[comp.sys.amiga] Any recommendations on A500 RAM upgrades?

noid@olivej.olivetti.com (The Pizza Terminator) (01/04/89)

I'm in the market for an add on memory board for my Amiga 500 (I finally
got my B&W camera for the Digiview, so I need some memory to do hi-res
color).

Ideally, I would like an internal upgrade, which comes with no memory,
so that I can add my own chips (which are abundant at my house).
Memory chips supported would preferably be 41256 or 411000 DRAMs.
Almost ideally, would be a hard disk interface with a memory option.
The requirement I have for a hard disk interface is that it be DMA, and
support SCSI devices, and the memory would also have to be unpopulated.
(I think GVP makes what I am looking for, but it comes with a hard disk,
which is not what I want.)

As you can probably tell, I want to get into this with as little outlay
as possible, since I can add my own SCSI drives and memory that I have
sitting around.

Mail me comments, and I'll summarize for the net if there is sufficient
interest and information.

Thanks!

noid@oliveb.olivetti.com
sun!oliveb!noid

jpdres10@usl-pc.usl.edu (Green Eric Lee) (01/11/89)

In message <35461@oliveb.olivetti.com>, noid@olivej.olivetti.com (The Pizza Terminator) says:
>Memory chips supported would preferably be 41256 or 411000 DRAMs.
>Almost ideally, would be a hard disk interface with a memory option.
>The requirement I have for a hard disk interface is that it be DMA, and
>support SCSI devices, and the memory would also have to be unpopulated.
>(I think GVP makes what I am looking for, but it comes with a hard disk,
>which is not what I want.)

Has anybody had experience with the Pacific Peripherals subsystem for
the A-500? I've seen it below $200 mail-order. The internal A500
boards are NOT cheap, even unpopulated, and you WILL need to get a new
power supply to power the critters. Not to mention that I see problems
with DMA SCSI controllers...

Seems to me that a Zorro II subsystem for the A500 is the way to go.
A2000 disk controllers and RAM cards are dirt cheap compared to their
A500 equivalent. Buying just a slap-on-the-side SCSI controller is
less expensive than buying a subsystem and an A-2000 SCSI controller,
but when you add up the cost of both the slap-on-the-side SCSI
controller and the internal expansion stuff... it's close, real close,
to the expansion chassis + A2000 cards alternative (especially if you
choose a SCSI controller with RAM on-board, such as, hmm, one of the
GVP Impact controllers).

--
Eric Lee Green                            P.O. Box 92191, Lafayette, LA 70509
   {uunet!dalsqnt,killer}!usl!elg