Re: TransWarp & Zip GS upgrades

[supertimer@aol.com (Supertimer)]

mystix@direct.ca@direct.ca wrote:

>supertimer@aol.com (Supertimer) writes:
>
>>Good idea.  It is worth noting that, especially for TWGS users,
>>upgrading an accelerator's speed is extremely easy.  Just check
>>to make sure ROM version is 1.5 or above, then swap out the
>>CPU and the oscillator with faster versions.  That's it.
>
>I thought that 1.8 was needed for 32k, of which faster SRAMs allowed for
beyond
>12.5MHz. Can anyone correct me on this?

That's correct but 12.5Mhz is quite an upgrade from 7Mhz.
The SRAMs that came originally on the TWGS are fast
enough for that speed.

On most ZipGS 7Mhz model cards, however, the SRAMs
may not be fast enough.  There were a lot more differences
in ZipGS SRAM speed because Zip Technology sold
many different versions of the ZipGS and used lower
quality SRAMs in the slower models.

TWGS seemed to have been designed more for a future
user upgrade kit.

On one model of ZipGS, the crystal was even soldered!
ALL TWGS have socketted oscillators.

>>You could package your CPUs with 40Mhz and 50Mhz oscillators
>>to make a complete upgrade package.
>
>Yes I could, however oscillators are generally cheap and almost readily
available
>at local electronics supply stores. But if there's a demand, I can check into
>ordering oscillators and SRAMs too, that way anyone who placed an order will
>have everything they need in one shot.
>
>I've been giving some thought about having a little circuit board built to
hold
>multiple oscillators along with a switch. This way I can mount a switch on the
>front panel of my GS and change speeds when I want. I imagine there will be
>times that I'll want to run things at 7MHz as opposed to 14+MHz, in particular
>games. It's too bad TWGSs don't have a scaleable speed option in software
>like the Zip.

The speed switch is a great idea.  Or even an add on
card with jumpers much like the speed multipliers on
PC motherboards would make experimenting much
easier.