Oh, I miss mine terribly. But it didn't get used and without the dual-sync monitor (it broke back in about 2001) the best place for it was the local museum where it could give up its parts to keep their pristine one working. But that card might have changed my mind!
This has been nothing but invaluable. I think the original guide was taken down so I've just upgraded my MegaPC (see my channel) following nothing but this guide. Looks like it's working a treat. Thanks for the awesome video
It's cool, but not terribly cheap: "price for each MegaCard shipped via registered airmail is 210eur price for the optional X3GS MIDI wavetable daughterboard is 60eur (can only be bought with a MegaCard) price for the optional MPC010 PCMIDI expansion is 70eur (can only be bought with a MegaCard)" Euro value is currently very similar to USD.
I just discovered this channel and I'm hooked. My first job out of College was working at Amstrad Action magazine as a staff writer. My job included writing reviews, news, previews, features and worst of all - entering, debugging and curating BASIC user-submitted games, demos and software. we had to do a stunning amount of that stuff manually. I already knew BASIC from school and home tinkering, but I probably learned more about coding troubleshooting typos (it was ALWAYS a syntax error...) in the submissions as we tested the code before publishing. I met a lot of amazing folks that I stay in touch with to this day. And I still work in video games, albeit in the US.
Great video! When the monitor shows 59Hz, that's almost correct! It's likely running at 59.3Hz. When you switch any PAL Megadrive to "60Hz", it's not running at exactly 60Hz, it runs a touch slower than an actual NTSC Megadrive runs. The crystal on the NTSC Genesis is different, and when divided gives a precise 60Hz (actually 59.9 I think). So it's 0.6hz slower than it should be :o)
@@rustymixer2886 The 59.1 comes from the Megadrive. ie. the monitor is displaying 59.1, because the Megadrive is outputting 59.1. Some games may only render 30, 50, 60 fps, but it's outputting a fixed 59.1 (or 50 in PAL).
Wow! I'm truly amazed at the quality of the picture through that monitor. Sharp and crisp with vibrant colours to boot making the mega pc a more viable option. One of the best looking images of seen for a megadrive. Great video!
This card is so much better than my solution, an ISA PCMCIA adaptor with dual slots. 1 for network and the other for either a CD drive or If I ever can get one a PCMCIA Audio card
I had one of these in the 90’s and it was amazing. I remember playing shining force 2 on the sega and Ultima 8, Command and Conquer and Dune on the PC. If only teenage me would have known how rare and expensive these would become! It’s been a proper nostalgia trip seeing you restore and upgrade this system. Wonderful to know it’s protected for future generations to see what computers of this era were like. Great job. I just checked and to buy one in New Zealand (where is now live, having emigrated from the uk) will cost me the price of a small car so I will have to make do watching these for now. Hope to see more in the future.
My first computer was the Amstrad CPC 464 featured 64 KB RAM and an internal cassette deck. Those were good days I still have the assembly language cartridge 😃
One of the coolest computers I've ever seen. Being from US, didnt see these around as a kid........they are really cool though. Glad to see its still working so well and love the update.
Nice of Alan to come do some voice work. I like your joke, for most of my life I was scarcely aware there was such a thing as PAL. ^_^ Pretty cool that even the more obscure hardware models can receive mods, what an age. Would have loved having one of these in the 90s as I was playing a lot of GEN/MD and just starting to try out DOS games then. The first time I saw this it seemed goofy but now I can appreciate the benefits of it. :) I love the 6-button gamepad but can't say I didn't adapt easily to 3-button SF2 quickly, actually a fairly intuitive design the 3Punch/3Kick toggle. People praise the SNES endlessly but it's actually hard to work the L-button in combination with the D-pad in SF2 ijs.
I’m hugely jealous. What a phenomenal setup. I’m going to add this to my wish list of stuff my wife would roll her eyes at if I ever managed to secure one. Brilliant stuff gentlemen.
That‘s incredible. Owning one without the orginal monitor i helped myself by using a Siemens FD210 All in one PC which btw. works as TV too. It can handle the 15khz BUT of course is huge. In fact i got three of these monsters just to be able to use my amstrad for ever. I will get this board. Many many thanks for this video and … actually even youtube for proposing it to me. ;-) Best regards from germany and you all have a healthy and merry christmas
Great video. I use to own an Amstrad Mega PC, but threw it out because it didn't work. I've just started my retro gaming collection so seriously regret doing so. Amazing to see one of these systems back up and running..
That's a really nice setup with the Mega Card! I wanted a Mega PC back in the 90's when I was in my teens, it wasn't really ever an option though due to cost etc. I've been looking for a 'sensibly priced' one for quite a while now (few years at least) but they always seem to go for very good money no matter what state they're in (or I always manage to miss bidding on one on eBay). I've got a monitor lined up ready - an Acorn AKF multisync crt - if I ever get one without a monitor, so the scandoubler side of the Mega Card wouldn't really be needed if I bought one but all the other features are definitely very nice to have!
I have this exact model of speakers still in daily use! They are hooked up to my workshop PC, perfectly good for podcasts, TH-cam videos and or a bit of background music. Certainly not _great_ speakers - but not as bad as one would expect. :)
Just watching a few of your videos. Love it, takes me back to being a kid. Love theses old computers. Anyway awesome stuff and very well edited and made videos 👍😊💻💾
Interesting how it's a one-button mod, most region mods for the MD/Genesis have two switches, one to switch the region and one to switch the refresh rate, Japan/West and 50/60hz. Games like Streets of Rage would detect being in Japanese mode and display the "Bare Knuckle" title instead.
Awesome to see the Mega PC get an upgrade! I would be all over that if I visited the cave and saw it out- especially now that it's 60hz! ^-^ Nice to see Mark in good spirits also and I hope recovery from the recent fire is going as smoothly as possible for him.
Neil that was awesome. Way to upgrade that Amstrad to even more greatness! The Mega Drive / Genesis (to me) system is my favorite console of all time. With that said I have recently discovered the Amstrad library of games via emulation recently (first time trying out the Amstrad ever) and I absolutely fell in love with the computer. I am looking for a way to expand my new Amstrad love and it sounds like back in the day this would have been the best computer I could have possibly bought. WOW, I bet these go for a solid fortune now. I need an Amstrad in my life I think! Thanks for this video, very very cool upgrades!
After watching this video it really makes me want to try and import one of these and upgrade it with a Mega Card. Definitely on my radar to add to my collection. Cheers! 👍👍
and people wonder why i use a Trinitron PC monitor for my retro gaming :) What an amazing result and gorgeous machine, one that i'm sure most of us drooled over as kids back in the day when it appeared in our favourite mags. That add on card though, what a beauty that is.
Hi Neil, the NTSC standard is not a perfect 60Hz, and with the broadcast colour signal haphazardly crammed in for backwards compatibility reasons, the picture on most NTSC sets were a slightly iffy - PAL was a later standard with the colour signal already future proofed, and whilst slower in framerate always reproduced the picture correctly. It also had the added advantage of being close (divided by 2) to the framerate of cinema. Movies on tape were pushed to 25fps (hence why your PAL VHS movie might be slight 'shorter' than your cinema movie.)
Not only did I have a pair of speakers exactly like these, it was my very first set ever in fact. I got them for 15 EUR or so from my allowance as a smol kiddo :D
Considering the rest of the upgrades, I would also want to fit something like a 486 overdrive chip to enhance the PC side of this, but I don't know if that is even possible for such a basic PC of this era.
@@fnjesusfreak believe it or not, that's exactly what Amstrad planned to do with the Mega Plus, which was never sold. You can actually replace the Mega PC motherboard with one from another Amstrad model that has a 486SLC, it's a drop-in replacement.
Mortal Kombat with PASSPORT.MID or Prince of Persia with Speedball II? Hmm... can't quite decide. :) This is a great upgrade. Want a Mega PC even more now. :)
There is the expansion slot on the front of the Mega PC card but I can't see a way of adding either thing in a way that would be neat. The solution would perhaps be the Terraonion Mega SD cart which replicated the CD in FPGA
@@davebishopcomedy That was an entirely different beast that was a module that plugged into the laserdisc player itself. There is no way to upgrade a normal genesis to this functionality let alone the amstrad. Currently the only way to play those titles is with emulation.
This would make a decent card for even normal PC's without the megadrive. Some of its functionality would go to waste, but not entirely useless. It saves at least 2 isa slots. AND this card would also be fantastic with an amiga with its built in scan doubler and for when you have a bridgeboard.
I remember seeing the Amstrad mega PC at dixons in Wales when i was there on internship. I really wanted one, but you couldn’t buy them in the Netherlands, and they where to expensive.
@@RMCRetro np. BIOS extensions are neat, people sometimes use old network cards to load them because they have a slot for a ROM chip, typically meant to add in a boot strapping solution that directs the network card to download boot data, but you can also use the slot to load in the XT-IDE bios for systems that maybe do already have IDE support but not supporting the spec properly, you'd then disable the built in IDE support.
First!
You can find out more about this upgrade at The Mega Card website: mega-pc.eu
Thanks for watching!
Neil - RMC
Totally cheating claiming first as the channel creater lol
Oh, I miss mine terribly. But it didn't get used and without the dual-sync monitor (it broke back in about 2001) the best place for it was the local museum where it could give up its parts to keep their pristine one working. But that card might have changed my mind!
To turn the blood on with mortal combat press ABACABB on the grey screen after the probe logo.
Yes Alan get back!
This has been nothing but invaluable. I think the original guide was taken down so I've just upgraded my MegaPC (see my channel) following nothing but this guide. Looks like it's working a treat. Thanks for the awesome video
The fact that someone designed a card for one of the rarest PCs in the world is quite fantastic.
Precisely this. People are good.
I agree. Truly a work of passion. Some might not understand, but we do. 🙂 I like knowing there are people in the wold doing this kind of work.
It's cool, but not terribly cheap:
"price for each MegaCard shipped via registered airmail is 210eur
price for the optional X3GS MIDI wavetable daughterboard is 60eur
(can only be bought with a MegaCard)
price for the optional MPC010 PCMIDI expansion is 70eur
(can only be bought with a MegaCard)"
Euro value is currently very similar to USD.
I just discovered this channel and I'm hooked. My first job out of College was working at Amstrad Action magazine as a staff writer. My job included writing reviews, news, previews, features and worst of all - entering, debugging and curating BASIC user-submitted games, demos and software. we had to do a stunning amount of that stuff manually. I already knew BASIC from school and home tinkering, but I probably learned more about coding troubleshooting typos (it was ALWAYS a syntax error...) in the submissions as we tested the code before publishing.
I met a lot of amazing folks that I stay in touch with to this day. And I still work in video games, albeit in the US.
Great video! When the monitor shows 59Hz, that's almost correct! It's likely running at 59.3Hz. When you switch any PAL Megadrive to "60Hz", it's not running at exactly 60Hz, it runs a touch slower than an actual NTSC Megadrive runs. The crystal on the NTSC Genesis is different, and when divided gives a precise 60Hz (actually 59.9 I think). So it's 0.6hz slower than it should be :o)
Yep! You can switch out the oscillator if you want a 100% NTSC machine, or you can put a VFO in its place and switch between the two speeds
Interesting, I just figured it was rounding off the drop frame rate
Kega says 59.2
Is it reading info of 59.2 from monitor or software game info? Some games are 30 fps some 60
@@rustymixer2886 The 59.1 comes from the Megadrive. ie. the monitor is displaying 59.1, because the Megadrive is outputting 59.1. Some games may only render 30, 50, 60 fps, but it's outputting a fixed 59.1 (or 50 in PAL).
Wow! I'm truly amazed at the quality of the picture through that monitor. Sharp and crisp with vibrant colours to boot making the mega pc a more viable option. One of the best looking images of seen for a megadrive. Great video!
I used to own a Mega PC. Nothing is as satisfying as the feeling when that slide on the front clicks into place.
Spot the posh boy 😜
Playing Mortal Kombat with the midi in the background, brilliant :) it looks fantastic on that monitor.
Ohhhh yes! I have one of these. Looking forward to watching this!!! Mine has been upgraided with a 486SX board from another Amstrad PC
This card is so much better than my solution, an ISA PCMCIA adaptor with dual slots. 1 for network and the other for either a CD drive or If I ever can get one a PCMCIA Audio card
Nice
The zoomed in CRT screen made me instant melancholic.
I had one of these in the 90’s and it was amazing. I remember playing shining force 2 on the sega and Ultima 8, Command and Conquer and Dune on the PC. If only teenage me would have known how rare and expensive these would become! It’s been a proper nostalgia trip seeing you restore and upgrade this system. Wonderful to know it’s protected for future generations to see what computers of this era were like. Great job. I just checked and to buy one in New Zealand (where is now live, having emigrated from the uk) will cost me the price of a small car so I will have to make do watching these for now. Hope to see more in the future.
My first computer was the Amstrad CPC 464 featured 64 KB RAM and an internal cassette deck. Those were good days
I still have the assembly language cartridge 😃
That is really cool that this exists! I just received my Orpheus sound card myself a few months ago.
As the only TH-camr that builds PC's in a sport coat, I love your videos.
That is probably the most unique computer I've ever seen- a console and PC in one is so cool.
FM Towns... A console PC... lol
One of the coolest computers I've ever seen. Being from US, didnt see these around as a kid........they are really cool though. Glad to see its still working so well and love the update.
Always wanted one of these as a kid. Can you imagine having a PC that also plays games? A man can dream.
Nice of Alan to come do some voice work. I like your joke, for most of my life I was scarcely aware there was such a thing as PAL. ^_^ Pretty cool that even the more obscure hardware models can receive mods, what an age.
Would have loved having one of these in the 90s as I was playing a lot of GEN/MD and just starting to try out DOS games then. The first time I saw this it seemed goofy but now I can appreciate the benefits of it. :)
I love the 6-button gamepad but can't say I didn't adapt easily to 3-button SF2 quickly, actually a fairly intuitive design the 3Punch/3Kick toggle. People praise the SNES endlessly but it's actually hard to work the L-button in combination with the D-pad in SF2 ijs.
I threw mine away at the local dump about 15 years ago after I found it in my loft. Gutted
My very first computer was an Amstrad Mega PC in 1993, I loved that machine and would really love another one.
I’m hugely jealous. What a phenomenal setup. I’m going to add this to my wish list of stuff my wife would roll her eyes at if I ever managed to secure one. Brilliant stuff gentlemen.
That‘s incredible. Owning one without the orginal monitor i helped myself by using a Siemens FD210 All in one PC which btw. works as TV too. It can handle the 15khz BUT of course is huge. In fact i got three of these monsters just to be able to use my amstrad for ever. I will get this board.
Many many thanks for this video and … actually even youtube for proposing it to me. ;-)
Best regards from germany and you all have a healthy and merry christmas
Great video. I use to own an Amstrad Mega PC, but threw it out because it didn't work. I've just started my retro gaming collection so seriously regret doing so. Amazing to see one of these systems back up and running..
A very interesting upgrade, I wanted a Mega PC when I was younger but never got to play on one.
Never knew anything like this existed at all. Good stuff
I'm glad you commented on how niche this is.
I want to play every megadrive game on it please.
I drooled over the Mega PC in Tandy back in the day.
That's a really nice setup with the Mega Card! I wanted a Mega PC back in the 90's when I was in my teens, it wasn't really ever an option though due to cost etc. I've been looking for a 'sensibly priced' one for quite a while now (few years at least) but they always seem to go for very good money no matter what state they're in (or I always manage to miss bidding on one on eBay). I've got a monitor lined up ready - an Acorn AKF multisync crt - if I ever get one without a monitor, so the scandoubler side of the Mega Card wouldn't really be needed if I bought one but all the other features are definitely very nice to have!
I have this exact model of speakers still in daily use! They are hooked up to my workshop PC, perfectly good for podcasts, TH-cam videos and or a bit of background music. Certainly not _great_ speakers - but not as bad as one would expect. :)
That's an awesome upgrade. SB compatibility is a must and it's really cool to get network booting also.
Great upgrade, still searching for a Mega PC for myself and I'll definitely be getting this upgrade if I ever find one!
The integrated screw holders in the table are a great idea
Awesome work tweaking the graphics and sound! Such a great mod. Nice work, Neil.
Just watching a few of your videos. Love it, takes me back to being a kid. Love theses old computers. Anyway awesome stuff and very well edited and made videos 👍😊💻💾
Interesting how it's a one-button mod, most region mods for the MD/Genesis have two switches, one to switch the region and one to switch the refresh rate, Japan/West and 50/60hz. Games like Streets of Rage would detect being in Japanese mode and display the "Bare Knuckle" title instead.
Awesome to see the Mega PC get an upgrade! I would be all over that if I visited the cave and saw it out- especially now that it's 60hz! ^-^
Nice to see Mark in good spirits also and I hope recovery from the recent fire is going as smoothly as possible for him.
A huge upgrade! Makes the MegaPC so much more capable, usable and compatible. That monitor looks great, too.
The megaPC really needed to be equipped with an SLC cpu or even l2 cache for the SX to give it a bit more oomph, but it was built to a price.
The nostalgia I have for the Mega PC is unreal. still have mine in the loft, and it works..... sort of....
Always a treat when Alan drops by. 🤣
I remember lusting after the Mega PC in the Argos catalog back in the day, I wonder if anyone still has that old catalog laying about !?
Was so close to buying a megapc as a kid but I remember I could get a 486 for almost half the price! This brought back some memories!
Pretty sure I had the exact same decision to make, and made the same one as you.
Neil that was awesome. Way to upgrade that Amstrad to even more greatness! The Mega Drive / Genesis (to me) system is my favorite console of all time. With that said I have recently discovered the Amstrad library of games via emulation recently (first time trying out the Amstrad ever) and I absolutely fell in love with the computer. I am looking for a way to expand my new Amstrad love and it sounds like back in the day this would have been the best computer I could have possibly bought. WOW, I bet these go for a solid fortune now. I need an Amstrad in my life I think! Thanks for this video, very very cool upgrades!
Nice to see Alan back....I have kinda missed him ;)
After watching this video it really makes me want to try and import one of these and upgrade it with a Mega Card. Definitely on my radar to add to my collection. Cheers! 👍👍
@13:00 Love shinobi, ros and s3
I was unfamiliar with this system until watching this video. Cool little machine. Thanks for the video.
Those speakers might actually give you better sond than most people would have ever had on a megadrive experience.
and people wonder why i use a Trinitron PC monitor for my retro gaming :) What an amazing result and gorgeous machine, one that i'm sure most of us drooled over as kids back in the day when it appeared in our favourite mags. That add on card though, what a beauty that is.
Great to see Mark looking safe and well.
Wow, I'd never even heard of this Mega PC - what a great video.
This was my first ever PC! I even had the matching beige amstrad mega drive pad.
I can't wait to get to the cave! Hopefully in February or so for my 40th!
Now I know the meaning behind the baseball caps.
Making Amstrad Great Again
Oh man, hearing that original mk theme song just blasted me with a ton of memories. Those were good times.
Hi Neil, the NTSC standard is not a perfect 60Hz, and with the broadcast colour signal haphazardly crammed in for backwards compatibility reasons, the picture on most NTSC sets were a slightly iffy - PAL was a later standard with the colour signal already future proofed, and whilst slower in framerate always reproduced the picture correctly. It also had the added advantage of being close (divided by 2) to the framerate of cinema. Movies on tape were pushed to 25fps (hence why your PAL VHS movie might be slight 'shorter' than your cinema movie.)
Like to see the Swindon Computer Museum getting some love! Big up the Swindon posse.
Great to see one of these restored, such a rare machine
I thumbs up EVERY RMC video before it starts playing, because I know it will be quality!
Second!
For those old enough to remember...
Sega does what Nintendon't
Not only did I have a pair of speakers exactly like these, it was my very first set ever in fact. I got them for 15 EUR or so from my allowance as a smol kiddo :D
Considering the rest of the upgrades, I would also want to fit something like a 486 overdrive chip to enhance the PC side of this, but I don't know if that is even possible for such a basic PC of this era.
It is, there are several Japanese PC-98 CPU upgrades for the 386SX and 486SLC.
Could probably use a Cyrix 486SLC to kindasorta upgrade it.
@@fnjesusfreak believe it or not, that's exactly what Amstrad planned to do with the Mega Plus, which was never sold. You can actually replace the Mega PC motherboard with one from another Amstrad model that has a 486SLC, it's a drop-in replacement.
1992, now that's what you call a recent game! only came out last week!
it would be such a great project to network boot all vintage PCs on display from a central server
Awesome setup. The monitor let's everything shine.
Alan! Love to see this in action again.
This is so very cool. Definitely want one of these.
My goodness - I wanted one of these so bad as a kid :)
Well that's a pretty exotic component, the computer itself is rare.
Mortal Kombat with PASSPORT.MID or Prince of Persia with Speedball II? Hmm... can't quite decide. :) This is a great upgrade. Want a Mega PC even more now. :)
I have to say, this actually looks like a fun project!!
Alan Sugar sounds like Boggins of adam & joe fame 😂
You've pretty much got the ultimate Sega Genesis now with that thing, minus Sega CD and 32x compatibility.
There is the expansion slot on the front of the Mega PC card but I can't see a way of adding either thing in a way that would be neat. The solution would perhaps be the Terraonion Mega SD cart which replicated the CD in FPGA
What about the mega laxer disc. Love to see that in this monster - megald I think they were called
@@RMCRetro 💥
@@davebishopcomedy That was an entirely different beast that was a module that plugged into the laserdisc player itself. There is no way to upgrade a normal genesis to this functionality let alone the amstrad. Currently the only way to play those titles is with emulation.
Now I want to see you play modern indie Mega Drive games on this thing, like Demons of Asteborg or Tanzer
Awesome job keropi!
WOW kept seeing this in magazines. Had a 464Plus , but as a kid wish I got this.
7:07 the room looks cosy!
Smegging amazing!!! I wish we had the option here in Canuckland!
0:03 - khm.. you mean Lord Sir Alan Sugar GTF back to your shelf? : ))))
This would make a decent card for even normal PC's without the megadrive. Some of its functionality would go to waste, but not entirely useless. It saves at least 2 isa slots. AND this card would also be fantastic with an amiga with its built in scan doubler and for when you have a bridgeboard.
Please do more videos on this setup
I remember seeing the Amstrad mega PC at dixons in Wales when i was there on internship. I really wanted one, but you couldn’t buy them in the Netherlands, and they where to expensive.
How's Mark getting on after the house fire?
Honestly if I could actually find one of these beauties I could definitely accept just having one Retro PC.
Loved watching these videos Neil. And as u say mega drive looks awesome on that monitor in 60hz
This is the best system out of the collection.
Keropi is the man!
This is amazing! I had no idea this PC existed.
Ooooh, I pilfed a Compaq keyboard like that from a previous job at the start of the millennium. Not the worst rubber dome thing out there :)
Great idea for a video as always Neil! hope you're well and have a good Christmas :)
Heh, love the Alan Sugar "salesman persona' bit :)
Like the fact that you can bypass the region lock.
I've always wanted one of these
Now this PC is perfect (for what it is).
Really decent arcade quality display. I am very impressed :-)
Some Mega Drive music sounds really nice at 50hz even if it wasn’t really meant to be played that slow so flick that switch from time to time!
Yes, I think Casino Night Zone sounds much better at 50hz.
So the XT-IDE "BIOS" is a BIOS extension, it doesn't replace the BIOS of the system, but it loads in after the main BIOS.
Thanks for clarifying that
@@RMCRetro np. BIOS extensions are neat, people sometimes use old network cards to load them because they have a slot for a ROM chip, typically meant to add in a boot strapping solution that directs the network card to download boot data, but you can also use the slot to load in the XT-IDE bios for systems that maybe do already have IDE support but not supporting the spec properly, you'd then disable the built in IDE support.
Excellent video. Really enjoyed it 👍
I would have sold my brother for one of those PCs back in the day
Nice Lord Alan Sugar cameo!
12:49 omg that was a game i beat over and over agen love me some saga shinobi
I would like to see how Sonic 2 two player versus mode looks on the line doubler as it uses an interlaced mode.