Test reports

2. Review: PCI busboard »Mediator 1200« (by Pascal Hardyn)

Before beginning the review, here is my (old) configuration:

Amiga 1200, Blizzard 1260/64 Mhz, 160 Mb fast Ram, Ateo tower, Fast-ATA Elbox, Iiyama Pro 410 17'', Pixel64 (CL GD5434 with 2 Mb) graphic card with Ateobus (ISA bus), OS 3.5 with Boing Bag 1.

This review explores my feelings about a Mediator PCI Card and a Voodoo 3 3000 SGRAM 16 Mb graphic card. (Files used: PCI.library 2.1, voodoo3.card v1.1 and graphic software Picasso 96 2.0)

1 - Does the Mediator fit my Ateo tower?

I gotta say it now: NO! It was quite fast and easy to remove the Ateobus and the Pixel64, but after installing the Mediator, it was impossible to close my tower (The Blizzard card is now too high...) ; more, to connect the Voodoo card, i had to use my `Black & Decker' drill to create a hole for the VGA cable. (PCI cards are installed horizontally and ISA cards for Ateobus are installed at the bottom of my tower, vertically).

After that, my Amiga had the Frankenstein look (Power Ac on the floor, Blizzard card `flying' over the tower, etc...) However, according to the Elbox documentation on the Mediator, the card fits perfectly in Elbox towers (Power Tower or Winner Tower) and Micronik towers.

2 - Is it okay?

The disk that comes with the Mediator card has different software for the PCI bus and the CGX3 driver for all graphic cards with Virge S3. But, what about the Voodoo? You have to register with Elbox (with the serial number of the Mediator bus) to receive by mail the Voodoo drivers, the latest version of Pci.library and the latest version of mediatorNET.device (to use PCI network cards which are compatible with NE2000)

After installing the Picasso96 software (choosing a Cvision 64/3D), and following the Elbox instructions (Rename `Cvision' as `Voodoo3' in DEVS:monitors, changing the tooltype `Board=' and copying the file voodoo3.card to `LIBS:Picasso96'), I ended up in Picasso96Mode (in Sys:Prefs drawer) to declare and choose different screenmodes. The resolution is up to 1600x1200x8 bits, but there are strange things beyond 1024*768*24 bits or 1024*768*32 bits. (Trashy things on the screen - memory corruption???) For my personal use, I chose 1280*1024*16 bits screenmode for the workbench. (With my Pixel64, i used a 1024*768*16 bits with CGX 4.2) One reboot, and Hurray! It works. Look at my brand new WB...

3 - Is it fast?

For day to day use, the Voodoo is faster than the Pixel64 - and it is not so difficult - (Open screens, swap screens) In fact, the voodoo3.card uses the 3DFX chip to manage 2D. With different test programs (Sysspeed, P96Speed or Wspeed), the Voodoo 3 flies for lines, boxes, windows moving, and scrolling; for circles or ellipses, it is about the same speed as the Pixel64. Do not forget that the driver is just a 2D driver. In some tests, the Voodoo 3 is faster than a Bvision. (Remember Bvision card is only for PPC users) Maybe with a Warp 3D driver, the Voodoo 3 could be used at the maximum of these possibilities.

WSpeed © 1994 JAMI Soft Development

Description:
Screenmode: Voodoo3:640x480  8bit, 256 Colors
----------------------------------------
Put Pixels        1906121
Draw Lines        450194
Draw Hor/Ver      467563
Draw Circles      94153
Draw Ellipse      73785
Draw Boxes        333223
Scroll X          46980
Scroll Y          48907
Print Texts       73324
CON: Output       5748
Open Windows      650
Size Windows      1064
Move Windows      590
Swap Screens      594
Areafill          6199

 P96Speed 1.2 - ©`97-99 by Jens Langner
.-----------------------------------------.
| Computer......: Amiga 1200/AGA          |
| CPU...........: 68060/60 MHz            |
| OS / WB.......: V40.68/V45.1            |
| SetPatch......: V44.16                  |
| Chip/Fast.....: 1.9MB/159.5MB           |
| Graphics card.: PAS DE CARTE GRAPHIQUE  |
| GFX system....: Picasso96 v2.0          |
| Resolution....: 1280 x 1024 x 8         |
| Depth/Colors..: 255 colors              |
| Testlength....: 13                      |
+-----------------------------------------+
| Description...:                         |
|               :                         |
|               : ¡È`SøRa
| Owner.........:                         |
| E-Mail........:                         |
`-----------------------------------------'
.============= SPEEDRESULTS ==============.
| RectFill()................  15492 op/s  |
| RectFill() Pattern........  14544 op/s  |
| WritePixel().............. 173412 op/s  |
| WriteChunkyPixels().......    536 op/s  |
| WritePixelArray8()........    530 op/s  |
| WritePixelLine8().........  21241 op/s  |
| DrawEllipse().............   8139 op/s  |
| DrawCircle()..............   9632 op/s  |
| Draw()....................  19112 op/s  |
| Draw() Hor/Ver............  21916 op/s  |
| ScrollRaster() X..........    732 op/s  |
| ScrollRaster() Y..........    748 op/s  |
| PutText().................  10554 op/s  |
| BlitBitMap()..............  16667 op/s  |
| BlitBitMapRastPort()......  12653 op/s  |
| BitMapScale().............     75 op/s  |
|--------------- Intuition ---------------|
| OpenWindow()..............    131 op/s  |
| MoveWindow()..............    784 op/s  |
| SizeWindow()..............    178 op/s  |
| CON-Output................   1161 op/s  |
| ScreenToFront()...........     60 op/s  |
`========================================='

For games like DoomAttack or Gloom 3, it is faster (about 30 fps for Doom vs 20 fps with the Pixel64, all in 320*256*8 bits). About 17 fps for Quake 060 with Qboost4, 320*200*16 bits screen with 040/060 refreshing mode (timedemo demo2). I haven't got PPC, so I cannot say much about PPC programs.

The different results are 'CPU dependent', and there is an error in the Mediator's manual for 030: The jumper '????' must be CLOSED.

4 - Is it legal?

The big question about the Voodoo driver released by Elbox: is it legal? In fact, the driver works with Picasso96 software, and was developed without the permission of the P96 team. The French Company, Ateo Concepts, did pay for using P96 with their graphic card Pixel64.

Elbox says: `Our driver is free, we do not sell Voodoo cards and we do not supply P96 software with the Mediator. Each user of Mediator+Voodoo must register with the P96 team' The P96 team says: `You have developed a driver which uses P96 software, and with this driver, you sell more Mediator cards ; we are waiting for a retribution...'

The Voodoo cards are not supported by the P96 team, and if there is no agreement between Elbox and the P96 team, future versions of P96 software might not be compatible with Mediator+Voodoo cards.

5 - What's to expect?

Future drivers for the Mediator will support:

Overlay for Voodoo cards.

Soundblaster 128 & Soundblaster 1024 Pro sound cards

Tv/out cards

Other cards???? (NVidia??? Scsi???)

Interesting links:

http://www.vgr.com/mediator
http://www.elbox.com

6 - Conclusion

I like:

At last, a 3DFX card for the Amiga!

Speed!!! (faster than my old Pixel64)

High resolutions for my workbench or programs like WordWorth, Photogenics and Art Effects.

I dislike:

My Ateo tower must be sold!!! (Replaced by a Power Tower)

Bugs with the driver in high resolutions 24 and 32 bits.

Problem between P96 team and Elbox.

Pascal Hardyn Member of A.F.L.E. (French association of Amiga users) Visit www.amigapower.net

Pascal Hardyn <pascal.hardyn@wanadoo.fr>