Maths co processor for E-Matrix 1230/40Mhz Accelerator

[ArcadeGuru]

Hello,

I have a E-Matrix 1230/40Mhz Accelerator for my Amiga 1200. It has as empty FPU for co processor and was just wondering if anyone knows where I can get hold of one of these for a decent price? Also will it make much difference to the performance of the card? I'm based in the UK but don't mind purchasing from abroad.

Thanks

[Harrison]

Hi and welcome.

Your E-Matrix accelerator is a variant of the better known DCE Viper 1230 Mk-V, although your one is a 40MHz version, and the Viper was normally 50MHz.

Check http://www.amiga-hardware.com/showha...cgi?HARDID=124 to verify this is your card, but the 1230-40 version.

If that is the correct board then you will need a 40MHz 68882 PGA FPU.

FPUs do come in PGA and PLCC FPU socket types, so you need to make sure you know which you need first. Some cards also take their speed timings from the CPU oscillator chip, while others need their own, so you might need one of these too. If you post a picture of your card I can tell you.

The German Amiga dealer http://www.vesalia.de/ currently have some PGA 68882 FPU's in stock, but are also listing a PLCC one out of stock, so if you did need that one it would be worth emailing them. Direct link to their FPU page is:

http://www.vesalia.de/e_68882%5B4857%5D.htm

The one they currently have in stock is a 33MHz chip, but they have tested it at 40MHz, so it should work fine with your board if it does take PGA FPUs. And it is only £18.86 which is a good price for an FPU.

I've ordered from Vesalia a lot of times and they have fast shipping to the UK, so I can recommend them to you.

Alternatively contact a friend of mine called Nathan, who is known on here as Amiga Maniac. He has a small business selling Amiga parts and also manufactures some Amiga hardware. He currently has some 40MHz FPUs in both PLCC and PGA types. He is based in Australia but don't let that put you off. He ships items very quickly, with very cheap postage costs and is highly recommended. He provides good quality items and great prices, and good customer service. He might also be able to provide a matching oscillator chip if needed.

His site can be found at http://www.amigamaniac.com/ and the FPU page is at http://www.amigamaniac.com/CPUs_FPUs.html

Also will it make much difference to the performance of the card?

This depends on what you are doing. In general use you probably won't see much, of any difference. However many games that use 3D will benefit from an FPU and you will see speed increases in 3D routines. Games such as Frontier: Elite 2 for example. Also programs which use a lot of maths routines will benefit. 3D rendering and spreadsheets for example.

Also if you like Demo Scene productions some support and use FPUs too.

And FPU isn't a necessary thing to have and all software will run fine without one, but some will benefit from one being present.

[ArcadeGuru]

Hi Harrison,

Thank you for the reply I appreciate it . The E-Matrix card I have is from AmigaKit (attached a picture). Probably don't need it as I won't be doing much 3D gaming although I do intend on having a go at programming. As the price is quite reasonable I think it will be worth purchasing one.

Thanks once again.

[Harrison]

OK, so you will need a PGA FPU that can run at 40MHz. And also looking at the picture it will also need a 40MHz Crystal Oscillator (14-pin DIL I think).

It might be worth sending a message to the forum member FOL (Chris) here as he actually works for Amigakit and can tell you exactly about what is needed to add the FPU to this card.

Amigakit don't have any 40MHz FPUs or Oscillators on their site at the moment though, so you could ask FOL if they have any, and if not one of the other 2 places I posted above should be able to help you.

And if you are going to be doing some programming then it might be fun to have an FPU to play around with some code using it.