01 April 2020, 04:10 | #1 |
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Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: Toronto, Canada
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Using laptop memory modules in an amiga
I have been adding ram to some of my laptops to help reduce memory swapping and as a result have a number of ddr2 and 3 modules that are now just escrap. Is there a way to make a zorro3 board that will take a ddr3ram module? Is it too complicated to get the amiga to use? I have little to no electronics know how other that through the hole soldering. I was just wondering if it was easily feasible?
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01 April 2020, 07:31 | #2 |
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Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Helsinki / Finland
Age: 43
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The memory controller for DDR2 or 3 is complex, you should look into learning programmable logic.
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02 April 2020, 13:40 | #3 |
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This is definitely a project that I can't do. I have no electronics knowledge. I was just wondering if it would be a cheap alternative to adding memory to the amiga.
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02 April 2020, 16:01 | #4 |
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Not really. Back in the day, RAM was very expensive, and so base configurations and expansions were governed by a balance of how much memory the market could afford. But these days, memory isn't the expensive part of the equation - in fact, it's very cheap. 128MB of brand new SD RAM chips costs less than getting a Zorro-sized PCB manufactured, probably the same as a couple of SO-DIMM connectors, and that doesn't take into account the assembly cost, the controller CPLD and other support parts like level shifters and buffers, dozens or hundreds of man-hours that would go into designing the board, developing a Zorro-III RAM controller CPLD and testing it on all different machines and Buster configurations.
If you look at existing boards like the ZorRAM that retails for about £100, I would estimate only around £10 of that is the actual RAM. The rest is the cost of low-volume niche electronics. |
03 April 2020, 04:49 | #5 |
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Some FPGA chips, particularly those with ARM processor inside, have DDR memory controllers built-in. Pich one that supports DDR3, make a Zorro interface in the FPGA part to connect to the DDR3 bus.
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