Review: DKB Cobra A1200 030 Accelerator

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                  Review: DKB Cobra A1200 030 Accelerator
  Paul Morabito                                        paulmbto@world.net
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PRODUCT NAME:

DKB Cobra A1200 030 accelerator

AVAILABILITY:

contact DKB for your nearest distributor:
DKB
PO BOX 438
Michigan 48393-0438
Phone: (810) 348 3821
Fax: (810) 348 3531

PRICE:

28mhz with 4 meg SIMM $AUS499
40mhz version with 4 meg SIMM $AUS699
A SCSI controller is available for $AUS189

In todays world it's becoming cheaper and cheaper to accelerate an
A1200.The DKB Cobra accelerator combines power at a reasonable price.  For
this review I will concentrate on the 28mhz version although if there are
differences between the two models they will be stated.

A1200 accelerators are renowned for their difficulty to install.I got mine
installed by a technician which going by stories of mishaps I've heard
seemed to be the intelligent way to go.Just a word of warning to
prospective buyers - apparently *some* A1200's require a modification
performed before any accelerator or RAM expansion will function properly. 
Personally mine had the modification and still doesn't function properly
(sometimes hanging on reset) although this may just be my A1200. 

The Cobra like a plethora of A1200 accelerators and RAM expansions includes
a battery backed clock,one standard 72 pin SIMM socket along with a PLCC
FPU socket.The RAM unlike other accelerators can be in any size up to
128mb.A utility is also provided to map KickStart into fast RAM and the
usual SCSI controller is available.

The 28mhz version includes the full 68030 CPU incorporating a Memory
Management Unit (MMU).In reality they aren't much use except for Virtual
Memory and the odd debugging utility (namely Enforcer).With the addition of
Gigamem or VMM you can transform part of your hard drive into RAM.  This of
course is no where near as fast as real RAM but it may appeal to some.An
interesting side note is that DKB do not include an MMU with the 40mhz
version of the board and incidentally the 40mhz version is actually only
clocked at 33mhz.

Now to the most important part of any accelerator - SPEED.  The Cobra is no
slouch clocking in at around 5.3 MIPS (Millions Of Instructions Per Second)
according to Sysinfo 3.23.  Of interest to current A1200 owners is that it
is 4.32 times faster than a base A1200 and slighty faster than a 25mhz
A3000.

Overall the Cobra is one of the best accelerators for the A1200.Combining
power at an affordable price it easily beats other 020 accelerators and RAM
expansions for the best low end A1200 accelerator. 

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