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4mb STFM with accelerator - was there an equivalent way back when?
Posted: Fri Sep 07, 2018 7:48 pm
by PeteW
Just wondering. My STFM now runs 4mb and will soon have the 16mhz accelerator. If I can ever find one, maybe I'll add a blitter too.
With all that, was there an equivalent Atari machine back then with a similar spec (a Mega 4 or something), or have I just created a retro/modern Frankenstein?
Re: 4mb STFM with accelerator - was there an equivalent way back when?
Posted: Fri Sep 07, 2018 7:58 pm
by exxos
Re: 4mb STFM with accelerator - was there an equivalent way back when?
Posted: Fri Sep 07, 2018 8:02 pm
by PeteW
I was more just idly wondering how a slightly faster, 4mb STFM maybe with a blitter would have differed from a Mega ST back then? Apart from the case...
Re: 4mb STFM with accelerator - was there an equivalent way back when?
Posted: Fri Sep 07, 2018 8:07 pm
by arf
PeteW wrote: ↑Fri Sep 07, 2018 8:02 pm
I was more just idly wondering how a slightly faster, 4mb STFM maybe with a blitter would have differed from a Mega ST back then? Apart from the case...
The MegaST ran at the same speed than the 1040ST(E/F/FM). The only advantages, besides the case, were the internal expansion port and the blitter, which gave only modest speed improvements. Ah, and the battery-back-up RTC.
The MegaSTE ran at 16 MHz CPU, 16 KB L2-Cache and a 8 MHz Bus. Depending on your accelerator and the code it’s executing, that may be faster, or not.
Re: 4mb STFM with accelerator - was there an equivalent way back when?
Posted: Fri Sep 07, 2018 8:08 pm
by exxos
PeteW wrote: ↑Fri Sep 07, 2018 8:02 pm
I was more just idly wondering how a slightly faster, 4mb STFM maybe with a blitter would have differed from a Mega ST back then? Apart from the case...
The MEGA ST *is* a STFM re-cased, basically.
Re: 4mb STFM with accelerator - was there an equivalent way back when?
Posted: Fri Sep 07, 2018 8:12 pm
by PeteW
Wow so they really did just put it in a new case and charge more because the case made it more 'serious?
I assumed it would have had one or two more tricks up its sleeve!
Good to know
Re: 4mb STFM with accelerator - was there an equivalent way back when?
Posted: Fri Sep 07, 2018 9:16 pm
by mrbombermillzy
Also, the Mega ST has *slightly* different clock speed to the other ST's. And by the sound of it, noisier signals (blitter patch) compared to the others.
But, yeah, basically the same.
Re: 4mb STFM with accelerator - was there an equivalent way back when?
Posted: Sat Sep 08, 2018 12:41 am
by KyleB
Having the different case meant a lot.
Remember, this was in times of SM124 monitor, that has no stand. That and an STFM together on a desk isn't easy to deal with, I mean, even if you have books to rise the monitor up you still have to give space for the cables hanging out the back of your extra deep "keyboard".
Better the computer completely vanishes under the footprint of the screen. You get an expansion slot and a really nice keyboard too. That's worth it to me.
Re: 4mb STFM with accelerator - was there an equivalent way back when?
Posted: Sat Sep 08, 2018 8:08 am
by arf
KyleB wrote: ↑Sat Sep 08, 2018 12:41 am
Having the different case meant a lot.
Remember, this was in times of SM124 monitor, that has no stand. That and an STFM together on a desk isn't easy to deal with, I mean, even if you have books to rise the monitor up you still have to give space for the cables hanging out the back of your extra deep "keyboard".
Better the computer completely vanishes under the footprint of the screen. You get an expansion slot and a really nice keyboard too. That's worth it to me.
That is indeed nice – for my 1040STF a friend of the family constructed me a wooden U-shaped (but turned 180°) stand for the SM124, where the 1040 could be moved under. But that case improvement isn’t much for ~2 years development time of Atari, right? I mean, the only "hard" thing to advance from 1040 to MegaST was the blitter. The Mega Bus isn’t a sophisticated thing.
Re: 4mb STFM with accelerator - was there an equivalent way back when?
Posted: Sat Sep 08, 2018 10:45 am
by DrF
I don't remember seeing a lot of accelerator cards for the ST in magazines or anywhere else. The most professional uses I ever saw a ST do back then was CuBase and TimeWorks DTP the popular setup was either 2mb or 2.5mb ram upgrade with a external disk drive and sometimes a MegaFile hard drive thing that was about it.
I saw a ST hooked up to a laser printer once with some art package and was amazed, it printed a mono dotty clip art picture of a pig mind blowing at the time for me anyhow, it was so fast, it was in a office full of Apple Mac something or others and I remember there being some argument over 8Mb ram upgrades for them
On the other side Amiga magazines were always rammed full of adverts for accelerator cards with mind blowing expensive prices and I don't recall anyone ever having one either just again more ram and disk drive.
I think the professional market was just lost out on.