djh@neuromancer.metaphor.com (Dallas J. Hodgson) (07/31/90)
The following is an in-depth article about the tt <yawn> as posted
on Comp.sys.atari.st :
-------------------------------- tear here -----------------------------------
Excerpt from Z*NET
===============================
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
OF THE "TT" IN CANADA
===============================
(C) 1990 by Darek Mihocka, June 4, 1990.
Well, today was the day Atari Canada made it's big debut of the TT at a
downtown Toronto hotel. Free food too. You'll probably be hearing a
lot about it in the next few days (the TT, not the food) and it'll be
interesting to see how soon the promises start getting broken. As
expected, the machine is not available yet, and is supposed to ship
later this year.
As of today, TT's are available to developers in Canada, and dealers
can expect a few for demo purposes by the end of August, with real
shipments starting in fourth quarter. The press release states "The
Atari TT is scheduled for Canada-wide release in fall of 1990". The
invitation talked about a "North American" debut, so I don't know what
that means for the U.S. market. Probably 1993.
The retail price is $3995.00 Canadian, (that's about $3395.00 U.S).
That includes 2Meg of RAM and a 40 meg hard drive. Add from $200 to
$1000 for a monitor, depending on which one you get. The floppy disk
drive is still IBM comptible, now supporting the 1.44M format.
The machine supports 6 screen resolutions, including the original 3
from the ST, plus a 1280x960 Moniterm mode, a 640x480 16 color VGA mode,
and a 256 color 320x480 mode. The color monitor being used at the time,
an Atari TTC30 or something was capable of supporting everything but the
Moniterm mode. The desktop in VGA mode looked quite good, comparable to
a Mac II desktop or a Windows desktop on a VGA monitor. The display was
crisp and free of any interference. The TT has the 4096 color palette
of the STE, as well as the 8-bit stereo sound, making it a machine ready
for multimedia applications.
The TOS running in this machine was still TOS 3.0, 03/01/90 version.
The real TOS for the TT is supposed to be 2.0, and it's supposed to be a
lot faster than 3.0. I ran Quick Index on the TT just to see the kind of
performance I'd get. With the cache on, the CPU numbers are between
about 350% to 500%, and with the cache off, about 30% slower. What this
means is that in terms of raw processing speed, the TT can run 68000
code about 3, 4 or 5 times faster than an 8MHz ST or STE. I tried some
sample software which I had earlier timed on my STE, and found the
increase to be consistently about a factor of 3.
All the Atari reps were emphasizing the speed. Calamus was being
displayed, and the TT flyer and press release were both riddled with
references to DynaCADD, and a 6 page DynaCADD brochure was included with
the press release. The explanation given was that Atari wants to
demonstrate that the machine is a full blown CAD workstation, and can
run existing ST CAD packages. Once software like Calamus and DynaCADD
is recompiled for the 68030, it will run even faster.
All of the documentation presented was created with Calamus, and the
press release mentions that Calamus running on the TT prints three times
faster than any other package. It doesn't mention which other packages,
but goes on to say that DynaCADD running on the TT is 2 to 10 times
faster than Autocad running on a 386 based machine.
Atari is also working with an unnamed third party to develop a software
PC emulator that runs at the speed of an AT. And I'm sure another
unnamed third party is busy on a Mac II emulator.
The TT also comes with an Appletalk interface (gee, I wonder why!), MIDI
ports, VME slot, 2 serial ports expandable to 4 (hey sysops, imagine the
possibilites!), and SCSI and ACSI. The machine is certainly set up to
communicate with the rest of the world. UNIX, X Windows, and Ethernet
support are listed in the "Future Support" category of the spec sheet.
Hopefully this isn't being handled by the same department that was
responsible for getting the STacy and STE to US markets last year.
The thing that I found quite odd with the TT is that with all the nifty
hardware built in, this machine does NOT have a blitter chip. The last
thing I would have expected in a machine that's being presented as a
powerful graphics workstation is that all graphics operations are being
performed by software, and by TOS 3.0 of all things. This TOS, I'm
told, is almost identical to the TOS 1.6 currently installed in STEs,
which as we all know, is almost the same thing as TOS 1.4, just slightly
faster. TOS 2.0 is supposed to change all that and really be fast, but
I seriously doubt that they'll whip together something by August, given
that TOS has already been worked on for 5 years.
So, back to Quick Index I went and benchmarked the screen performance.
Someone at the presentation had mentioned that you could load in a
DynaCADD file with 10,000 objects and watch them redraw REALLY fast.
Well, the numbers I got from Quick Index, for example, in medium
resulotion, gave the TT a GEM index of 166% relative to the STE. That's
about 180% relative to a Mega ST. So in other words, the TT, running
TOS 1.4 (or close enough to it) on a 68030 was not even twice as fast as
an 8MHz 68000 with blitter support. Take away the blitter and you're
slightly over 200%. However, take into account that you can drop in Jim
Allen's T16 accelerator board into almost any ST, and for $300 give
yourself a 50% speed boost. That cuts the lead of the TT down to about
30% at best for screen redraws, and about 200% for general CPU
operations. Needless to say, I wasn't kidding last week when I said
that an ST running Quick ST blows away the TT in screen performance.
Text operations gave similar results, and about the only screen
operation the TT was good at was VT52 scrolling. That's due to the 32-
bit data bus of the 68030 compared to the 68000's 16-bit bus.
Don't forget also that there will be the usual incompatibility problems
with older ST software. You think TOS 1.4 compatiblity was bad. Wait
till they try running the stuff on a 68030!
So, the TT is a nifty machine, and for only $4000 you can emulate an AT
and run UNIX as well. I should say "you'll be able to...". I still
have bad memories of the 1450XLD and 260ST. You all remember the 260ST?
The original ST, until they actually tried to put it together and
realized they couldn't make TOS run on 256K. Hopefully TOS 2.0 will run
on 2 meg!
But in all fairness, since this information was presented by ATARI
CANADA, in Canada, and was not just another Sunnyvale stab in the dark
about what they might ship in 3 years, I have faith that Atari Canada
will deliver as promised. They delivered on the STE and STacy and
CD-ROM, so all I can say is that I'm glad I'm not in the US.
About 6 months ago, I was wetting my pants and then some over the STE.
Not so for the TT, at least not yet. It's out of the price range of
most casual ST users, and as an ST compatible machine, offers less than
a doubling of power for more than double the price of, say, a Mega ST 2.
Sure the TT specific software written for the 68030 will be faster, but
that will mean buying a whole new set of software.
I think what will probably evolve will be some sort of a 68030 upgrade
for existing STs (c'mon Dave!), similar to the kind of upgrades we saw a
few years ago for converting 8088 machine to 80286 machines. I've
already got 3 STs and 2 monitors, I don't need more. I would much
rather pay $1000 or more to upgrade my 4 meg STE to a 4 meg STE/030
instead of shelling out another $4000 for something only slightly
better.
The TT will still hopefully sell well in the business market. The
hardware is certainly there and at the right price. Perhaps not as fast
as we'd like to believe, but the same hype existed with the 386 chip.
Perhaps the TT will follow the same path as 386 machines, and a year or
two from now we'll see a more affordable TT working its way into the
home market replacing the then obsolete 68000 based STs.
Well, that's the way I see it anyway.
- Darek
[ If I may add two comments:
1. Darek tested a machine with just 2 megs of RAM. RAM above 2 megs
on the TT operates in burst mode and operates roughly 50% faster.
It would be interesting to see a comparison of programs running in
fast and slow ram.
2. Lots of companies have not put blitters in 68030 boxes because they
don't provide much of a speed increase. Sun, HP, Apollo, and NeXT come
to mind as examples.
Now if Atari would get the TT out the door and into a local dealer's
store, I'll be happy.
-- greg ]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is the full text of a Press Release from ATARI in NEW ZEALAND
giving the MOST COMPLETE DESCRIPTION of the ATARI TT030 COMPUTER to date.
It EXPLAINS PORTS, CARDS, EXPANSION, AND ADMITS TO THE FACT THAT THE TT
WILL RUN AT 32 MHZ, not the 16 mhz that many complained of. THIS WILL NOT
FURTHER DELAY THE TT030, EXPECTED TO BE AVAILABLE WITHIN WEEKS.
Presented by Z*NET ATARI ONLINE NEWS SERVICE, the ones to trust for
detailed ATARI NEWS FIRST. NOT ARCED, about 8 screens, you NEED to read
this NOW.....
---------------------------------
This document is Press Information (VERBATIM including
capitalization, spacing, and spelling) provided by SOFTWARE
SUPPLIES, AKA ATARI NEW ZEALAND, on ATARI Logo paper.
Transcribed using optical character reader for precise conversion
by Z*NET NEWS SERVICE, 7/9/90. Z*Net assumes no responsibility
for the accuracy of the information itself.
--------------------------------------------
ATARI
TT030
Compatible
Expandible
Flexible
Affordable
The Atari TT030
- Compatible with the Atari ST, 1000"s of software titles
already available
- 3 New Graphics modes:
320 x 480 with 256 colours from a palette of 4096
640 x 480 with 16 colours from a palette of 4096
1280 x 960 high resolution monochrome
- Stereo 8-bit PCM sound
- 68030 running at 32 Mhz
- 68881 Floating Point co-processor
- 2 Megabytes of RAM, expandable to 26 Mb
- SCSI and ASCI with DMA built in
- Internal Hard disk
- SCC LAN port with DMA
- Four serial ports
- Parallel port
- MIDI ports
- Detachable keyboard
- Internal A24/D16 VME card slot
- Real time clock with non-volatile RAM
- ROM cartridge slot
- External floppy connector
Comparison of standard features
Amiga 3000 Mac IIcx Atari TT030
CPU 68030 68030 68030
FPU Yes Yes Yes
Clock speed 16 Mhz - 32 Mhz
RAM 2 to 17 1 to 32 2 to 26
Burst Mode Yes No Yes
ROM 512K 256K 512K
Graphics
Max resolution 1280 x 480 Optional 1280 x 960
Interlaced Non-interlaced
Max colours 32 Colours 256 Colours
from 4096 from 4096
Max video RAM 1 Mb 8 Mb
Sound Stereo Stereo Stereo
Expansion Proprietary NuBus VME
Hard disk DMA Non-DMA DMA
Floppy disk Proprietary Proprietary PC compatible
Network No Yes Yes, DMA
Serial 1 x RS232 2 x RS232 4 x RS232
Parallel Yes No Yes
MIDI No No Yes
ROM Cartridge No No Yes
The Atari TT030 Hardware
The TT030 (Thirty-two/Thirty-two bit) is the first member of a
new series of Atari computers designed as enhanced versions of
the existing ST and MEGA family. The TT series maintains
compatibility with the ST/MEGA architecture, but uses the
Motorola 68030 microprocessor and provides enhanced graphics and
sound. The TT030 is also designed to run Unix (Unix is a
trademark of AT&T).
The TT030 is based on the high performance 32-bit Motorola MC68030
processor running at a 32 Mhz clock frequency. The 68030 includes
on-chip data and instruction caches which can be filled from some
regions of memory in bursts of double word fetches
The architecture also includes the industry standard VME bus to
facilitate expansion. The system supports the latest revision
(C.1) of the VME bus specification. The TT030 can accommodate one
single-Eurocard (3U) A24/D 16 or A 16/D 16 slave-only VME board,
The TT series is expected to function in an environment with
other TTs and even machines from different manufacturers. To
facilitate connectivity, each system has an on-board port for a
moderate speed LAN. If the LAN is not being used, the port can be
programmed to be a standard RS232C port. Through an optional VME
bus-based or SCSI-based Ethernet controller, the TT also has the
capability of connecting to heterogeneous Ethernet networks. The
TT030 has three additional standard RS-232C serial ports for
connection to modems, display terminals, or digitizing tablets.
The hardware features of the TT030 include:
- Motorola MC68030 at 32MHz
- Motorola MC68881 Floating Point Coprocessor (the coprocessor
is socketed, so that it can be optionally upgraded to a
MC68882)
- ST RAM: 2 Mbyte of ST-compatible dual-purpose (video/system)
RAM, expandable by an add-on daughterboard containing a
further 2 or 8 Mbyte of dual-purpose memory. This 64-bit
wide memory appears 32 bits wide to the processor and
SCSI/SCC DMA engines TT video logic has access to this
memory on a time critical basis. The remaining system logic,
including the processor, can access this memory in the
alternate 250 nS TIME SLICES.
- TT BURST MODE RAM: provision for a daughter-board that will
accept either 4 x 1 Mbyte or 4 x 4 Mbyte SIMMS, allowing
another 4 Mb or 16 Mb expansion. This RAM can only be
accessed by the processor, the SCSI DMA Engine, and the SCC
Network DMA Engine. The 68030 can take advantage of
burst-mode for filling its internal cache from this RAM.
- 4 socketed 1 Mbit ROMS, providing 512 Kbyte of ROM space.
- Internal video modes that are a superset of those in the
Atari ST/STe series using an analog RGB (VGA-like) colour
monitor:
pixels rows colors palette
320 200 16 4096 (STe compatible)
640 200 4 4096 (STe compatible)
640 400 2 4096 (STe superset)
320 480 256 4096
640 480 16 4096
using a high resolution ECL monochrome monitor
1280 960 black on white
- parallel I/O port, generally used for Parallel printer
output
- internal speaker, which can be disabled under software
control
- 2 low-speed asynchronous serial I/O ports (one from each of
two 68901 MFPS) at programmable baud rates up to 19.2 baud
- 2 high-speed asynchronous/SDLC Serial I/O ports (from a
Zilog 8530 SCC). One part can be programmed to be a Local
Talk compatible LAN interface with a proprietary single
channel DMA controller. The other port is intended for use
as an asynchronous AS-232 port with programmable split baud
rates.
- battery backed-up real time clock (RTC) with 50 bytes of
non-volatile RAM
- ST/MEGA compatible intelligent keyboard, with mouse and
joystick ports including support for a 3 button mouse
- Atari ACSI DMA channel (for Atari Hard Disk, Laser Printer,
CD-ROM, etc)
- Floppy disk controller and interface sharing the ACSI DMA
channel
- Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI) STe compatible
DMA sound engine with programmable volume and tone control
which can play back stereo 8-bit samples at rates up to 50
Khz
- Atari ST compatible cartridge port (128 Kbyte Storage)
- SCSI interface using 23-pin connector implemented with the
NCR 5380 SCSI controller chip and a proprietary DMA
controller
- Industry standard VME bus for expansion
When comparing the TT030 with the competition, four important
features stand out:
- flicker-free, high resolution colour graphics built-in as
standard
- high bus bandwidth, independent of video resolution
- excellent connectivity including four RS232 ports, MIDI,
LAN, ASCI & SCSI.
- high speed burst-mode RAM, 32 Mhz CPU clock speed.
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Dallas J. Hodgson | "This here's the wattle, |
| Metaphor Computer Systems | It's the emblem of our land. |
| Mountain View, Ca. | You can put it in a bottle, |
| USENET : djh@metaphor.com | You can hold it in your hand." |
+============================================================================+
| "The views I express are my own, and not necessarily those of my employer" |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+BARRETT@owl.ecil.iastate.edu (Marc Barrett) (07/31/90)
I would like to make a few corrections and additions to the comparison
table which was in a previous message about the Atari TT. All changes
are with respect to the Amiga 3000.
Comparison of standard features
Amiga 3000 Mac IIcx Atari TT030
CPU 68030 68030 68030
FPU Yes Yes Yes
Clock speed 25 Mhz 16Mhz 32 Mhz
RAM (In MB) 2 to 256 1 to 32 2 to 26
MAX RAM on 17 ? 8
Motherboard
Burst Mode Yes No Yes
ROM 512K 256K 512K
Graphics
Max resolution 1008 x 1024 Optional 1280 x 960
Non-Interlaced Non-Interlaced
Max colours 4096 Colours 256 Colours
from 4096 from 4096
Max video RAM 2 Mb 8 Mb
Highest Colour 320x512x4096 320x480x256
Resolution Non-Interlaced Non-Interlaced
Sound Stereo Stereo Stereo
Expansion ZorroIII NuBus VME
Bus Width 32 Bit 32 Bit 16 Bit
# of Slots 4 6 1
68040-Ready? Yes No No
Hard disk DMA Non-DMA DMA
Synchronous SCSI? Yes No No
Floppy disk Proprietary Proprietary Non-Proprietary
PC/XT Comp. PC/AT Comp. PC/AT Compatible
Network No Yes Yes, DMA
Serial 1 x RS232 2 x RS232 4 x RS232
Parallel Yes No Yes
MIDI No No Yes
ROM Cartridge No No Yesevtracy@sdrc.UUCP (Tracy Schuhwerk) (07/31/90)
From article <26172@snow-white.udel.EDU>, by BARRETT@owl.ecil.iastate.edu (Marc Barrett):
[ List of Other feature comparisons deleted ]
Amiga Atari TT
> RAM (In MB) 2 to 256 1 to 32 2 to 26
If I'm not mistaken, I believe the A3000 can address something just
over 1 gigabyte of RAM. I don't think I'll ever make that mark
myself but it can do it! :-)
> MAX RAM on 17 ? 8
> Motherboard
The Maximum RAM on the motherboard of the A3000 is 18 Meg. (2 Meg
of Chip and 16 Meg. of Fast RAM). That number I will reach... as
soon as I can get the 1megx4 chips.
--
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
_______________ / / / | uunet!sdrc!evtracy
/ (___ _ /_ /_ _ __ /_/ | evtracy@SDRC.UU.NET
/ . _____)__(__/ /__/_/_/ /__/_/_/__(/__/ (__/ \ +---------------------
Structural Dynamics Research Corporation (SDRC) - Milford, Ohio
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=Sylvain@speedy.CAM.ORG (Sylvain Tremblay) (08/01/90)
>In article <26172@snow-white.udel.EDU> BARRETT@owl.ecil.iastate.edu (Marc Barrett) writes: > > I would like to make a few corrections and additions to the comparison >table which was in a previous message about the Atari TT. All changes >are with respect to the Amiga 3000. > > > Comparison of standard features > > Amiga 3000 Mac IIcx Atari TT030 > >CPU 68030 68030 68030 >FPU Yes Yes Yes >Clock speed 25 Mhz 16Mhz 32 Mhz >RAM (In MB) 2 to 256 1 to 32 2 to 26 >MAX RAM on 17 ? 8 > Motherboard >Burst Mode Yes No Yes >ROM 512K 256K 512K >Graphics > Max resolution 1008 x 1024 Optional 1280 x 960 > Non-Interlaced Non-Interlaced > Max colours 4096 Colours 256 Colours > from 4096 from 4096 > Max video RAM 2 Mb 8 Mb >Highest Colour 320x512x4096 320x480x256 > Resolution Non-Interlaced Non-Interlaced >Sound Stereo Stereo Stereo >Expansion ZorroIII NuBus VME >Bus Width 32 Bit 32 Bit 16 Bit ># of Slots 4 6 1 >68040-Ready? Yes No No >Hard disk DMA Non-DMA DMA >Synchronous SCSI? Yes No No >Floppy disk Proprietary Proprietary Non-Proprietary > PC/XT Comp. PC/AT Comp. PC/AT Compatible >Network No Yes Yes, DMA >Serial 1 x RS232 2 x RS232 4 x RS232 >Parallel Yes No Yes >MIDI No No Yes >ROM Cartridge No No Yes You should have posted this to comp.sys.atari as well!! -- Sylvain __ +-----------------------------------------------------------------///------+ | Sylvain Tremblay INTERNET: Sylvain@speedy.CAM.ORG __ /// /| | | Montreal, Qc, Canada CIS: 71640,666 \\\/// # | | | (514) 256-3779 or: 71640.666@compuserve.com \XX/ _|_ | +--------------------------------------------------------------------------+
swarren@convex.com (Steve Warren) (08/02/90)
In article <Sylvain.4094@speedy.CAM.ORG> Sylvain@speedy.CAM.ORG (Sylvain Tremblay) writes: >>In article <26172@snow-white.udel.EDU> BARRETT@owl.ecil.iastate.edu (Marc Barrett) writes: [...] >> Amiga 3000 Mac IIcx Atari TT030 >> >>Network No Yes Yes, DMA *ethernet (optional)* Do the Mac & TT have their networks built-in? -- _. --Steve ._||__ DISCLAIMER: All opinions are my own. Warren v\ *| ---------------------------------------------- V {uunet,sun}!convex!swarren; swarren@convex.COM
seanc@pro-party.cts.com (Sean Cunningham) (08/02/90)
In-Reply-To: message from BARRETT@owl.ecil.iastate.edu You might also add that the A3000 comes with the '882, not the '881 like the TT...so even at 25MHz, the A3000's floating-point performance will be superior. Sean //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// UUCP: ...!crash!pnet01!pro-party!seanc | ARPA: !crash!pnet01!pro-party!seanc@nosc.mil | " Fanatics have their INET: seanc@pro-party.cts.com | dreams, wherewith they | weave a paradise for RealWorld: Sean Cunningham | a sect. " Voice: (512) 994-1602 PLINK: ce3k* | -Keats | Call C.B.A.U.G. BBS (512) 883-8351 w/SkyPix | B^) VISION GRAPHICS B^) \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
nfs1675@dsacg3.dsac.dla.mil ( Michael S Figg) (08/02/90)
In article <26172@snow-white.udel.EDU>, BARRETT@owl.ecil.iastate.edu (Marc Barrett) writes: > > I would like to make a few corrections and additions to the comparison > table which was in a previous message about the Atari TT. All changes > are with respect to the Amiga 3000. > Good to see somebody make corrections to the original fictional list, but I'm curious about a few of these: > Amiga 3000 Mac IIcx Atari TT030 > RAM (In MB) 2 to 256 1 to 32 2 to 26 ^^^ I thought the 3000 could address something like 16 Gig, or are we stuck with ONLY 256M ;) > Max colours 4096 Colours 256 Colours > from 4096 from 4096 Isn't the palette on the Amiga 16k? > Network No Yes Yes, DMA What about all the networking options that CBM announced at the same time as the 3000? They sounded like the tools that are needed to compete with the PC and MAC (and yes, even the Atari). ---Mike, -- A man said to the Universe "Sir, I exist!" | Michael Figg DSAC-FSD "However," replied the Universe, | DLA Systems Automation Center "The fact has not created in me a | Columbus, Ohio sense of obligation."- Stephen Crane | mfigg@dsac.dla.mil CIS: 73777,360
rps2@amoeba2.UUCP (Rick Stevens) (08/03/90)
>In article <Sylvain.4094@speedy.CAM.ORG> Sylvain@speedy.CAM.ORG (Sylvain Tremblay) writes: >>In article <26172@snow-white.udel.EDU> BARRETT@owl.ecil.iastate.edu (Marc Barrett) writes: >> >> I would like to make a few corrections and additions to the comparison >>table which was in a previous message about the Atari TT. All changes >>are with respect to the Amiga 3000. >> [...large number of comparisons deleted...] >>Feature A3000 Mac Atari >>Network No Yes Yes, DMA Wrong. Although the system doesn't come with a network interface (unless you consider the serial or parallel port versions under DNet), there are several DMA and non-DMA Ethernet interfaces for the A3000 and A2000. There's also a full X-Windows implementation for the Amiga. I don't consider AppleTalk a great network, and it's not all that standard. Ethernet, in both its versions (Thin- and ThickWire), is more widely distributed supports more protocols such as TCP/IP and DecNet. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rick Stevens, Small Scale Systems of Southern California sysop@xyclone.uucp | rps2@amoeba2.uucp | CIS: 75006,1355 | BIX: smallscale "I'm tellin' ya, Valiant! Da whole ting stinks like yesterday's diapers!" - Baby Herman -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
joseph@valnet (Joseph Hillenburg) (08/03/90)
nfs1675@dsacg3.dsac.dla.mil ( Michael S Figg) writes: > In article <26172@snow-white.udel.EDU>, BARRETT@owl.ecil.iastate.edu (Marc Ba > > > > I would like to make a few corrections and additions to the comparison > > table which was in a previous message about the Atari TT. All changes > > are with respect to the Amiga 3000. > > > > Good to see somebody make corrections to the original fictional list, > but I'm curious about a few of these: > > > Amiga 3000 Mac IIcx Atari TT030 > > RAM (In MB) 2 to 256 1 to 32 2 to 26 > ^^^ > I thought the 3000 could address something like 16 Gig, or are we > stuck with ONLY 256M ;) > > > Max colours 4096 Colours 256 Colours > > from 4096 from 4096 > > Isn't the palette on the Amiga 16k? > > > Network No Yes Yes, DMA > > What about all the networking options that CBM announced at the same > time as the 3000? They sounded like the tools that are needed to > compete with the PC and MAC (and yes, even the Atari). > > > ---Mike, > > -- > A man said to the Universe "Sir, I exist!" | Michael Figg DSAC-FSD > "However," replied the Universe, | DLA Systems Automation Center > "The fact has not created in me a | Columbus, Ohio > sense of obligation."- Stephen Crane | mfigg@dsac.dla.mil CIS: 73777,3 The 3000 can address over 1 gig. Not 16 gig as you said. The physical address limit for 32 bit microproccessors is 4 gigs, and most people won't reach 1 gig., so there shouldn't be any problem. The 3000 ca use 4096 colors, but with 24 and 32(?) bit boards on the way, this isn't a problem either. If you need networking check out Commodore's net system, or Great Valley Products (GVP). Yo can find GVP in AmigaWorld... email replies requested... -Joseph Hillenburg InterNet: joseph@valnet UUCP: iuvax!valnet!joseph PC-Link: Joe Hillenburg Most other systems: Joseph Hillenburg Don't buy a computer unless it's an Amiga - Me - AMIGA RULES! - AMIGA RUL
navas@sim.uucp (David C. Navas) (08/03/90)
In article <2344@dsacg3.dsac.dla.mil> nfs1675@dsacg3.dsac.dla.mil ( Michael S Figg) writes: >> Amiga 3000 Mac IIcx Atari TT030 >> RAM (In MB) 2 to 256 1 to 32 2 to 26 > ^^^ > I thought the 3000 could address something like 16 Gig, or are we > stuck with ONLY 256M ;) No. The original Amiga's could *address* 16 megs of memory. It had a 24 bit address space and 2^24 = 16777216. The new Amiga has a 32 bit address space. Each of these computers can *address* 4gig of memory. However, just as addressable RAM space was limited to ~9megs on the original Amiga, the new Amiga's also have their limits -- I'm not sure of the accuracy of the number, though. Regardless 2^32 = 4294967296 (or is it 4296967294 -- I forget) 16gig is too big.. >> Max colours 4096 Colours 256 Colours >> from 4096 from 4096 > Isn't the palette on the Amiga 16k? Only in the wishful thinking of the net.. :) These numbers are accurate -- though I'm sure NewTek wil have a DynaHiRes displayer that will show 4096 colors at the 640x400 resolution, so the max res. for these colors was *somewhat* incorrect... >> Network No Yes Yes, DMA > > What about all the networking options that CBM announced at the same > time as the 3000? They sounded like the tools that are needed to > compete with the PC and MAC (and yes, even the Atari). I believe he's talking of included networks. Now if Cmdre would write some network drivers that used the SCSI connect we might be able to claim network capabilities (DMA at that), but all networking options are after the fact, and 16bit :( David Navas navas@sim.berkeley.edu "Excuse my ignorance, but I've been run over by my train of thought." -me
d87-khd@sm.luth.se (Karl-Gunnar Hultland) (08/07/90)
In article <26172@snow-white.udel.EDU| BARRETT@owl.ecil.iastate.edu (Marc Barrett) writes: | | I would like to make a few corrections and additions to the comparison |table which was in a previous message about the Atari TT. All changes |are with respect to the Amiga 3000. | | | Comparison of standard features | | Amiga 3000 Mac IIcx Atari TT030 | |CPU 68030 68030 68030 |FPU Yes Yes Yes |Clock speed 25 Mhz 16Mhz 32 Mhz |RAM (In MB) 2 to 256 1 to 32 2 to 26 1024 MB (1 GB) really. |MAX RAM on 17 ? 8 | Motherboard That should be 18 MB on board. |Burst Mode Yes No Yes |ROM 512K 256K 512K |Graphics | Max resolution 1008 x 1024 Optional 1280 x 960 | Non-Interlaced Non-Interlaced | Max colours 4096 Colours 256 Colours | from 4096 from 4096 | Max video RAM 2 Mb 8 Mb |Highest Colour 320x512x4096 320x480x256 | Resolution Non-Interlaced Non-Interlaced |Sound Stereo Stereo Stereo |Expansion ZorroIII NuBus VME |Bus Width 32 Bit 32 Bit 16 Bit |# of Slots 4 6 1 4 Amy and 2 PC/AT |68040-Ready? Yes No No |Hard disk DMA Non-DMA DMA |Synchronous SCSI? Yes No No |Floppy disk Proprietary Proprietary Non-Proprietary | PC/XT Comp. PC/AT Comp. PC/AT Compatible |Network No Yes Yes, DMA I'm sure I've seen something in an American Mag. mentioning ethernet (an something other I've forgot the name on) |Serial 1 x RS232 2 x RS232 4 x RS232 |Parallel Yes No Yes |MIDI No No Yes That should read OPTIONAL on both the Amy and the Mac |ROM Cartridge No No Yes Karl --- Karl Hultland,(d87-khd@sm.luth.se) University of Lulea,Sweden Revolution: in politics, an abrupt change in the form of misgovernment. - A. Bierce