Re: ZipGS or TWGS, which is better?

[supertimer@aol.com (Supertimer)]

"Jason Whorton" <jason@microxl.com> wrote:

>Hello.  I am planning on buying an accelerator for my ROM 3 IIgs.  Which one
>is better and why?  Any thoughts on this would be appreciated.

I am most familiar with the TWGS card, but I have also heard good
things about the Zip GS.  The Zip GS' advantages are low power
consumption and cool running.  The TWGS' advantages are ease
of upgrading and a slight speed advantage for each Mhz (it uses a
more efficient caching).

The main disadvantage of the Zip GS is that on most cards, you
need to change the cache RAM chips in order to go into speeds of
12.5Mhz or greater.  The regular TWGS comes with cache RAM
chips fast enough to go 12.5Mhz (as mine does).  But the speed
of the cache RAM chips provided on the Zip GS from the factory
will be too slow in most cases to get 12.5Mhz or greater.  Thus,
to upgrade a Zip GS in most cases, you need to change the cache
RAM chips.  However, most Zip GS cards come with .6 mil sockets.
You'd either need socket adapters or (take a deep breath) you'd
need to solder new socket parts so that the Zip GS can take .3 mil
chips.  This is necessary because it is almost impossible to find
fast (as in 15ns) cache RAM chips in the .6 mil package.  Either
way is bad since socket adapters (.6 mil to .3 mil) costs some $7
each while soldering sockets is not an easy task.

The main disadvantage of the TWGS is that it consumes more
power and thus generates more heat.  If your IIGS is not overloaded
with cards, this should not be a problem.  A fan also helps.  There
are also older TWGS cards that have ROMs (v1.4 or earlier) that
don't support faster speeds.  Thus, it is more tricky to get a good
one.  Just make sure the one you are getting is v1.5 or greater.

Good luck!