The Mediator from ELBOX is a PCI implementation that is still active today for connecting PCI devices in Amiga computers, allowing expansion of Amiga with all kinds of industry-standard hardware products like graphics, sound, network and USB PCI cards. PCI allows todays standards that are more affordable than the Zorro cards to be purchased. However, any Amiga 1200 should be built into a Tower as PCI cards uses more space.
The minimum hardware configuration is: Amiga 1200 in a tower case with a 4MB RAM expansion card. All of the Mediator PCI cards is compatible with all the major Amiga turbo card models.
Here are some of the PCI graphics cards that are working with MediatorPCI. It is all taken from ELBOX website:
| Radeon graphic cards | ||
| Radeon.card Mediator driver for the Picasso96 gfx system for all Mediator PCI models supports PCI graphic cards based on the following chipsets: | ||
| Chipset name | Vendor ID, Product ID | Engin. name |
| Mobility Radeon 9000 PRO Mobility Radeon 9200 Mobility Radeon 9200 Mobility Radeon 9200 Radeon 9200 PRO Radeon 9200 Radeon 9200 Radeon 9200 PRO Radeon 9200SE | [1002, 4C66] [1002, 5C63] & [1002, 5C43][1002, 5C61] [1002, 5C63][1002, 5960] & [1002, 5940][1002, 5961] & [1002, 5941][1002, 5962] & [1002, 5942] [1002, 5963] & [1002, 5943][1002, 5964] & [1002, 5D44] | RV250 M9+ RV280 M9+RV280 M9+RV280 M9+RV280-8XRV280LE-8XRV280LE-4X RV280-4XRV280-8X 64 |
| Vendor | Graphic Card Model | Notes |
| ATI Technologies Inc. | Radeon 9200 Mobility 128MB | tested |
| ATI Technologies Inc. | Radeon 9200 Mobility 64MB-128bit | tested |
| ATI Technologies Inc. | Radeon 9200 128MB | not reported |
| ATI Technologies Inc. | Radeon 9200 64MB | tested |
| ATI Technologies Inc. | Radeon 9250 | tested |
| Info-Tek Corp. | GeCube Radeon 9250 | not reported |
| Info-Tek Corp. | GeCube Radeon 9200SE | tested |
| Tul Corporation | PowerColor Radeon 9200 | not reported |
| Visiontek Products, LLC | Visiontek Radeon 9250 | not reported |
| Visiontek Products, LLC | Visiontek “Xtasy” 9200SE | not reported |
| Note: All above cards are supported in the Mediator PCI 1200 TX and SX models powered from an ATX power supply and 3V versions of Mediators for A3000 and A4000 Amiga computers. In other Mediator models only 5V versions of the Radeon 9200/9250 PCI gfx cards are supported. | ||
| Voodoo graphic cards | ||
| Voodoo.card Mediator driver for the Picasso96 gfx system for all Mediator models supports PCI graphic cards based on the following chipsets: | ||
| Chipset name | Vendor ID, Product ID | Engin. name |
| VSA-100 (Voodoo5, Voodoo4) | [121A, 0009] | Napalm |
| Voodoo3 | [121A, 0005] | Avenger |
| Voodoo Banshee | [121A, 0003] | Banshee |
| Vendor | Graphic Card Model | Notes |
| 3dfx Interactive, Inc. | Voodoo5 5500 64MB | tested |
| 3dfx Interactive, Inc. | Voodoo4 4500 32MB | tested |
| 3dfx Interactive, Inc. | Voodoo3 3500 16MB SDRAM | tested |
| 3dfx Interactive, Inc. | Voodoo3 3000 16MB SGRAM | tested |
| 3dfx Interactive, Inc. | Voodoo3 3000 16MB SDRAM | tested |
| 3dfx Interactive, Inc. | Voodoo3 2000 16MB SGRAM | tested |
| 3dfx Interactive, Inc. | Voodoo3 2000 16MB SDRAM | tested |
| 3dfx Interactive, Inc. | Voodoo Banshee 16MB | tested |
| Virge graphic cards | ||
| Virge.card Mediator driver for the Picasso96 gfx system for all Mediator models supports PCI graphic cards based on the following chipsets: | ||
| Chipset name | Vendor ID, Product ID | |
| S3 ViRGE DX 86C375 S3 ViRGE 86C325 | [5333, 8A01] [5333, 5631] | |
| Vendor | Graphic Card Model | Notes |
| S3/Perx/Protac/Britek | S3 ViRGE DX 86C375 4MB | tested |
| S3/Perx/Protac/Britek | S3 ViRGE DX 86C375 2MB | tested |
| S3/Perx/Protac/Dataexpert | S3 ViRGE 86C325 4MB | tested |
| S3/Perx/Protac/Dataexpert | S3 ViRGE 86C325 2MB | tested |
| Trio graphic cards | ||
| S3Trio64.card Mediator driver for the Picasso96 gfx system (see: 3rd party Mediator software) supports PCI graphic cards based on the following chipsets: | ||
| Chipset name | Vendor ID, Product ID | |
| 86C732 Trio 32 86C764/765 Trio 64/64V+ 86C764 Trio 32/64 86C767 Trio 64UV+ 86C775 Trio64V2/DX 86C617 Trio 64V2 DX/GX 86C765 86C765 Trio64V+ 86C765 Trio64V+ 86C765 Trio64V+ compatible 7699688 86C765 Trio64V+ 86C765 Trio64V+ compatible 86C765 Trio64V+ compatible 86C765 Trio64V+ compatible 86C765 Trio64V+ compatible 86C765 Trio64V+ compatible 86C765 Trio64V+ compatible | [5333, 8810] [5333, 8811] [5333, 8813] [5333, 8814] [5333, 8900] [5333, 8901] [5333, 8905] [5333, 8906] [5333, 8907] [5333, 8909] [5333, 890A] [5333, 890B] [5333, 890C] [5333, 890D] [5333, 890E] [5333, 890F] | |
| Vendor | Graphic Card Model | Notes |
| S3/Perx/Protac | S3 Trio32 86C732-P | tested |
Information about the latest versions of Mediator System Files and the latest driver versions for the supported PCI cards can be found here. All the files are coming with the Mediator Multimedia CD that you get when you purchase your MediatorPCI expansion. You can purchase Mediator Multimedia CD in the Elbox Online Store.
| If you want to receive the newest Mediator Multimedia CD files by e-mail as soon as they are released send ELBOX the registration e-mail following the instructions in the MM CD ReadMe Manual. |
| Starting from pci.library ver. 9.6b in Mediator PCI 1200TX working in the MMU mode the part of the Radeon and Voodoo gfx card memory can be added to the Amiga 1200 system memory (like in the A3000 and A4000 computers). You can use even 250 MB of the Radeon memory as regular Amiga memory! |
The best thing about having a graphics card inside your Amiga is that you free all of the Chip RAM to those application that demands a lot of MEM! This means that in most cases you can keep AmigaOS open on your monitor while playing Amiga game, seeing a demoscene production or use Deluxe Paint.
Using a graphics card with your Amiga is smart. Either its a low-end graphics card Amiga expansion, Zorro or PCI. As long there are drivers. Your Amiga computer will be given a new life.
