Re: New GS accel., how much would you pay?

[Rubywand <rubywand@swbell.net>]

Charles Stephens writes ...
> 
> I am curious.  If there were a new 16MHz GS accelerator availble that
> combined the accelerator with memory expansion, how many of you would
> buy one and for how much.
> 
> I am thinking about the following theoretical features:
> 
> 12MB of SRAM (assuming there is some additional OS/Toolbox support > > added)
> 1MB of Flash (for ROM disk and toolbox replacement)
> 16 MHz 65C816
> 
> The components should cost around US$100, but I suspect the real cost
> to produce such a card would be as high as US$500.
>
 ....


     A new accelerator board would be of great interest to users who do
not currently own one. It would make buying a used IIgs more attractive,
too. And, you might convince a number of current accelerator owners to
buy and swap in your 20MHz board to obtain the speed increase.

     Placing 12MB of RAM-- enough to move all of motherboard RAM
contents to the accelerator with several MB left over, will speed things
a bit vs. regular caching and should simplify design. On the other hand,
it is not clear what 4MB RAM beyond the max available on the motherboard
and Mem Expansion Slot will be used for.

     Since you can not supply DMA, Mega (old II), and Video system
access to the accelerator board RAM, it looks like the best approach is
to avoid frills. That is: keep the accelerator simple, fast, and cheap.

     Regarding the "how much would you pay?" question: if I did not
already have a decent accelerator, something around $200 would look
pretty good.



Rubywand