Nemesis....The need for speed.
In 1993, Atari launched the Falcon, to someone like myself who was using an STe,
it looked incredible and fast.
The competition of the day was a 33mhz 486 PC against which the Falcon could
compete quite nicely, while boasting of it's truecolour display, which seemed like a
dream after staring into a monochrome monitor for a couple of years.
However, this is 1997, and the Falcon is starting to show it's age, the competition
today is a fast Pentium, and 320*480 truecolour is hardly something to boast about,
especially as the Falcon crawls along by comparison in this mode. The situation is made
worse by new software that demands higher overheads, for those who've tried working
with Papyrus in 256 colour mode, they'll know what I mean, slow is not the word. What
the Falcon needs is a turbocharger, but the need for speed, as we all know, gets very
expensive.
Last April, while collecting a memory upgrade for my Falcon, David Encill of Titan
designs showed me some early designs for an accelerator, but not just a CPU booster.
"Nemesis" was going to boost the CPU, FPU if fitted, DSP and increase the bus at the
same time, This would not only give an overall,increase in performance but would allow
640*480 in truecolour at a usable speed. Titan had decided to build this board,
primarily to allow it's Apex range to achieve even better results, but the spin off was an
accelerator that would be available to all.Well so much for the hype, the plans for the board looked tiny, and my first thought
was.."is that it", followed by.."how much?" I was almost in shock as David gave me the
details and drooling when he mentioned the price, under œ60. Even more of a shock
was the news that he wanted it to be home installable for those with reasonable soldering
skills, I wanted one right away, this was the boost my Falcon needed.Like all good things, they come to those who wait, and wait we have, however not in
vain. The delays where not due to problems, but to the Black Scorpion team finding
they could get the board to do more than it was originally envisaged, not only tweaking
it to get every ounce of speed, but fixing a lot of little bugs in the Falcon at the same
time. As David Encill pointed out, they have waited for Nemesis to reach the
specifications they wanted, rather than adjust their software to use lower specifications,
this always means delays, but I believe the wait has been worth it.
Fitting Nemesis.The original plan was for me to fit Nemesis so as to be able to test the ease of fitting.
I am no electronics engineer and learnt to solder while building model railways in my
younger days. However, due to the late printing of the manual, I went up to Titan to
watch Dave Murphy install the board and to judge for myself whether I could have done
it.Dave has fitted a few boards now and is getting faster all the time, however, it
became clear very quickly, that if you do wish to fit your own board you will need a few
basic tools, a steady hand, and plenty of time and patience. Also follow the manual to
the letter.After watching the board being installed, I think I could have done it, although I would
have been very nervous, some of the tracks are under 1mm thick, and two of these need
to be cut and soldered to. I suggest practising on an old radio first. Don't ignore the
constant testing procedure that the manual gives, Dave constantly tested the machine
throughout the procedure. I would allow five hours with no disturbances. If your in any
doubt, Titan or the Upgrade Shop provide a fitting service at a very reasonable price.Manual.
As I said earlier, the manual was not ready when my board was fitted, but I had
already seen a draft manual and very good it was. Far more than just a set of
instructions, it seems to have a never ending list of hints and tips that have been learnt
through experience. As well as instructions and hints, the manual has photos and
diagrams to help you through the procedure.
Once the machine was back together it was just a matter of loading three patch
programs into the AUTO folder, these allow Nemesis to run and to switch between the
two clock speeds provided and away you go.
Full steam ahead.
As soon as the Falcon was back together I couldn't wait to test it, as you can see by
the Gembench figures, I was not disappointed. The system seems to get an overall 150%
boost with the 48mhz clock, however, once NVDI is installed, Nemesis accelerates
NVDI's acceleration of the system, the figures speak for themselves, I had never seen
anything like it. After the Gembench tests we ran Bad Mood, the Doom clone for the
Falcon. I've played this game on a Pentium, but not like this, with Nemesis accelerating
the DSP, CPU and the Bus, it ran in Truecolour and so smooth, I look forward to this
project being finished. Just for fun we loaded up Frontier Elite as well, it was incredible,
again the extra speed increased the frame rate making the game so much more playable.
Extended video.
The speed was great, but Nemesis is a system accelerator rather than just a CPU
accelerator. This allows the video modes to be extended and allows Truecolour at a
minimum of 640*480 on my SVGA monitor, a mode that is rock steady and yet fast
enough for me to write this article in Papyrus. This is what Titan had wanted the board
for with their Apex series of software, but I believe this could be a turning point for
Falcon specific software. For example, I've just loaded an image into Papyrus with no
problems opening up Truecolour DTP work without a graphics card, to say I am
impressed would be an understatement.
Even with this though, Titan and the Black Scorpion team are pushing things even
further with their own Videlity software which should be available early this year. This
allows users to alter the various video modes to get the maximum performance from
their machine/monitor combination. Already resolutions of above 640*480 truecolour
have been achieved.Compatibility.
Extended video modes and higher speeds are one thing, but what about
compatibility.
Titan Designs spent a lot of time checking that Nemesis for compatibility with a
whole range of software, all my software runs with the 48mhz clock (see boxout), to be
honest, I have found it so stable I have never used the lower speed. The only problem I
have found was the odd flicker on screen for a fraction of a second when the modem
dials out, the system is still usable but it is a minor annoyance.
Apart from that everything I have runs very well, in fact due to the buffer
modification I have the distinct feeling that my system is the most stable it's ever been.
The care that Titan put in to looking the various aspects of compatibility seem to have
more than paid off, the only difference it has made to my software is that it runs a lot
faster.
Nemesis at work.
Gembench figures are one thing, but my Falcon is a work machine and doesn't sit
running performance tests all day long. What difference does it make in daily use?
As you can see from the tests, Nemesis accelerates most tasks. Obviously it doesn't
effect disk access much, although I get the feeling there is some acceleration even there.
Heavyweight like programs like Papyrus really start to move and are much nicer to use,
especially when loading large images, in fact anything that uses NVDI gets an incredible
boost as can be seen by the figures for Rotator. If you use your Falcon for programming
or spreadsheets, the increases in performance are very noticeable. Those long waits for
the compiler to finish it's work have been drastically cut. For those who like to surf the
net, CAB becomes turbo charged and the wait for images to be converted are drastically
reduced, also for the first time, truecolour surfing has become a reality....move over
Netscape.
Finally there are those who enjoy photo retouching, raytracing and of course the
Apex range of software. The ability to run this software faster is always a great thing, but
the ability to run in 640*480 truecolour allows a much bigger work space, I saw a
preview of the forthcoming Apex Alpha which has been written to take full advantage of
Nemesis, you will not be disappointed.Is it worth it?
This has got to be one of the best things that has ever appeared on the market for
the Falcon, even with fitting it will still cost you under œ100. To say that I am happy
with Nemesis is an understatement, it has totally transformed my machine. I have
switched it off once to see what it was like, I have no intention of switching it off again.
Fitting Nemesis.This is not the full fitting procedure, but more an overview of how David Murphy
fitted my board. For the full fitting procedure please read the manual carefully before
you start.
- Before you even contemplate fitting Nemesis you will need the following basic tools.
- Soldering iron with a good small bit.
- A solder sucker.
- Sidecutters.
- Small nosed pliers.
- Scalpel or good craft knife.
- Wire cutters/strippers.
- Circuit tester.
- Cross head screwdriver.
- Small socket for removing the nuts on the various ports.
- Soft brush.
- A clear clean workspace.
To start with, Dave tested my Falcon with Black Scorpions own Nembench test to
check that my Falcon was up to specifications. The machine was then completely
stripped down with the motherboard being removed from the case, this was then gently
cleaned with a soft brush to remove the huge amounts of dust and debris that had found
it's way into the machine.
The memory board was taken out and then the fan and it's casing were removed, the
se are taken out as Nemesis now sits in the space that was once occupied by the fan, the
fan now sits above the power supply unit providing much better cooling than in it's
original position, very important with an accelerated machine which obviously gets
warmer. The fan housing was quite hard to remove as it's soldered into position and
needed quite a bit of work to shift it. Next Dave removed three
surface mounted resistors making sure once again that no bits of
debris remained in the machine, once this was over it was time for
the buffer modification.
The buffer modification sits on a tiny board and is fitted below
where the keyboard would sit, probably under the "G" key. The
board is backed with card to insulate it and taped to the mother
board using double sided tape and soldered to various points on
the board. An eye was kept on the wire offcuts to make sure they
didn't fall onto the mother board and then the machine was tested
again. This was just a simple procedure of switching the machine
on and checking that the famous Atari logo appeared. If it doesn't
appear, the manual gives a list of what could be wrong and what to do, then it was part
two of the modification, the DMA fix. Here is were the need for soldering skills start to
show as Dave cut one of the very fine tracks and then after cleaning the resin, soldered
one wire to the track, this was then attached to a capacitor which in turn was soldered
to one leg of a chip, great care with heat transfer is needed here, as chips do not like
being cooked by soldering irons, once again it was time for testing.
The buffer modification is a very worthwhile modification as it
cleans up the various signals in the computer and many owners
will find this leads to greater stability, myself included.Once the buffer modification was tested, it was time for fitting the Nemesis board.
Dave carefully made a bracket out of a paper clip and soldered this to the Nemesis
board and then to the old fan mounting points, I was amazed just how strong a bracket
this made, the position of the board also greatly aids cooling (for those with recased
Falcons, positioning this not such a problem). Once fitted a small earth wire is attached
and a resistor is removed to isolate the old clock. Next some legs were cut on a couple
of chips and various wires soldered to them before before another test was made.
Once the test results had proved satisfactory the modifications are made to
the DSP.
Again it's a case of cutting a very fine track and soldering wires to the remains,
Dave commented that it was very important when cutting the tracks to
make sure they really are cut properly.
This was were the circuit tester came in handy.
Once the wires were soldered in place it was time for yet another test.
Next it was time to clock the FPU, although it is not necessary, Dave fitted a FPU
for test purposes, I was amazed at the difference this could make to performance and
hope to fit one early next year. Once all the wires have been attached to their various
points and some capacitors have been disconnected, the various wires are taped firmly
in place, the cable routes are very important to prevent interference. Nemesis was finally
fitted.
Next was the new fan location. A hole was cut in the top metal casing with a drill
and the sharp edges filed back, great care should be taken doing this as if the drill
catches the case can easily spin cutting your hands to pieces. Make sure the case is
firmly clamped down. Once the hole is made, it's just a case of bolting the fan in place
and extending the fan leads to connect it to the PSU before reassembling the whole
machine.Technical Specification.
A standard Nemesis board produces a 24MHz Bus and CPU, as well as 48MHz DSP
and FPU if fitted. This is much more than just clocking the CPU as the whole system is
accelerated proportionally therefore keeping the system stable, it also allows the
640*480 truecolour resolution. I asked David Encill why Titan had not utilised the
expansion port and he explained that it didn't offer any benefits for Nemesis and kept it
free for other expansion cards such as the Expos‚ video digitiser and the Afterburner
68040 accelerator.
If you really feel the need to turn your Falcon into the ultimate computer, Nemesis can
be used in conjunction with the Afterburner board (also available from Titan), to give
you power that will make a PC owners green with envy.
Performance Tests
Important note..this is an old version of Gembench
and all references are against 640*480 monochrome.GEM Bench v3.28c Ofir Gal 28.9.93
============================================
Falcon 030 TOS 4.01, MiNT not present
Blitter Enabled, NVDI not present
Video Mode = 640 * 480 * 2 Colours
FPU not present
Run and Malloc from STRAM
Reference = F030
bare system on SVGA
============================================
GEM Dialog Box: 3.945 98%
VDI Text: 3.870 99%
VDI Text Effects: 8.370 99%
VDI Small Text: 4.295 99%
VDI Graphics: 9.250 100%
GEM Window: 1.555 98%
Integer Division: 3.105 99%
Float Math: 5.350 99%
RAM Access: 2.195 100%
ROM Access: 2.300 100%
Blitting: 1.160 99%
VDI Scroll: 2.870 99%
Justified Text: 3.645 99%
VDI Enquire: 1.700 101%
============================================
Average: 99%
Graphics: 99%
CPU: 99%GEM Bench v3.28c Ofir Gal 28.9.93
============================================
Falcon 030 TOS 4.01, MiNT not present
Blitter Enabled, NVDI not present
Video Mode = 640 * 480 * 2 Colours
FPU not present
Run and Malloc from STRAM
Reference = F030
bare system + Nemesis
============================================
GEM Dialog Box: 2.675 145%
VDI Text: 2.665 143%
VDI Text Effects: 5.735 144%
VDI Small Text: 2.885 147%
VDI Graphics: 6.205 149%
GEM Window: 1.090 139%
Integer Division: 2.060 150%
Float Math: 3.495 152%
RAM Access: 1.435 153%
ROM Access: 1.520 152%
Blitting: 1.015 113%
VDI Scroll: 2.290 124%
Justified Text: 2.590 139%
VDI Enquire: 1.115 154%
============================================
Average: 143%
Graphics: 139%
CPU: 151%GEM Bench v3.28c Ofir Gal 28.9.93
============================================
Falcon 030 TOS 4.01, MiNT not present
Blitter Enabled, NVDI not present
Video Mode = 640 * 480 * 16 Colours
FPU not present
Run and Malloc from STRAM
Reference = F030
Bare System, no accs or auto prgs on a
SVGA monitor
============================================
GEM Dialog Box: 5.085 76%
VDI Text: 5.340 71%
VDI Text Effects: 11.130 74%
VDI Small Text: 5.215 81%
VDI Graphics: 12.125 76%
GEM Window: 2.360 64%
Integer Division: 3.110 99%
Float Math: 6.150 86%
RAM Access: 2.505 87%
ROM Access: 2.345 98%
Blitting: 3.695 31%
VDI Scroll: 7.030 40%
Justified Text: 5.805 62%
VDI Enquire: 1.900 90%
============================================
Average: 73%
Graphics: 66%
CPU: 92%GEM Bench v3.28c Ofir Gal 28.9.93
============================================
Falcon 030 TOS 4.01, MiNT not present
Blitter Enabled, NVDI not present
Video Mode = 640 * 480 * 16 Colours
FPU not present
Run and Malloc from STRAM
Reference = F030
nemesis
============================================
GEM Dialog Box: 3.580 108%
VDI Text: 3.905 98%
VDI Text Effects: 7.885 105%
VDI Small Text: 3.590 118%
VDI Graphics: 8.250 112%
GEM Window: 1.790 85%
Integer Division: 2.065 149%
Float Math: 3.820 139%
RAM Access: 1.560 141%
ROM Access: 1.545 150%
Blitting: 3.390 34%
VDI Scroll: 6.165 46%
Justified Text: 4.505 80%
VDI Enquire: 1.205 142%
============================================
Average: 107%
Graphics: 92%
CPU: 144%GEM Bench v3.28c ½ Ofir Gal 28.9.93
============================================
Falcon 030 TOS 4.01, MiNT not present
Blitter Enabled, NVDI not present
Video Mode = 640 * 480 * 256 Colours
FPU not present
Run and Malloc from STRAM
Reference = F030
SVGA 16mb
============================================
GEM Dialog Box: 7.190 54%
VDI Text: 7.965 48%
VDI Text Effects: 15.575 53%
VDI Small Text: 6.760 63%
VDI Graphics: 17.305 53%
GEM Window: 3.890 39%
Integer Division: 3.115 99%
Float Math: 7.805 68%
RAM Access: 3.160 69%
ROM Access: 2.480 93%
Blitting: 8.765 13%
VDI Scroll: 15.185 18%
Justified Text: 9.935 36%
VDI Enquire: 2.230 77%
============================================
Average: 55%
Graphics: 45%
CPU: 82%GEM Bench v3.28c ½ Ofir Gal 28.9.93
============================================
Falcon 030 TOS 4.01, MiNT not present
Blitter Enabled, NVDI not present
Video Mode = 640 * 480 * 256 Colours
FPU not present
Run and Malloc from STRAM
Reference = F030
nemesis
============================================
GEM Dialog Box: 5.030 77%
VDI Text: 5.895 65%
VDI Text Effects: 10.955 75%
VDI Small Text: 4.670 91%
VDI Graphics: 11.460 80%
GEM Window: 2.920 52%
Integer Division: 2.065 149%
Float Math: 4.390 121%
RAM Access: 1.750 125%
ROM Access: 1.590 145%
Blitting: 7.410 15%
VDI Scroll: 12.655 22%
Justified Text: 7.660 47%
VDI Enquire: 1.335 128%
============================================
Average: 85%
Graphics: 65%
CPU: 135%GEM Bench v3.28c ½ Ofir Gal 28.9.93
============================================
Falcon 030 TOS 3.00, MiNT not present
Blitter Disabled, NVDI 3.01 present
Video Mode = 640 * 480 * 16 Colours
FPU not present
Run and Malloc from STRAM
Reference = F030
Magic 4 +Xcontrol
============================================
GEM Dialog Box: 1.680 232%
VDI Text: 0.755 507%
VDI Text Effects: 2.425 342%
VDI Small Text: 1.270 335%
VDI Graphics: 4.530 204%
GEM Window: 3.965 38%
Integer Division: 3.155 97%
Float Math: 6.205 86%
RAM Access: 2.540 86%
ROM Access: 2.540 91%
Blitting: 7.710 14%
VDI Scroll: 4.295 66%
Justified Text: 3.460 104%
VDI Enquire: 0.860 200%
============================================
Average: 171%
Graphics: 204%
CPU: 90%GEM Bench v3.28c ½ Ofir Gal 28.9.93
============================================
Falcon 030 TOS 3.00, MiNT not present
Blitter Disabled, NVDI 3.01 present
Video Mode = 640 * 480 * 16 Colours
FPU not present
Run and Malloc from STRAM
Reference = F030
nemsis/magic/xcontrol/nvdi 3
============================================
GEM Dialog Box: 1.035 376%
VDI Text: 0.470 815%
VDI Text Effects: 1.530 542%
VDI Small Text: 0.795 535%
VDI Graphics: 2.830 327%
GEM Window: 1.955 78%
Integer Division: 2.080 148%
Float Math: 3.830 139%
RAM Access: 1.575 139%
ROM Access: 1.575 147%
Blitting: 4.955 23%
VDI Scroll: 2.645 107%
Justified Text: 2.145 168%
VDI Enquire: 0.510 337%
============================================
Average: 277%
Graphics: 330%
CPU: 143%GEM Bench v3.28c ½ Ofir Gal 28.9.93
============================================
Falcon 030 TOS 3.00, MiNT not present
Blitter Disabled, NVDI 3.01 present
Video Mode = 640 * 480 * 256 Colours
FPU not present
Run and Malloc from STRAM
Reference = F030
magic 4 + xcontrol
============================================
GEM Dialog Box: 3.215 121%
VDI Text: 1.190 322%
VDI Text Effects: 4.130 200%
VDI Small Text: 1.640 259%
VDI Graphics: 7.705 120%
GEM Window: 7.815 19%
Integer Division: 3.165 97%
Float Math: 7.960 67%
RAM Access: 3.200 68%
ROM Access: 3.200 72%
Blitting: 20.825 5%
VDI Scroll: 10.900 26%
Justified Text: 6.415 56%
VDI Enquire: 1.075 160%
============================================
Average: 113%
Graphics: 128%
CPU: 76%GEM Bench v3.28c ½ Ofir Gal 28.9.93
============================================
Falcon 030 TOS 3.00, MiNT not present
Blitter Disabled, NVDI 3.01 present
Video Mode = 640 * 480 * 256 Colours
FPU not present
Run and Malloc from STRAM
Reference = F030
nemesis/xcontrol/magic/nvdi
============================================
GEM Dialog Box: 1.800 216%
VDI Text: 0.675 568%
VDI Text Effects: 2.395 346%
VDI Small Text: 0.935 455%
VDI Graphics: 4.340 213%
GEM Window: 3.645 41%
Integer Division: 2.080 148%
Float Math: 4.440 120%
RAM Access: 1.750 125%
ROM Access: 1.755 132%
Blitting: 11.845 9%
VDI Scroll: 5.955 47%
Justified Text: 3.580 101%
VDI Enquire: 0.615 279%
============================================
Average: 200%
Graphics: 227%
CPU: 131%
Tests in 16 colours at 640*480 on SVGA monitor. 16 mb FalconMy tests.
HiSoft Basic, Compile a 117K program to RAM.
Spreadsheet Load and calculate a 443K spreadsheet in Kspread
Recalculate a 443K spreadsheet in Kspread.
Trueimage Load and display a 796K IFF image.
Rotator. Display a 40 level ROT file.
Papyrus. Scroll through 10 pages of text.
CAB Load and display the Apex Alpha page from Atariphile 4.
JPG viewer Load and display a 145K image using the Apex viewer.
All font caches etc flushed before each test.16 colours bare system Magic 4/NVDI 3/Xcontrol bare/nemesis magic/NVDI/nemesis/Xc
Compile Hbasic 72.94 secs 75.2 secs 45.03 46.3
spreadsheet load/calc 1:19 1:15 54 33
spreadsheet calc 33 secs 33 21 20
Trueimage load/display 1:35 1:33 1:05 1:05
Rotator Test Rot n/a 22 n/a 14
Papyrus scroll 10 pages n/a 1:06 n/a 39
CAB Alpha Page 15 15 10 9256 colours bare system MagiC 4/NVDI 3/Xcontrol bare/nemesis magic/NVDI/nemesis/Xc
Compile Hbasic 93.38 secs 92.23 secs 52.12 52.44
spreadsheet load/calc 1:41 1:35 1:01 56
spreadsheet calc 41 secs 43 23 24
Trueimage load/display 1:43 1:37 1:06 1:06
Rotator Test Rot n/a 29 n/a 17
Papyrus scroll 10 pages n/a 2:09 n/a 1:04
Cab Alpha page 27 27 secs 16 16
Truecolour 40 col/double on Bare system Nemesis
trueimage load/display 1:37 1:02
jpg viewer load/display 15 secs 10
This test was done for comparison reasons and because it can't be done on a standard Falcon.
640*480 truecolour Nemsis+nvdi+Magic+Xcontol
hbasic 79.21
spreadsheet/load 1:20
calc 36
Trueimage n/a
Rotator 26
Papyrus 3:20
Cab 10
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