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Sound Blaster AWE32 ram ?

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First post, by Intel486dx33

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What is the best ram to use with this Sound Blaster AWE32 CT3600 sound card ?

EDO ?
FPM ?
60ns ?
2x8mb ?
2x16mb ?

The manual reads it supports 2 SIMMs and a total of 28mb. of memory ?

Reply 1 of 24, by jesolo

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The CT3600 uses 30-pin simm memory modules.
There are no EDO 30-pin simm memory modules.
Depending on what you can find, either 2x 8 MB or 2x 16 MB but, you cannot mix them.
Also, if you install 2x 16 MB (i.e., 32 MB), then you will still only have access to 28 MB RAM (this is just how the EMU8000 synthesis chip works).

Reply 2 of 24, by Intel486dx33

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Can you configure the amount of ram to use with software in the setup program ?

Reply 4 of 24, by chinny22

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Creative specified 80ns
I doubt you would notice any difference between 80 and 60 and it would only matter when loading the soundfont so just go with what you can get

Reply 5 of 24, by tpowell.ca

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with 60ns you'll be able to overclock your EMU8000 chip and gain some extra wavetable performance. 😵

I jest, of course.

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Reply 6 of 24, by Parts man

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tpowell.ca wrote:

with 60ns you'll be able to overclock your EMU8000 chip and gain some extra wavetable performance. 😵

I jest, of course.

Wouldn't overclocking the EMU8000 chip just make the sound play faster?

Reply 7 of 24, by dionb

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Also, that's no AWE32 😮

Thats a CT3600 Sound Blaster 32 (non-AWE), which is in fact a Sound Blaster AWE64 without any onboard RAM but with the SIMM slots.

Reply 8 of 24, by Intel486dx33

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dionb wrote:

Also, that's no AWE32 😮

Thats a CT3600 Sound Blaster 32 (non-AWE), which is in fact a Sound Blaster AWE64 without any onboard RAM but with the SIMM slots.

Oh, so does that mean it’s a digital card and not analog ?

Reply 9 of 24, by dionb

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Intel486dx33 wrote:
dionb wrote:

Also, that's no AWE32 😮

Thats a CT3600 Sound Blaster 32 (non-AWE), which is in fact a Sound Blaster AWE64 without any onboard RAM but with the SIMM slots.

Oh, so does that mean it’s a digital card and not analog ?

See the big connector on the bottom? That works with digital signals. The little connectors on the end do analog signals. As on any other sound card.

Reply 10 of 24, by Intel486dx33

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So if it’s not an Awe32, Then what driver should I use with this card ?

Reply 11 of 24, by Disruptor

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Intel486dx33 wrote:

What is the best ram to use with this Sound Blaster AWE32 CT3600 sound card ?
...
The manual reads it supports 2 SIMMs and a total of 28mb. of memory ?

There are no EDO 30 pin SIMMs.
Use plan 30 pin SIMMs.
Place 2x 1 MB or 2x 4 MB. That sizes are common.
Don't waste time looking for 16 MB 30 pin SIMMs.

Last edited by Disruptor on 2019-04-04, 21:09. Edited 1 time in total.

Reply 12 of 24, by Disruptor

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Intel486dx33 wrote:

So if it’s not an Awe32, Then what driver should I use with this card ?

You can use the AWE32 drivers. Most of them will use the wavetable, but not the AWE functions. Or they have auto detection.
If you face problems, use SB16 drivers instead.

Reply 13 of 24, by cyclone3d

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dionb wrote:

Also, that's no AWE32 😮

Thats a CT3600 Sound Blaster 32 (non-AWE), which is in fact a Sound Blaster AWE64 without any onboard RAM but with the SIMM slots.

You are thinking of the CT3670

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Reply 14 of 24, by dionb

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cyclone3d wrote:
dionb wrote:

Also, that's no AWE32 😮

Thats a CT3600 Sound Blaster 32 (non-AWE), which is in fact a Sound Blaster AWE64 without any onboard RAM but with the SIMM slots.

You are thinking of the CT3670

Nope, CT3600 as well:

Sound Blaster 32 Model Numbers

The following model numbers were assigned to the Sound Blaster 32:

CT36**: CT3600, CT3604, CT3605, CT3620, CT3640, CT3670, CT3671, CT3672, CT3681, CT3690

The comparable AWE32 was the CT3601.

Reply 15 of 24, by cyclone3d

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dionb wrote:
Nope, CT3600 as well: […]
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cyclone3d wrote:
dionb wrote:

Also, that's no AWE32 😮

Thats a CT3600 Sound Blaster 32 (non-AWE), which is in fact a Sound Blaster AWE64 without any onboard RAM but with the SIMM slots.

You are thinking of the CT3670

Nope, CT3600 as well:

Sound Blaster 32 Model Numbers

The following model numbers were assigned to the Sound Blaster 32:

CT36**: CT3600, CT3604, CT3605, CT3620, CT3640, CT3670, CT3671, CT3672, CT3681, CT3690

The comparable AWE32 was the CT3601.

The CT3600 has the EMU8000 chip. The CT3670 is the SB32 that has the AWE chip which is identical to the one on the AWE64 cards.

You can also flash the CT3670 with the AWE64 firmware if you want to disable the IDE port.

I have:
CT3600 (some came with no onboard RAM and some came with 512KB just like the AWE32 cards - I have both variations)
CT3620
CT3670

I also have the full range of all the AWE32 cards that have RAM slots as well as all models of the ISA AWE64.

I can post pics showing that the CT3600s are EMU8000 while the CT3670s are AWE64 if you really need me to... but pics are readily available.

I'm not even sure how this is an argument at all. It is really not up for debate at all.

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Reply 16 of 24, by jesolo

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Intel486dx33 wrote:

So if it’s not an Awe32, Then what driver should I use with this card ?

You can use any drivers that came with an AWE32 but, you'll find newer versions of Aweutil if you use an AWE64 driver pack (check out Vogonsdrivers).

Reply 17 of 24, by tayyare

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Disruptor wrote:

...Don't waste time looking for 16 MB 30 pin SIMMs.

Why not? They are even available as new:

https://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/30PS16MB/

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Reply 18 of 24, by jesolo

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cyclone3d wrote:
The CT3600 has the EMU8000 chip. The CT3670 is the SB32 that has the AWE chip which is identical to the one on the AWE64 cards. […]
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The CT3600 has the EMU8000 chip. The CT3670 is the SB32 that has the AWE chip which is identical to the one on the AWE64 cards.

You can also flash the CT3670 with the AWE64 firmware if you want to disable the IDE port.

I have:
CT3600 (some came with no onboard RAM and some came with 512KB just like the AWE32 cards - I have both variations)
CT3620
CT3670

I also have the full range of all the AWE32 cards that have RAM slots as well as all models of the ISA AWE64.

I can post pics showing that the CT3600s are EMU8000 while the CT3670s are AWE64 if you really need me to... but pics are readily available.

I'm not even sure how this is an argument at all. It is really not up for debate at all.

Actually, all "Advanced WaveEffects" cards (SB32, AWE32 and AWE64) has the EMU8000 synthesis chip on-board.

The CT3600 uses the CT2502 DSP chip which is a Vibra based chipset. I believe that this one does have Reverb, Chorus & Gain restored, wheras the earlier version (the CT2501, found on the CT3930), didn't have these functions available in the mixer utility

The C3670 utilises the CT8903 DSP chipset, which is the same chipset found on the AWE64.

Reply 19 of 24, by DjLc

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Hi,
I've found an old CT3670 in my attic: no matter wich SIMM modules i put on it, DIAGNOSE always report 524 288 bytes max (i've tried every combination with 1mb, 2mb, 4mb and 8mb modules).
FCCID on the back says SB32PNP45, another sitcker says Sound Blaster 32 Pnp.

Another odd behavior, under win9x, the system doesn't want to load the synthgm.sbk included with the drivers. (in pure DOS aweutil.exe /EM load the synthgm.sbk without issue)

Diagnose (v4.04) works fine under pure DOS 6.22 (synth and wavetable music with "512k" or no ram).

I don't know if the AWEFlsh tools from dell for flashing it to an AWE64 will solve this issue.

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