PCMCIA SRAM Cards ?

[Audronic]

Hi All

Is there a list of suitable PCMCIA compatible SRAM card
To Suit a A600 or A1200
Manufacturers names and Model Numbers Either 2 or 4 Meg

Thanks Ray

[Jope]

I wasn't aware there were any incompatible ones.

You need to be careful though, there are mem cards with a different kind of connector in the same form factor, some old PDAs had staggered rows of pins for their memory cards, for example. Just be careful to get a PCMCIA card and you should be fine.

[strim]

There's also an open source project of PCMCIA SRAM card dedicated for Amiga:

http://sakura-it.pl/sram.php

[jbenam]

Are PCMCIA cards still worth it these days?

They were kinda slow (except Sakura, which is done with newer techniques and components!) and they're pretty much the same price as an internal one that you can buy from kipper2k's store. Unless their prices crashed in the last 12 months, and I am somehow not aware of it?

[alexh]

Originally Posted by jbenam

Are PCMCIA cards still worth it these days?

Depends how cheap you can get them.

Originally Posted by jbenam

They were kinda slow (except Sakura, which is done with newer techniques and components!)

Two false statements? They were all the same speed including Sakura. They are synchronous. The Amiga provides the clock. They work at the same speed.

On the A1200 they are slower than 32-bit trapdoor FAST RAM because the PCMCIA is 16-bit. On the A600 with a 16-bit 68000 CPU it will be full speed.

They are IMO ugly as they do stick out quite a way from your Amiga.

[strim]

Originally Posted by Audronic

Two false statements? They were all the same speed including Sakura. They are synchronous. The Amiga provides the clock. They work at the same speed.

You're either thinking of something else or I don't understand your post.

PCMCIA slot is asynchronous in a sense that it does not have any clock signal. Additionally, access timing is software configurable. Information about shortest possible cycle time for a given card is encoded in its CIS structure. Depending on this structure Kickstart changes Gayle PCMCIA access timing registers.

Old SRAM cards are usually 250 or 200ns, which indeed causes slowdown when compared to unexpanded A1200.

Sakura is built with 55ns SRAM so can work at maximum performance in A1200 (which is 100ns). This is still a bit slower than trapdoor slot, but faster than Chip RAM (even though Chip RAM is 32-bit!).

Here's bustest results, comparing Sakura PCMCIA SRAM and Chip RAM:


Also Sakura doesn't stick out as much as the older cards:
http://sakura-it.pl/sram.php

[Arnie]

Only trouble is, they're all sold out

[strim]

At some point there will be a new, cost-reduced version. The main problem of previous version was very high cost of these fast 32Mbit SRAM ICs. The new version will be redesigned to utilise the new cheap PSRAM from ISSI.

[adrdesign]

Want ONE

[strim]

Originally Posted by adrdesign

Want ONE

Stay tuned, we're going to make a new batch:



Rev 2.2 is exactly the same as rev 2.1, just using other SRAM IC.

[Vot]

Originally Posted by strim

Stay tuned, we're going to make a new batch:



Rev 2.2 is exactly the same as rev 2.1, just using other SRAM IC.

Nice...

[liviux76]

If it will be cheaper than the previous version I'll certainly buy at least one card.

[fryguy]

Me too

[strim]

The main reason for making this new revision was to reduce the cost, and in the end, the final price. The most expensive component was SRAM IC, which was replaced with a cheaper and more readily available alternative.

However, at this point I am still not sure how much lower the price will be. Even the original version was produced at the edge of profitability (in reality, just enough to cover the production costs and cost of prototypes etc.).

[ovale]

Interested

[strim]

PCBs:

http://c0ff33.net/drop/DSCN6366.JPG

http://c0ff33.net/drop/DSCN6367.JPG

[Jope]

Mmmm.. :-)

[jbenam]

Originally Posted by strim

At some point there will be a new, cost-reduced version. The main problem of previous version was very high cost of these fast 32Mbit SRAM ICs. The new version will be redesigned to utilise the new cheap PSRAM from ISSI.

Is the PSRAM slower than the SRAM you were using before? Will that impact performance?

Thanks, sick developments as always. It's great seeing some open-source hardware in the Amiga world

[strim]

Originally Posted by jbenam

Is the PSRAM slower than the SRAM you were using before?

Just a bit (old SRAM was 55ns, new PSRAM is 70ns).

Will that impact performance?

No, it's still way faster than Gayle.

[Locutus]

So pretty.