gdtltr@vax1.acs.udel.EDU (Gary D Duzan) (06/02/89)
Please do not publish the following information anywhere outside USENET
(i.e. newsletters or pay systems. I guess BBS's are ok, though.)
I had a chat with Chuck Steinman on the DataQue support BBS, and he was
very helpful in answering my questions. It seems that the 65816 processor
used in the Turbo 816 is rated for 5 Mhz, though it appears it would probably
handle 8 Mhz. However, due to restrictions placed by the RAM on the
motherboard and some of the support chips (Pokey was mentioned), the Turbo
will be running at the normal 1.79 Mhz. { This may sound very limiting, but the
65816 in native mode will still be a good bit faster due to its ability to
handle 16 bit data chunks. More advanced features of the 65816 help as well
(there are two commands to move blocks of memory.) } DataQue is working on
this problem and will probably release an accelerator board in the future to
increase the speed closer to the chip's limit.
(Info in {} above is my own, not Chuck's.)
If you are interested in calling this BBS, the number is (419)529-5197
(I believe it is ASCII, 300-1200 baud).
Gary Duzan
Time Lord
Third Regeneration
Atari Enthusiast Extreme
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+-------------------------------------------------+ or something.iwarner@zaphod.axion.bt.co.uk (Ivan Warner,G44 SSTF,6632,) (06/05/89)
From article <3753@udccvax1.acs.udel.EDU>, by gdtltr@vax1.acs.udel.EDU (Gary D Duzan): > Please do not publish the following information anywhere outside USENET > (i.e. newsletters or pay systems. I guess BBS's are ok, though.) > I had a chat with Chuck Steinman on the DataQue support BBS, and he was > very helpful in answering my questions. It seems that the 65816 processor > used in the Turbo 816 is rated for 5 Mhz, though it appears it would probably > handle 8 Mhz. However, due to restrictions placed by the RAM on the > motherboard and some of the support chips (Pokey was mentioned), the Turbo > will be running at the normal 1.79 Mhz. { This may sound very limiting, but the > 65816 in native mode will still be a good bit faster due to its ability to > handle 16 bit data chunks. More advanced features of the 65816 help as well > (there are two commands to move blocks of memory.) } DataQue is working on > this problem and will probably release an accelerator board in the future to > increase the speed closer to the chip's limit. > (Info in {} above is my own, not Chuck's.) > Gary Duzan > Time Lord > Third Regeneration > Atari Enthusiast Extreme Could you post some more information about the DataQue Turbo-816, as this is the first I've heard of it. From what you say, can I assume that it is a board that runs standard Atari/6502 software, but using the 65816 instead of a 6502 ?? I am interested because the final year project of my degree was to add a 65816 2nd processor to an Atari 800XL. I ran the 65816 at 2.5MHz, as I was not constrained by the graphics chips (Antic,GTIA) which require the Atari to run at 1.79MHz. This meant that graphics progs would not work unmodified, but stuff like BASIC, and Assemblers would. The software ran twice as fast on the 65816 as on the 800XL (because the 6502 on the 800XL is slowed down by DMA performed by Antic). I connected the two together using the 800XL's parallel port. Any I/O operations (such as screen, keyboard and disc accesses) were passed across the parallel port to be handled by the 800XL. Thus the 65816 took over the role as main processor, and the 800XL was an intelligent terminal to it. Ivan Warner
gdtltr@vax1.acs.udel.EDU (Gary D Duzan) (06/06/89)
In article <1711@zaphod.axion.bt.co.uk> iwarner@zaphod.axion.bt.co.uk writes: => => Could you post some more information about the DataQue Turbo-816, =>as this is the first I've heard of it. => Sure thing. => From what you say, can I assume that it is a board that runs =>standard Atari/6502 software, but using the 65816 instead of a 6502 ?? => Correct. DataQue has also completely rewritten the Atari OS in the 65816 native mode. The basic upgrade will replace the OS ROM, 6502, add one wire to the motherboard, and will initially run about $120. Supposedly they have gone to great pains to maintain compatability with existing hardware and software., and I understand they have had reasonable success. They will be adding all sorts of neat stuff like a card bus, enhanced color graphics card, RAM cards, accelerators, coprocessors, and some other stuff. => I am interested because the final year project of my degree was =>to add a 65816 2nd processor to an Atari 800XL. I ran the 65816 at 2.5MHz, =>as I was not constrained by the graphics chips (Antic,GTIA) which require =>the Atari to run at 1.79MHz. This meant that graphics progs would not work =>unmodified, but stuff like BASIC, and Assemblers would. =>The software ran twice as fast on the 65816 as on the 800XL (because the =>6502 on the 800XL is slowed down by DMA performed by Antic). => => I connected the two together using the 800XL's parallel port. Any =>I/O operations (such as screen, keyboard and disc accesses) were passed =>across the parallel port to be handled by the 800XL. Thus the 65816 =>took over the role as main processor, and the 800XL was an intelligent =>terminal to it. => => => Ivan Warner This sounds very interesting, and I have been thinking lately of similar things myself. If you have your work written in some digital media somewhere, I would be ever grateful if you could send me a copy. Thanx. Gary Duzan Time Lord Third Regeneration Atari Enthusiast Extreme -- +------------------------------------------+ UUCP: !uunet!udel.edu!vax1!gdtltr | "Two hearts are better than one." -- Yes | Internet: gdtltr@vax1.acs.udel.edu | "Don't listen to me; I never do." -- Doctor Who | Other: Relay through CUNYVM +-------------------------------------------------+ or something.