Re: How can I tell what I've got in a TransWarp GS?

["Mark Cummings" <NOTfigjams@primus.com.au>]

"Scott V. McGuire" <fake@f.a.k.e.net> wrote in message
news:QKeTa.16272$852.12350@twister.nyc.rr.com...
> Thanks everyone.  The cpu is unmarked for speed, the oscillator says
> 35 MHz and Control Panel reports ROM 1.5, so it looks like I have a 6
> or 6.25 MHz cpu with 8k cache.

sounds right. I might have been a bit out on the lower speeds. it might be a
6MHz CPU overclocked the slightest amount, or maybe there was a 6.25 MHz, I
don't know. either way it's the slower unmodified version you currently
have.

> I think I want to try the upgrades.  I've seen the SHH page before but
> have not been sure whether the cache card is still for sale or if the
> page was just for nostalgia.  Are they?  Also, does anyone know how many
> 65c816s you get for the $100 minimum order from WDC?  I'm thinking to
order
> them and sell off the extras on ebay.

about 4 or 5 depending on current price. another option I was considering
when I 1st looked into it, is WDC also sell a 65816 Assembly manual for ~$60
IIRC. and as they wanted minimum $100 order you could theoretically get 1
book and 2 CPUs and sell one of the CPUs.

> Oh, and any good source for oscillators?

I got mine from http://www.mouser.com via the internet. there are other
sources. you are looking for half size clock oscillators like those here:
http://www.mouser.com/catalog/615/453.pdf in the top right corner of the
page. or on the bottom left corner of this page:
http://www.mouser.com/catalog/615/460.pdf
As they are dirt cheap get yourself a collection, like 32MHz, 40MHz, 48MHz,
50MHz, 64MHz. check some of the other ones they sell under different mfrs as
they may have other speeds. if you can find a 56MHz Clock Osc. then that is
the ideal speed for the 14MHz CPU.

BTW just becuase you want to up the speed of the card, there is no guarantee
that it will work, as the max speed of any TWGS seems to be different for
each card. the good news is that it's it's cheap to try different speeds,
but the bad news is it's expensive (or can be) to do all the other mods for
max performance.

Some people just upgrade the cache chips first (can often be found on old
386/486s as cache chips) and add the faster CPU and XTAL. you could try that
firsts as a first step.

Mark