wlj1@cunixb.cc.columbia.edu (Wayne L Jebian) (07/30/90)
this was given to me by a friend. no flames to me please if anything is wrong
in the file.
here goes:
This document is Press Information (VERBATIM including
capitalization, spacing, and spelling) provided by SOFTWARE
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.
--------------------------------------------
PAGE 1 (in very large letters)
ATARI
TT030
Compatible
Expandible
Flexiblee
Affordable
--------------------------------------------
PAGE 2
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
--------------------------------------------
PAGE 3
Comparison of standard features
Amiga 3000 Mac IIcx Atari TT030
CPU 68030 68030 68030
FPU Yes Yes Yes
Clock speed 16 & - 32 Mhz
25 Mhz versions
RAM 2 to 18 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
Non-interlaced
Max colours 4096 Colours 256 Colours
from 4096 from 4096
Max video RAM 2 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
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PAGE 4
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 uhat 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.
-------------------------------------------
PAGE 5
- 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)
0 320 480 256 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:
- 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.
----------------------------------------------------
End of Press Release
For the sake of accuracy, just thought i'd correct/supplement Atari's
comparison chart a bit:
(Notes)
1. 68881 in 16 Mhz A3000, 68882 in 25 Mhz. 68882 optional in TT
2. Both machines require optional memory to implement burst mode, this
requires static-column RAM chips on the A3000 and a daughter board
on the TT.
3. The A3000 has 960 line modes as well. More importantly, all video
modes on the A3000 are available as non-interlaced modes.
4. Aside from the proprietary expansion (Zorro III, CPU and video), a
passive IBM bus is available.
5. While the native format is proprietary on both the Mac and the Amiga,
there are utilities to read and write IBM formats.
6. The serial port on the both MAC II and Amiga3000 can be configured
to send and receive at MIDI speeds.
William Ivey
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i believe its supposed to cost about $1000.
-Mark Dolengowlj1@cunixb.cc.columbia.edu (Wayne L Jebian) (07/30/90)
sorry about reposting this, I hadn't notice that this was posted already about a month ago <or 3 weeks, whatever> Sorry for the inconvinience <i tried to cancel it> -mark Dolengo
saj@chinet.chi.il.us (Stephen Jacobs) (07/31/90)
My response to all announcements of new hardware (and most announcements of
new software), and not only from Atari by any means, is mild interest. Until
my local dealers have them (and I may be better off than some, because there
are local dealers for most of the major lines, including Atari), they aren't
real, just possibilities. A 32 MHz TT with a price in a usable configuration
under $2500 would be nice, but unless it's for sale now, I have no particular
feelings about it.
Steve J.