New 68030 accelerators for A1200

[Schoenfeld]

The ACA1233-40 has been out of stock for a while now, but there are two new top models with 68030 processors, full MMU and 128MByte memory available as limited editions: The ACA1232 with 50MHz and the ACA1233 with 55.55MHz. Both cards use a new SD-Ram controller that was developed specifically for the higher-speed versions of these accelerators. In addition to that, chipram access speed has been optimized.

Please note that these limited editions are only available in very small quantity. We have therefore set an order limit of one per customer.

[tassel]

Wish I could afford this. it is a fantastic accelerator card . keep the hardware come . you make me bankrupt with all you hardware

[Amicol]

Originally Posted by tassel

Wish I could afford this. it is a fantastic accelerator card . keep the hardware come . you make me bankrupt with all you hardware

Same here, but I can't risk robbing another bank

My 060 accelerator was only slightly more expensive...

[spudje]

Will they work on Amiga Reloaded?

[eXeler0]

@Schoenfeldt have you ever accessed your site from an Android phone? AFAIK Its broken...

[Hodor]

300€ it´s a bit far from my budget. They are pretty cards otherwise.

[crazyc]

I somewhat agree about price but have you noticed what B1230s have been going for on ebay? For old cards with no warranty and missing some of the improvements in the new cards?

I am a Blizzard fan personally but prices have gone a bit nuts in the last year..

[kolla]

If it was with 68882, I would buy one, or if I can easily move the FPU from my Blizzard 1230III. Kinda tedious with these "very close to what I want" products, why must it be so insanely difficult to get a fully functional new CPU/MMU/FPU card with reasonable ammounts of RAM, something that actually is an upgrade from old Blizzard cards

[Marmes]

Why are they so expensive? Comparing with what was sold in the beggining of this year? what are the diferences? Appart from the 15.5 Mhz increase?
Does it come with chocolate?

[TjLaZer]

Supply/demand

[McTrinsic]

Its the guarantee to work as specified. Parts are pushed to the limit.

[Yulquen74]

got mine last week. looking forward to test it.

[Schoenfeld]

Originally Posted by Marmes

Why are they so expensive? Comparing with what was sold in the beggining of this year? what are the diferences? Appart from the 15.5 Mhz increase?

The SD-Ram controller is the main development of this CPU card, and that had to be developed "from scratch" for these higher-clocked cards. This development must be paid for with a tiny amount of cards. Further, the 55.55MHz versions went through a burn-in test that the 50MHz cards don't need to pass.

Cheaper cards don't seem possible for me at this point. I don't have any trustworthy source of CPUs.

Originally Posted by Marmes

Does it come with chocolate?

No, but it comes with warranty :-)

Jens

[spudje]

Jens, will these cards work with Amiga Reloaded?

[Schoenfeld]

Originally Posted by spudje

Jens, will these cards work with Amiga Reloaded?

Yes, they will.

Jens

Jens,

I'm interested in learning more about the SD-RAM controller. How is this different from past methods? What benefit does this have now? And is this something that you will be utilizing in future accelerators as well? Thanks, I don't have a need for one of these cards specifically at this time but that bit of information has piqued my interest.

Just ordered one, order ID 10000 at icomp.de (hopefully I get a chocolate for that ).

Will use it on my 1D.4 for now, but primarily will be for an Amiga Reloaded when released (thanks Jens for creating such things, love my C64 Reloaded).

[Schoenfeld]

Originally Posted by esc

I'm interested in learning more about the SD-RAM controller. How is this different from past methods?

Previously, the SD-Ram was clocked at twice the CPU speed. This would have required 100MHz ram clock, which is instable with the 10ns CPLDs. Further, at 100MHz, the setup and hold times of the old 68030 CPU cannot be met: 4.5ns setup before clock and 7.5ns hold after clock were only met with a trick on the 40MHz cards, but can't be met at 100MHz ram clock using the current ACA1232/1233 wiring.

The new controller works at the same speed as the CPU clock - that's the main difference.

Originally Posted by esc

What benefit does this have now?

It works reliably :-) Seriously, there are a few people who took the ACA1232 and overclocked it to 100MHz system clock, resulting in 50MHz CPU clock. Such a card is pretty fast (faster than the new cards I'm currently offering), but it's instable - it crashes after a few minutes warm-up time. Most of the customers who did that have sent me mails about going back to 80MHz system clock, which is the highest stable clock with the previous design.

Originally Posted by esc

And is this something that you will be utilizing in future accelerators as well?

Kind of. The next step would be to work with faster CPLDs (or an FPGA) and have another go at 100MHz (or more) system clock. The whole magic is in generating the right clock phases and reading the SD-Ram datasheets between the lines :-)

Originally Posted by Bester

Just ordered one, order ID 10000 at icomp.de (hopefully I get a chocolate for that ).

Yep, seen the order - thanks. I think there is one "please pardon the inconvenience"-chocolate left from the C64 Reloaded update-round (that was before you got yours).

Jens

That is an excellent explanation and perfect responses to my questions. Maybe I'll order one as a just-in-case item. (just-in-case I need to buy another a1200 to use with this new accelerator!) Thanks

[eXeler0]

@Schoenfeldt I'm always impressed when new hardware comes out for the classic Amiga.
However, there is one thing I've wondered about, (and likely it has been asked numerous times before, but cant find the answer right now).
What is the main reason for not producing a 040 card? AFAIK 040 chips are easily obtainable and prices are reasonable.. (Heck, I have one lying around at home that Im not using).
(It could use the same "unlock system" as used on ACA1221?)
I have a vague memory of an argument that e.g. a 060 card would simply be too expensive, but seeing 030 cards @ €400 makes me question whether it would be possible to produce a 040 at that price?