen any ZIPs
before; I'm not sure.) You can upgrade your card to 8 MB maximum. (ZIP =
Zigzag Inline Pocket.)
28 MHz 68EC020 PROCESSOR
On this card, there is a 68020 processor faster than the one in your
A1200. Your machine will run twice as fast with this processor and twice as
fast again with 32-bit Fast RAM. The result is A3000 or A4000/030 power.
It means your A1200 will be 20 times faster than an A500 on integer math.
CLOCK & CALENDAR
There is a battery backed up clock on this board. Its very useful
for programmers, database users, and other people who have a need for files
with accurate timestamps. It has rechargeable batteries. Batteries aren't
included in the warranty.
FPU AND CRYSTAL SOCKET
You can add a PLCC type 68881 or 68882 FPU (Floating Point Unit)
running at 14 to 40 MHz on this board. If you choose a 14 MHz 68881 or 28
MHz 68882, you don't need an additional crystal.
There is a switch with "14 MHz" and "28 MHz" positions. There is
another switch for an FPU faster than 28 MHz. In this case, you must add a
crystal for it. For example, if you use 33 MHz 68882, you need a 33 Mhz
crystal to support its clock speed.
BENCHMARKS
The board has really satisfied me with its speed. I wasn't expecting
its power before buying it. Here are some benchmarks.
AIBB 5.5 (020+ optimized code, and comparison base is A500 NFR)
This Machine A3000/030 A4000/040
Write pixel 11.57 4.10 26.12
Matrix 10.64 10.14 16.22
Sieve 9.95 9.28 11.88
IMath 20.06 18.29 41.66
Dhyrstone 6.43 5.96 18.96
MemTest 8.34 6.70 11.54
Sort 7.13 7.13 19.67
TGtest 3.36 1.62 2.93
Average: 9.69 7.90 18.62
Sysinfo 3.24 says that it gives 5.05 MIPS at 28.4 MHz.
As you see, with this board, the A1200 slightly faster than an A3000.
AIBB doesn't have results for A4000/030, but they must be similar.
Another good point is my hard drive operations have gotten faster.
Before, I could read a maximum of 900 K/sec with a 256 KB buffer from
my 3.5" IDE hard disk. Now, results are much better.
DiskSpeed 4.2 (WORD aligned, MEMF_FAST, 70 MB partition)
File create 45
Open file 112
Dir scan 439
File delete 284
seek/read 797 seek/sec
16 K buffer ..... Create 616 K/sec
Write 921 K/sec
Read 1011 K/sec
64 K buffer ..... Create 833 K/sec
Write 1164 K/sec
Read 1407 K/sec
256 K buffer ..... Create 995 K/sec
Write 1310 K/sec
Read 1975 K/sec
CPU rate: 1166 CPU available: 36% CPU avail index: 420
As you see, with this board the IDE driver speed is very close
to SCSI speed.
DOCUMENTATION
It comes with printed documentation in both English and German. You
have to know only how to install and how to add a FPU. The booklet has
enough explanation for both.
LIKES
An AGA machine behaves differently when you add Fast RAM. A 256
color Workbench has acceptable speed now. I have 2 Meg free Chip RAM for
graphics. Image processing programs run much faster. I can make a 25 frame
morph without leaving the machine half an hour. Compression and
decompression are not painful any more. I can see a moderate JPEG picture
in 3-6 seconds. Hard disk operations are much faster, and icons appear in
your windows without any waiting!
I bought it primarily for the 4 Meg RAM and the clock, but I couldn't
imagine how fast it is with a 28 MHz 68020. I like it! For this price, I
get the the power of an A3000. It's very interesting. Adding a 40 MHz 68882
will give an acceptable speed for floating point arithmetic and 3D
rendering.
DISLIKES AND SUGGESTIONS
I would like some luxuries! There should be a software switch for
14/28 MHz and to disable/enable board features. Also, I don't like its RAM
expansion. I prefer SIMM upgrades, which are easy and cheaper.
COMPARISON TO OTHER SIMILAR PRODUCTS
I didn't see any other 68020 accelerator for the A1200 on the market.
There are a lot of 25 Mhz 68030 accelerators that give the same result, but
they are twice as expensive.
BUGS
No bugs encountered yet.
VENDOR SUPPORT
Producer has technical support lines via telephone.
Here are international support/sales services.
UK
--
Gordon Harwood Computers
Amiga Support Department
New Street, Alfreton,
Derbyshire DE55 7BP ENGLAND
USA
---
Advanced Systems & Software
International Group
Amiga Support Department
1329 Skiles
Dallas, TX 75204 USA
International technical support line: 214-821-7776
WARRANTY
It has a 1 year warranty.
CONCLUSIONS
It's a very good product. Well designed. It has the best
price/performance ratio if you compare it with similar products. In my
opinion, you don't need highly expensive 68EC030 cards for this speed.
If you use your A1200 for programming, desktop publishing, graphics,
painting, animation, and video work, you need some speed and some Fast RAM.
The Blizzard 1220 is very affordable solution for it.
If you are a 3D artist or you need a rendering machine, you should
add a 40 MHz 68882 FPU and 4 more Megs of RAM. (Or better to buy an A4000/040!)
I can't understand why Commodore (RIP) didn't put a 28 MHz 68020 and
2-4 MB Fast RAM on A1200 as standard or as an A1200+ model. It gives really
acceptable processing speed for a home computer. It doesn't cost too much,
and 3rd parties could survive by producing faster 68030, 68040 and 68060
boards.
COPYRIGHT NOTICE
Copyright 1994 Cem Turgay. All rights conserved B-)
tur@eurocontrol.de
---
Daniel Barrett, Moderator, comp.sys.amiga.reviews
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