Is it necessary to upgrade the RAM in my 600XL?

[pollyisagoodbird]

I've seen some topics on upgrading the RAM in a 600XL, and by that, I'm assuming it turns the computer into an 800XL. Since I am using my 600XL for gaming, is there any point in doing so? Will games run faster / better on an 800XL than they would on a 600XL?

[Martin72]

A standard Atari 600XL has 16k RAM memory. I you only want to play the 800 and XL game cartridges the 16k memory is sufficient.

But If you want to play a lot of 800XE cartridges or you want to play games from disk then it is recommended that you have 64k memory. It' s just more memory, it doesn't speed up your Atari!

You can increase the standard memory of the 600XL to 64 k with the Atari 1064 memory expansion module or with a modification of 2 memory chips and some wires inside the 600XL.

Hereby a link for more information about the 1064 module: http://www.atarimuseum.com/computers/8BITS/XL/xlperipherals/1064.html

The last option you need some technical background and a soldering station, also a link for a description: http://atrey.karlin.mff.cuni.cz/~pavel/atari/600xl64Ka.html.

Edited March 1, 2019 by Martin72

[+slx]

There are a lot of games that require more than 16K and a few (mostly newer) that require more than 64K

[kiwilove]

Your choice of high quality games is extremely limited when you have only 16K of memory available - as you are cartridge based. Which is fine if you are happy to purchase all the cartridges available - but there are 32K and 48K/64K games which will be your worth while to spend time on.

Back in the day - you would get the extra memory fitted first, and go for the disk drive option - to give you access to the disk only games and fast loading times.

 

Nowadays you can bypass the disk drive altogether and go for a flash cart instead. There is a guide to them in the forums somewhere. I've only got the Atarimax carts with it's programmer so you can pick and choose what games to put onto a cart in compiliations. These carts are rewritable many times over (using a laptop PC or whatever) - other more recent carts use SDcards - but may not support the bank switching as in the Atarimax cartridge system? It's easy to get a hold of someone else's compiliations to instantly build up a library or sample the most popularly played games.

I can imagine it's the easiest and less expensive way to play most of the games available and that buying individual carts is really only for the dedicated collectors out there.

 

It is a big wide world out there - of games, demos, utilities and what have you ...

 

Harvey

[Mathy]

Hello pollyisagoodbird

 

You can find a description of the upgrade on my Special Stuff Page.

 

Sincerely

 

Mathy

[shoestring]

Just to note in case you're looking at memory upgrades.

 

With an Antonia 4MB board. There is no need to upgrade the internal memory to 64kb first. Everything is handled by the Antonia.