Modded A600

Anyone on Amigans interested in this? I originally posted on aw.net but would like an oppinion from all camps as it were:

I have just acquired a number of MC68010 PLCC CPU's and their sockets. I am going to put one into my A600, but I have also bought some spare A600 motherboards, to make sure it all goes to plan. There is a very slight incompatibility with the 68010 from the 68000 but it would only affect a small number of software titles (mainly games).

What you do get is a 10% boost of the performance of the A600 and the accolade of having a MC68010 CPU. This would be perfect for classic Amiga owners who use mainly Workbench apps and suchlike.

Just a few questions:

1: Would anyone be interested in buying a 68010 powered A600?
2: If so, would it be preferred a complete system or just the motherboard?
3: Would you prefer me to buy and install the 3.1 ROM and/or 1MB RAM upgrade or just the CPU mod?
4: Is there a market for a nice (not crazy) upgraded A600 machine? The spec:

A600 machine (clean, not yellowed)
2MB Chip mem
512MB Flash HDD with Workbench 3.1 installed
Kickstart 3.1 ROM
68010 Upgrade

In terms of pricing, I am not wanting to make money but could do the 68010 A600 board with UK shipping for about 20 pounds. A board populated with 3.1 ROM and 2MB board would be around 50-60 pounds (depending on eBay prices) and the whole kick-ass system as mentioned above would be about 120-130 pounds.

Just wondering if any of you had a passion for the cute Amiga and wanted it modded up without the grief. As you may know, I have recently acquired another A600 which I have upgraded, see: http://www.amiga.org/modules/myalbum/photo.php?lid=3874

I had the 2nd "extreme" A600 project (amiga600.net) which I sold off and pulled the website down some time ago, however I have come back to the scene a little recently so I may put the site online again and update it with more Amiga stuff.

Let me know what you think.....

Mike (A1200)

@A1200

The simple answer is that the 68010 upgrade isn't worth the hassle unless it's a quick change.

Whoever told you you get a 10% increase over the 68000 was either a salesman or very optimistic! Fact is the 68010 is basically a 68000 with a very very small instruction cache, only useful for loops of two (2!) instructions I believe. The clock speed is the same so you really won't see any difference except less programs will work, really.

That's just my experience from memory of course!

@Spirantho

Yeah you are probably right there mate. I will play with one and see what happens, then possibly sell or use the others for something else.

@A1200

What Spirantho said. I had a 68010 in my A1000 way back when. I really couldn't tell any difference.

Paul

From WHDLoad docs: "68010+ is recommended because some installs require the VBR for the 'quit by a key' feature"

As already stated, there is not much performance gain, but this might make it worthwhile. However, as A600 boots from flash relatively fast, it may not be worth it unless it is easy to install.