[comp.sys.mac] Orchid MacSprint II

hammersslammers1@oxy.edu (David J. Harr) (03/07/89)

Has anyone noticed the new product advertised in the April MacUser called
MacSprint II? It is made by Orchid Technologies for the Mac II. It is a RAM
cache board that fits between the 68020 processor and the socket and
provides the processor with 32k of high speed memory to use as a RAM cache.
The RAM cache uses 55 nanosecond DRAM and puts the most recently used
portions of the program that is running into the RAM cache, eliminating all
wait states if the CPU calls for the cached program instructions. I will be
getting a spec sheet on the product any day now, so I will keep everyone up
to date as to what I learn as I find it out. Right now, maybe someone can
help me with one question. Is there any reason that this beastie shouldn't
be compatible with the Dove 33MHz upgrade for a Mac II? The tech support
people at Orchid said that the board was only good with the 68020 because
the line output for a 68030 and a 68020 were different. Could some knowledge
able tech person out there explain what the **** that is supposed to mean?
I thought the Dove board was so built that it was designed to fool the Mac
II into thinking it was a 68020 instead of a 68030. Wouldn't this same trick
work with the MacSprint II? Oh well, here's wishing for a cheap alternative
to the MacPeak accelerator board for the II.

				   David

chow@batcomputer.tn.cornell.edu (Christopher Chow) (03/12/89)

In article <22536@tiger.oxy.edu> hammersslammers1@oxy.edu (David J. Harr) writes:
|Has anyone noticed the new product advertised in the April MacUser called
|MacSprint II? It is made by Orchid Technologies for the Mac II. It is a RAM
|cache board that fits between the 68020 processor and the socket and
|provides the processor with 32k of high speed memory to use as a RAM cache.
|The RAM cache uses 55 nanosecond DRAM and puts the most recently used

Does the MacSprint II interface with both the PMMU and the CPU sockets, or
does it just plug into the CPU socket.  It seems that you may run into a
problem if you're using the PMMU (say under AU/X, Virtual, or Sys 7) if it
plugs in between the 020 and the motherboard.

BTW, just how does the Marathon 030 deal with the PMMU socket in the Mac
II?  

Christopher Chow
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