exxos's Atari, Amiga & retro forum

Bikerbob wrote: 22 Mar 2022 03:57 I just don't see for me.. 16mhz making the difference of disassembling my TT030 after Lightning thunder and storm, and a 10mb ST ram upgrade.

I have a daughterboard TT, making the Speedy mostly a plug-and-play installation, without risking the original CPU (original FPU still gets overclocked though), so I'm going to go for it. I agree that the 16 MHz boost on the system clock isn't huge, but I think that coupled with the new version of Storm, which also speeds up the clock on the TT RAM, it'll be worth it.

There's also a new "Turbo Thunder" in the works, with built in IDE2CF, Speedy overclock support, and 4x flashrom, so that's something else to be excited about. :)

Now, about that Terriblefire TT60... :lol:

I must admit that I'm not interested in the upgrade myself. a 50% speed bump makes little difference to an 030 machine. It's still way faster than the ST and nice and stable.

Lightning USB was a nice upgrade as it gave extra useful functionality. Storm added more memory above that available from the Atari TT-RAM upgrade and was nice to have.

It's definitely nice work though.

derkom wrote: 22 Mar 2022 07:28 I have a daughterboard TT, making the Speedy mostly a plug-and-play installation,

Same here. I can't get anything soldered easily (have to get someone else to do it), so was trying to establish the amount of soldering here.

From what I could glean from the linked page, it's just two wires IF the FPU is overclocked, otherwise it's a straight plug in solution; (well, for the daughterboard version anyway).

Also, as Badwolf suggested, the guys need to promote this more...alot of the posts here are people saying that they were unaware of the completion of the project.

It looks like a great product. You should be proud and tell the world! :D

stephen_usher wrote: 22 Mar 2022 10:49 I must admit that I'm not interested in the upgrade myself. a 50% speed bump makes little difference to an 030 machine. It's still way faster than the ST and nice and stable.

Lightning USB was a nice upgrade as it gave extra useful functionality. Storm added more memory above that available from the Atari TT-RAM upgrade and was nice to have.

It's definitely nice work though.

The guys at ThunderStorm wanted me to re-affirm that the results will be much higher with the new version of the Storm RAM card which interfaces directly with the SpeedyTT for faster RAM performance. The new Thunder will also be boosted in IDE access and in ROM access, so with all the updated interfaces the machine will be significantly quicker, not just 50% CPU. I am due to send my Storm and Thunder to Matthias to swap them for the newer models and I will be able to report those performance results later.

Steve wrote: 22 Mar 2022 13:56

stephen_usher wrote: 22 Mar 2022 10:49 I must admit that I'm not interested in the upgrade myself. a 50% speed bump makes little difference to an 030 machine. It's still way faster than the ST and nice and stable.

Lightning USB was a nice upgrade as it gave extra useful functionality. Storm added more memory above that available from the Atari TT-RAM upgrade and was nice to have.

It's definitely nice work though.

The guys at ThunderStorm wanted me to re-affirm that the results will be much higher with the new version of the Storm RAM card which interfaces directly with the SpeedyTT for faster RAM performance. The new Thunder will also be boosted in IDE access and in ROM access, so with all the updated interfaces the machine will be significantly quicker, not just 50% CPU. I am due to send my Storm and Thunder to Matthias to swap them for the newer models and I will be able to report those performance results later.

WOW WOW WOW.. what's this last part?? You can send in STORM and Thunder and they can be swapped? or upgraded? or what? I'll be honest, I have thunder storm and Lightning.. and that is almost $400 in stuff right there.. so really was not going to look at buying it all again.. but if there is some kind of exchange program??

James

Steve wrote: 22 Mar 2022 13:56 The guys at ThunderStorm wanted me to re-affirm that the results will be much higher with the new version of the Storm RAM card which interfaces directly with the SpeedyTT for faster RAM performance. The new Thunder will also be boosted in IDE access and in ROM access, so with all the updated interfaces the machine will be significantly quicker, not just 50% CPU. I am due to send my Storm and Thunder to Matthias to swap them for the newer models and I will be able to report those performance results later.

Sounds cool.

Will it be compatible with built in the SCSI?
The SCSI in the TT has an access to the TT-RAM.

Just to be clear: The upgraded Storm TT and the (not yet finished!) improved Thunder that Steve mentioned need a Speedy to offer a benefit over the previous revisions. There is no need to exchange them if you're not planning to install a Speedy. (Which, as was mentioned, requires a fair bit of desoldering and soldering in case of PGA or SMD TTs.)

Cyprian wrote: 22 Mar 2022 15:09 Will it be compatible with built in the SCSI?
The SCSI in the TT has an access to the TT-RAM.

Yes. SCSI has already been tested by us. Of course, everything on the mainboard (like the SCSI DMA) can still access TT-RAM, albeit at regular speed. The CPU, however can bypass the system bus bottleneck and can talk to TT-RAM at full speed, roughly 25 - 35 MByte/s, depending on the RAM modules. (See here for the exact numbers from my TT with Speedy and new Storm TT: https://www.atari-forum.com/viewtopic.p ... 14#p426014.)

czietz wrote: 22 Mar 2022 15:18 Just to be clear: The upgraded Storm TT and the (not yet finished!) improved Thunder that Steve mentioned need a Speedy to offer a benefit over the previous revisions. There is no need to exchange them if you're not planning to install a Speedy. (Which, as was mentioned, requires a fair bit of desoldering and soldering in case of PGA or SMD TTs.)

Well for the PGA I am looking at desoldering the 4 chips beside the tt ram bus. Now I would not do that for 16mhz.. but if everything else is going to be sped up as well. then I might consider it ;) beside I have bought everything else you guys have ever made, why would I stop now?

James

Bikerbob wrote: 22 Mar 2022 15:33

czietz wrote: 22 Mar 2022 15:18 Just to be clear: The upgraded Storm TT and the (not yet finished!) improved Thunder that Steve mentioned need a Speedy to offer a benefit over the previous revisions. There is no need to exchange them if you're not planning to install a Speedy. (Which, as was mentioned, requires a fair bit of desoldering and soldering in case of PGA or SMD TTs.)

Well for the PGA I am looking at desoldering the 4 chips beside the tt ram bus. Now I would not do that for 16mhz.. but if everything else is going to be sped up as well. then I might consider it ;) beside I have bought everything else you guys have ever made, why would I stop now?

James

Yes if you are going to buy a Speedy there is an exhange program, please speak to Matthias for details.

Just an update, I received the faster 'Super Storm' TT RAM expansion today. It connects directly to the booster which makes the ram quicker. Here are a couple of benchmark photos.

Shows the Alt-ram is 56% faster than the previous Storm TT. (ignore graphics results as they are influenced by NVDI)