Path: utzoo!censor!geac!torsqnt!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!sdd.hp.com!uakari.primate.wisc.edu!crdgw1!argentina.crd.ge.com From: rankins@argentina.crd.ge.com (raymond r rankins) Newsgroups: comp.sys.apple2 Subject: Re: ZipGS GX Message-ID: <14756@crdgw1.crd.ge.com> Date: 12 Dec 90 12:56:57 GMT References: <36819@cup.portal.com> Sender: news@crdgw1.crd.ge.com Reply-To: rankins@argentina (raymond r rankins) Organization: Replace me with your organization Lines: 44 In-reply-to: -Rich-@cup.portal.com (Richard Sherman Payne) In article <36819@cup.portal.com>, -Rich-@cup (Richard Sherman Payne) writes: > Zip's spokesman was very verbose, and hardly let me talk. It was >mostly a prepared speech. I found out that if you upgrade the SRAM, then your >warranty is null and void. He seemed to think that most people who upgraded >their systems were somehow smart enough to pull the CPU (with extensive >handholding), but nowhere near smart enough to replace the SRAM chips. He >did not say this directly, and I never got a chance to make the comparison. I found the Zip tech support guys to be pretty good. I was missing a page of my manual, and they faxed right out to me the newest copy of their manual. One of the guys I spoke to, I believe his name was Steve, answered all of my questions, and gave me a lot of information. I asked him about upgrading the SRAM, and he said that they don't consider it a user-upgradeable option anymore, and that they recommend you send it in for the upgrade. Apparently a number of their beta testers (people who should have been technically competent to do it) had a lot of trouble installing the cache ram properly. But, he said if I wanted to do it myself, he'd tell me how. Basically, you need to get 32k x 8 static ram chips (Microprocessors Unlimited sells them pretty reasonably - check the classifieds in the back of a PC Week). You need 2 chips (one for tag ram & one for data ram) for 32k, and 4 chips for 64k. The important thing is that the tag ram must be faster than the data ram. To run at 8MHz, you need tag ram at 70ns and data ram at 100ns. If you plan on upgrading the Zip CPU to a faster one, then you need a 25/45 ns ram combination. This is what Zip will install (the faster ram) for the upgrade for $75/32k. Microprocessors Unlimited sells these chips for $25 and $19.50 each for the 25 and 45 Mhz chips respectively. If you don't plan on going beyond the 8Mhz CPU in the near future, you can purchase 70 and 100 ns chips for $10.50 and $6.50 each respectively. The guy I talked to said that going from 16k to 64k of cache ram will make a noticeable difference in speed (more than upgrading from an 8Mhz to a 10Mhz cpu) as the CPU won't need to slow down as often to regular system speed to access standard IIGS memory. I plan on purchasing the 70/100ns chips for now because they're not that expensive and when faster 65816s become more readily available, I'll buy the faster ram chips then. Ray Ray Rankins |(518) 387-7174 | INTERNET: rankins@argentina.crd.ge.com 2 Moonglow Rd. |(518) 583-3320 | COMPUSERVE: 71131,3236 Gansevoort, NY 12831 | | AmericaOnline: RayRankins | GEnie: R.Rankins