Shark G3/G4 PowerPC card for Amiga 1200, 3000, 4000 now available!?

Pyromania · 18 September 2002, 07:51

http://buy.elbox.com/cgibin/shop?inf...G&sid=500d207e

The most powerful PowerPC accelerator for Amiga 1200, 3000 and 4000 computers.

Features:
• PCI format motherboard
• PowerPC processor: 750CXe, 750FX or MPC7450
• FSB 133MHz
• 2 sockets for PC-133 SDRAM modules for up to 2GB
• The peak memory transfer rate up to 582MB/s
• One AGP x2 slot
• UDMA100 EIDE Controller - 2 channels
• AC97 Sound Subsystem
• USB2.0 host controller (optional)

Prices start from EUR 449.95 (depending on the processor version).

th4t1guy · 18 September 2002, 08:03

For that price it had better ship with 2gb of ram!

A few questions tho...

1) How can this card have a "peak memory transfer rate up to 582MB/s" when it connects to a mediator which has a "transfer rate up to 264MB/s"???

2) Do you think you'll be able to watch divx fullscreen WITH sound using this thing?

3) Is this just another computer that plugs into the amiga?

Miggy2TheMax · 18 September 2002, 09:43

Quote:

Originally posted by th4t1guy
For that price it had better ship with 2gb of ram!

A few questions tho...

1) How can this card have a "peak memory transfer rate up to 582MB/s" when it connects to a mediator which has a "transfer rate up to 264MB/s"???

2) Do you think you'll be able to watch divx fullscreen WITH sound using this thing?

3) Is this just another computer that plugs into the amiga?

1) It must be talking about memory access to memory that is on its own board eg the two PC133 SDRAM sockets.

2) if you buy a 700Mhz Cxe I cant see why not, assuming you have a graphics card ofcourse.

3) good question, but I hate to say it looks that way.... anybody else think differently?

18 September 2002, 09:47

Quote:

3) good question, but I hate to say it looks that way.... anybody else think differently?

It's better than putting an Amiga sticker on an abomination. This way you still have your Amiga AND additional power. SharkPPC is no less amiga than an 030 A1200 if you ask me.

But sometimes I play doom on the miggy, using the PPC processor, and the graphic card and the ram that are connected to it. I feel I'm just using the Amiga's Joystick and power supply this way!

blackcornflake · 18 September 2002, 12:43

Wow, finally!

I have been waiting for this beauty for a looong time. Wonder what 'Q4 2002' really means?

@Burseg, I agree, up to a point. I also think an Amiga with a PPC is still an Amiga, just one with lots more horsepower than CBM ever gave it. I don't think there's anything un-Amiga about adding third party expansions, or directly using the PPC chip - these expansions enhance the meega; I don't think they supplant anything about its essence.

The computer world has been churning out chipsets and technologies since CBM closed its doors. Why not harness some of that power for the meega? I like my A1200 more the more powerful it gets.

Elbox have USB adaptors now, too. Interesting!

RetroMan · 18 September 2002, 15:27

Quote:

Shipping Status: Q4 2002

You guys have to wait a "little" longer I guess

Oscar Castillo · 18 September 2002, 16:06

Wonderful! They can't even show you a picture of it. Great way to promote a product that is seemingly around the corner from being available to the public.

th4t1guy · 18 September 2002, 18:12

The last Amiga show I was at (this must've been about 2 years ago, since there haven't been any in this area for awhile) someone had an a4000 that had a fancy card hooked up to it. Basically, this card was an amd processor with some ram, 2 ps2 ports, usb ports, and onboard gfx and sound. He had the machine running amigaOS and windoze at the same time and could switch between the 2 using hotkeys. From what I understood, this was just basically a small pc motherboard that plugged in as a card so you could share filesystems (?) ect, but you could not use the extra memory or the cpu power on the amiga side.

While this sort of thing looks neat, it's not exactly what I would call an "Amiga upgrade". Hopefully this accelerator is a TRUE upgrade. I want to play some new OS4 games!

cv643d · 18 September 2002, 18:33

Quote:

Originally posted by th4t1guy
The last Amiga show I was at (this must've been about 2 years ago, since there haven't been any in this area for awhile) someone had an a4000 that had a fancy card hooked up to it. Basically, this card was an amd processor with some ram, 2 ps2 ports, usb ports, and onboard gfx and sound. He had the machine running amigaOS and windoze at the same time and could switch between the 2 using hotkeys.

Thats a singleboard computer "SBC" that fits in an ISA slot. Big Box amigas have inactive ISA slots. Unusable for Amiga directly but powered and connected to themselves. Thus Big Box amigas have a passive backplane wich is the starting point for an SBC computer.

I have a SBC computer, an AMD486 clocked at 133 mhz with built in ethernet. Its way cool and im gonna save it for a future retro super tower consisting of an amiga and the 486

Pyromania · 19 September 2002, 01:41

Quote:

Originally posted by Oscar Castillo
Wonderful! They can't even show you a picture of it. Great way to promote a product that is seemingly around the corner from being available to the public.

http://www.amitopia.tk/

Pic of Shark PPC card.

Amiga1992 · 19 September 2002, 03:26

Looks very small and nice!

th4t1guy · 19 September 2002, 04:34

The one with the pic says 3 sockets, the one in the first link says 2. Maybe this is an optional feature?

Oscar Castillo · 19 September 2002, 05:12

Quote:

Originally posted by Pyromania

http://www.amitopia.tk/

Pic of Shark PPC card.

yeah, but that's not the Plus version. This pic is up on the Elbox site, but the plus version doesn't have a picture.

Korodny · 19 September 2002, 15:43

Both designs are licensed designs: The SharkPPC is a Sonnet design. while the SharkPPC+ is a licensed IBM reference design. In other words: The hardware works, at least with a passive backplane.

The Problem is integrating the SharkPPC with a classic Amiga motherboard. By all means, that's a damn tricky job.

I don't doubt that Elbox will deliver (they always did), but "Q4 2002" sounds way to optimistic to me. My personal guess for a first release of OS4 is November 2002 (CyberstormPPC version) with the AmigaOne version following a few weeks later. Then they'll have to do the BlizzardPPC version.

Afterwards they can start to work on the OS4 version for SharkPPC. And that's going to be tricky (i.e. it won't be done in just a few days).

Elbox is just making lots of PR noise these days, because they fear to loose sales to the AmigaOne. They don't want to be forgotten in all this A1 hype.

nexus · 28 June 2018, 06:42

well this can be checked off as we made it a really and more

Pyromania · 28 June 2018, 06:46

Just two more weeks!

Mathesar · 28 June 2018, 14:53

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pyromania

Just two more weeks!

Can we pre-order????

18 September 2002, 07:51	#1
Pyromania Moderator Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Chicago, IL Posts: 3,375	Shark G3/G4 PowerPC card for Amiga 1200, 3000, 4000 now available!? http://buy.elbox.com/cgibin/shop?inf...G&sid=500d207e The most powerful PowerPC accelerator for Amiga 1200, 3000 and 4000 computers. Features: • PCI format motherboard • PowerPC processor: 750CXe, 750FX or MPC7450 • FSB 133MHz • 2 sockets for PC-133 SDRAM modules for up to 2GB • The peak memory transfer rate up to 582MB/s • One AGP x2 slot • UDMA100 EIDE Controller - 2 channels • AC97 Sound Subsystem • USB2.0 host controller (optional) Prices start from EUR 449.95 (depending on the processor version).

18 September 2002, 08:03	#2
th4t1guy Registered User Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Kansas City, MO, USA Posts: 683	For that price it had better ship with 2gb of ram! A few questions tho... 1) How can this card have a "peak memory transfer rate up to 582MB/s" when it connects to a mediator which has a "transfer rate up to 264MB/s"??? 2) Do you think you'll be able to watch divx fullscreen WITH sound using this thing? 3) Is this just another computer that plugs into the amiga? Last edited by th4t1guy; 18 September 2002 at 08:10.

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18 September 2002, 12:43	#5
blackcornflake Moderator Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Cereal box Posts: 794	Wow, finally! I have been waiting for this beauty for a looong time. Wonder what 'Q4 2002' really means? @Burseg, I agree, up to a point. I also think an Amiga with a PPC is still an Amiga, just one with lots more horsepower than CBM ever gave it. I don't think there's anything un-Amiga about adding third party expansions, or directly using the PPC chip - these expansions enhance the meega; I don't think they supplant anything about its essence. The computer world has been churning out chipsets and technologies since CBM closed its doors. Why not harness some of that power for the meega? I like my A1200 more the more powerful it gets. Elbox have USB adaptors now, too. Interesting!

18 September 2002, 16:06	#7
Oscar Castillo Junior Member Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: New Jersey, USA Posts: 291	Wonderful! They can't even show you a picture of it. Great way to promote a product that is seemingly around the corner from being available to the public.

18 September 2002, 18:12	#8
th4t1guy Registered User Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Kansas City, MO, USA Posts: 683	The last Amiga show I was at (this must've been about 2 years ago, since there haven't been any in this area for awhile) someone had an a4000 that had a fancy card hooked up to it. Basically, this card was an amd processor with some ram, 2 ps2 ports, usb ports, and onboard gfx and sound. He had the machine running amigaOS and windoze at the same time and could switch between the 2 using hotkeys. From what I understood, this was just basically a small pc motherboard that plugged in as a card so you could share filesystems (?) ect, but you could not use the extra memory or the cpu power on the amiga side. While this sort of thing looks neat, it's not exactly what I would call an "Amiga upgrade". Hopefully this accelerator is a TRUE upgrade. I want to play some new OS4 games!

19 September 2002, 03:26	#11
Amiga1992 Registered User Join Date: May 2001 Location: ? Posts: 19,645	Looks very small and nice!

19 September 2002, 04:34	#12
th4t1guy Registered User Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Kansas City, MO, USA Posts: 683	The one with the pic says 3 sockets, the one in the first link says 2. Maybe this is an optional feature?

19 September 2002, 15:43	#14
Korodny Zone Friend Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Germany Posts: 812	Both designs are licensed designs: The SharkPPC is a Sonnet design. while the SharkPPC+ is a licensed IBM reference design. In other words: The hardware works, at least with a passive backplane. The Problem is integrating the SharkPPC with a classic Amiga motherboard. By all means, that's a damn tricky job. I don't doubt that Elbox will deliver (they always did), but "Q4 2002" sounds way to optimistic to me. My personal guess for a first release of OS4 is November 2002 (CyberstormPPC version) with the AmigaOne version following a few weeks later. Then they'll have to do the BlizzardPPC version. Afterwards they can start to work on the OS4 version for SharkPPC. And that's going to be tricky (i.e. it won't be done in just a few days). Elbox is just making lots of PR noise these days, because they fear to loose sales to the AmigaOne. They don't want to be forgotten in all this A1 hype.

28 June 2018, 06:42	#15
nexus Registered User Join Date: Aug 2017 Location: USA Posts: 728	well this can be checked off as we made it a really and more

28 June 2018, 06:46	#16
Pyromania Moderator Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Chicago, IL Posts: 3,375	Just two more weeks!

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