vinsci@nic.funet.fi (Leonard Norrgard) (06/11/91)
I just got off the phone with X-Pert Computer Services in Germany, and to my surprise they said they have a 50 MHz 68040 card available now. The card comes in two versions, one for the A2000 and one for the A3000. The A2000 version comes with 4MB of on-board RAM. Prices are 5900 DM for the A300 version, 6900 DM for the A2000 version. (Address and phone number below). Their Visiona 24bit graphics card isn't available yet (though they showed it at Amiga '91 in Berlin about a month ago), but scheduled for the end of the year. The version shown at the show didn't have a hardware cursor, which they said they would include in the next in-house version of the card. Programming info & libraries are available now though. (I got mine in Berlin :-) For some reason they think that their MEM64 64Mb nibble mode memory card won't have a market without it, so they plan to release them at the same time. I suppose they're thinking of image manipulation as the main market for the Visiona and that is of course memory intesive. However one would think that it would be good for the Unix systems as well! The person I spoke with said that their TimeHopper external cache board for the A3000 is available now as well. X-Pert Computer Services GmbH Weiherwiese 27 D-6270 Idstein Tel. +49-6126-8809-3056 (they know english..., the time zone is GMT/UTC+2) Fax. +49-6126-54922 Enjoy, -- Leonard
swarren@convex.com (Steve Warren) (06/14/91)
In article <VINSCI.91Jun11130347@nic.nic.funet.fi> vinsci@nic.funet.fi (Leonard Norrgard) writes: >I just got off the phone with X-Pert Computer Services in Germany, and >to my surprise they said they have a 50 MHz 68040 card available now. What part of the logic runs at 50 MHz?? The divide-by-two logic that clocks the 68040? ;^) Considering the fact that Motorola is having enough trouble getting the 68040 out at 25 MHz, I would take claims of a 50 MHz '040 board with a grain of salt. BTW, what is the rate of exchange between US$ and DM? What price range is 5900 to 6900 DM, in US$ ? -- _. --Steve ._||__ Warren v\ *| V
es1@cunixb.cc.columbia.edu (Ethan Solomita) (06/14/91)
In article <VINSCI.91Jun11130347@nic.nic.funet.fi> vinsci@nic.funet.fi (Leonard Norrgard) writes: >I just got off the phone with X-Pert Computer Services in Germany, and >to my surprise they said they have a 50 MHz 68040 card available now. >The card comes in two versions, one for the A2000 and one for the >A3000. The A2000 version comes with 4MB of on-board RAM. Prices are >5900 DM for the A300 version, 6900 DM for the A2000 version. (Address >and phone number below). > Before someone jumps in and says it is impossible, Moto isn't shipping a 50MHz version, it is CONCEIVABLE that they replaced the crystal and put a very big heat sink by the chip. I don't know of course. The price does seem a bit high, at least for the 3000 model. Now the world has gone to bed, Now I lay me down to sleep, Darkness won't engulf my head, Try to count electric sheep, I can see by infrared, Sweet dream wishes you can keep, How I hate the night. How I hate the night. -- Marvin
tsruland@faui09.informatik.uni-erlangen.de (Tobias Ruland) (06/14/91)
vinsci@nic.funet.fi (Leonard Norrgard) writes: >I just got off the phone with X-Pert Computer Services in Germany, and >to my surprise they said they have a 50 MHz 68040 card available now. >The card comes in two versions, one for the A2000 and one for the >A3000. The A2000 version comes with 4MB of on-board RAM. Prices are >5900 DM for the A300 version, 6900 DM for the A2000 version. (Address >and phone number below). high all just a little question about that 50 mhz... are the 50 mhz internal 50 mhz or is this 68040's external clock 25 mhz ??? cu Tobias
daveh@cbmvax.commodore.com (Dave Haynie) (06/15/91)
In article <VINSCI.91Jun11130347@nic.nic.funet.fi> vinsci@nic.funet.fi (Leonard Norrgard) writes: >I just got off the phone with X-Pert Computer Services in Germany, and >to my surprise they said they have a 50 MHz 68040 card available now. They're lying to you. The 68040 has two clocks, the bus clock (BCLK) and the processor clock (PCLK). PCLK is twice as fast as BCLK. However, the speed of BCLK is the answer to "how fast is that '040". In other words, the 25MHz 68040 has a BCLK speed of 25MHz, a PCLK speed of 50MHz. I don't disbelieve that these folks have 68040 boards, but they're selling you 25MHz boards and calling them 50MHz. Motorola has only recently released 33MHz 68040 spec. They aren't even close to telling us about a 50MHz 68040, much less delivering one. >-- Leonard -- Dave Haynie Commodore-Amiga (Amiga 3000) "The Crew That Never Rests" {uunet|pyramid|rutgers}!cbmvax!daveh PLINK: hazy BIX: hazy "This is my mistake. Let me make it good." -R.E.M.
uzun@pnet01.cts.com (Roger Uzun) (06/17/91)
[]
X-Pert Computer Services GmbH, would have to manufacture their own
68040 chips to release a safe 50 Mhz 040 board, since the specs for
the 33Mhz 040 were only recently released to developers by Motorola,
and no such parts (33Mhz) are available yet. I would guess it will
be a year before a 50Mhz 040 will be available for purchase from Motorola.
-Roger
UUCP: {hplabs!hp-sdd ucsd nosc}!crash!pnet01!uzun
ARPA: crash!pnet01!uzun@nosc.mil
INET: uzun@pnet01.cts.comcates504@pirates.armstrong.edu (06/17/91)
At today's exchange rate that is about $3300! Quite a bit, 3.5-4 times, more than the 25 mhz. 040' cards Progressive Peripherals and Supra have announced and shown. Hardly worth the difference. There simply is not _that_ much "glue" needed to make an 040' work in an A3000, the Supra and PP cards are very simple, almost barren looking. ;^) Jim
rbabel@babylon.rmt.sub.org (Ralph Babel) (06/18/91)
In article <VINSCI.91Jun18035202@nic.nic.funet.fi>, vinsci@nic.funet.fi (Leonard Norrgard) writes: > On the other hand, these are the same folks who sold 50MHz > GVP '030 accelerators before GVP did... Maybe they did, but GVP were certainly first when it came to fully _functional_ 50-MHz '030 boards. Sometimes I wonder whether the '040's PCLK pin is really a "no connect" that has been renamed by a clever marketing guy. :-) Ralph
vinsci@nic.funet.fi (Leonard Norrgard) (06/18/91)
In article <22477@cbmvax.commodore.com> daveh@cbmvax.commodore.com (Dave Haynie) writes: In article <VINSCI.91Jun11130347@nic.nic.funet.fi> vinsci@nic.funet.fi (Leonard Norrgard) writes: >I just got off the phone with X-Pert Computer Services in Germany, and >to my surprise they said they have a 50 MHz 68040 card available now. They're lying to you. That was what I thought. So I asked him two more times right then. I also said that I was going to write to the net about and he still persisted. Maybe they'll learn as they lose customer confidence? On the other hand, these are the same folks who sold 50MHz GVP '030 accelerators before GVP did... Accelerating a board is of course a little bit different from accelerating a chip. :-) [good explanatiuon deleted] Dave Haynie Commodore-Amiga (Amiga 3000) "The Crew That Never Rests" -- Leonard
es1@cunixb.cc.columbia.edu (Ethan Solomita) (06/18/91)
In article <VINSCI.91Jun18035202@nic.nic.funet.fi> vinsci@nic.funet.fi (Leonard Norrgard) writes: >In article <22477@cbmvax.commodore.com> daveh@cbmvax.commodore.com (Dave Haynie) writes: > In article <VINSCI.91Jun11130347@nic.nic.funet.fi> vinsci@nic.funet.fi (Leonard Norrgard) writes: > >I just got off the phone with X-Pert Computer Services in Germany, and > >to my surprise they said they have a 50 MHz 68040 card available now. > > They're lying to you. > >That was what I thought. So I asked him two more times right then. >I also said that I was going to write to the net about and he >still persisted. Maybe they'll learn as they lose customer confidence? > On the other hand, these are the same folks who sold 50MHz GVP '030 >accelerators before GVP did... Accelerating a board is of course a >little bit different from accelerating a chip. :-) > I still don't understand: isn't it POSSIBLE that they are simply replacing the crystal and using a heat sink? The success rate could be >0. -- Ethan "...Know-Nothing-Bozo the Non-Wonder Dog, an animal so stupid that it had been sacked from one of Will's own commercials for being incapable of knowing which dog food it was supposed to prefer, despite the fact that the meat in all the other bowls had engine oil poured all over it."
bdraschk@immd4.informatik.uni-erlangen.de (Bernd Raschke) (06/18/91)
es1@cunixb.cc.columbia.edu (Ethan Solomita) writes: > I still don't understand: isn't it POSSIBLE that they are >simply replacing the crystal and using a heat sink? The success >rate could be >0. Maybe they use more than a normal heat sink, but one of those new 'Ice-Cap's (little refrigerators mounted on top of fast CPUs). Still i wonder if this would be enough to double from 25 to 50Hz. I think there's more evolved than heat, something like electro-magnetic fields, high frequencies and so on...? > -- Ethan ciao, bernd --- Bernd 'The Real Arthur!' Raschke |Only // bdraschk@faui09.informatik.uni-erlangen.de | \\ // Amiga hartmannstr. 129 8520 erlangen 09131 38244 | \X/ makes it possible "Im Uebrigen bin ich der Meinung, dass Bonn Regierungssitz bleiben muss"
daveh@cbmvax.commodore.com (Dave Haynie) (06/19/91)
In article <1991Jun18.040356.15179@cunixf.cc.columbia.edu> es1@cunixb.cc.columbia.edu (Ethan Solomita) writes: >In article <VINSCI.91Jun18035202@nic.nic.funet.fi> vinsci@nic.funet.fi (Leonard Norrgard) writes: >>In article <22477@cbmvax.commodore.com> daveh@cbmvax.commodore.com (Dave Haynie) writes: >> In article <VINSCI.91Jun11130347@nic.nic.funet.fi> vinsci@nic.funet.fi (Leonard Norrgard) writes: >> >I just got off the phone with X-Pert Computer Services in Germany, and >> >to my surprise they said they have a 50 MHz 68040 card available now. >> They're lying to you. > I still don't understand: isn't it POSSIBLE that they are >simply replacing the crystal and using a heat sink? The success >rate could be >0. When pigs fly. The rate at which 33MHz '040s currently flow from Motorola (practically NIL) is a good indication that any '040 at 50MHz is a future item. The 50MHz 68030 was a different design than the 16MHz-33MHz part; dropouts could be qualified for 40MHz, but couldn't be sold at 33MHz. I would not be surprised if the 50MHz part is a different design (which implys substantial speed tweaks, not a ground-up redesign). -- Dave Haynie Commodore-Amiga (Amiga 3000) "The Crew That Never Rests" {uunet|pyramid|rutgers}!cbmvax!daveh PLINK: hazy BIX: hazy "This is my mistake. Let me make it good." -R.E.M.
peterk@cbmger.UUCP (Peter Kittel GERMANY) (06/19/91)
> In article <VINSCI.91Jun11130347@nic.nic.funet.fi> vinsci@nic.funet.fi (Leonard Norrgard) writes: > >I just got off the phone with X-Pert Computer Services in Germany, and > >to my surprise they said they have a 50 MHz 68040 card available now. Well, I just received the July issue of the German Amiga Magazin. On p. 6, they have a marketing blurb of ACD (Advanced Computer Design, Bremen, Germany) who sell the "Fusion-40" card made by US company RCS. It's a 68040 card with 4 MB RAM, priced at 6000 DM (ca. $3300). It's rated with 18 MIPS, so someone perhaps can tell what the real clock frequency is. Because in the text, they say (translated): The 68040 processor works internally with 50 MHz, though the external clock is only 25 MHz. Now, can someone confirm me that this is exactly the wrong way round? -- Best regards, Dr. Peter Kittel // E-Mail to \\ Only my personal opinions... Commodore Frankfurt, Germany \X/ {uunet|pyramid|rutgers}!cbmvax!cbmger!peterk
menzies@CAM.ORG (Stephen Menzies) (06/22/91)
peterk@cbmger.UUCP (Peter Kittel GERMANY) writes: >> In article <VINSCI.91Jun11130347@nic.nic.funet.fi> vinsci@nic.funet.fi (Leonard Norrgard) writes: >> >I just got off the phone with X-Pert Computer Services in Germany, and >> >to my surprise they said they have a 50 MHz 68040 card available now. >Well, I just received the July issue of the German Amiga Magazin. >On p. 6, they have a marketing blurb of ACD (Advanced Computer Design, >Bremen, Germany) who sell the "Fusion-40" card made by US company RCS. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ RCS Management is a *Canadian* company located here in Montreal,Quebec. >It's a 68040 card with 4 MB RAM, priced at 6000 DM (ca. $3300). >It's rated with 18 MIPS, so someone perhaps can tell what the real >clock frequency is. Because in the text, they say (translated): > The 68040 processor works internally with 50 MHz, though the > external clock is only 25 MHz. >Now, can someone confirm me that this is exactly the wrong way round? The board should NOT be considered a 50mhz card just because it has a 50mhz clock. If I may quote Dave Haynie's recent explanation of the 040's two clocks: "[start of quote].. The 68040 has two clocks, the bus clock (BCLK) and the processor clock (PCLK). PCLK is twice as fast as BCLK. However, the speed of the BCLK is the answer to "how fast is that '040". In other words, the 25mhz 68040 has the BCLK speed of 25MHz, a PCLK speed of 50MHz."[unquote] So the board should be (is) considered to be 25MHz. >-- >Best regards, Dr. Peter Kittel // E-Mail to \\ Only my personal opinions... >Commodore Frankfurt, Germany \X/ {uunet|pyramid|rutgers}!cbmvax!cbmger!peterk --stephen -- Stephen Menzies Email: menzies@CAM.ORG
entity@cccan.uucp (Cybernetworx) (06/22/91)
In article <1390@cbmger.UUCP> peterk@cbmger.UUCP (Peter Kittel GERMANY) writes: >Well, I just received the July issue of the German Amiga Magazin. >On p. 6, they have a marketing blurb of ACD (Advanced Computer Design, >Bremen, Germany) who sell the "Fusion-40" card made by US company RCS. Actually its made by RCS management who hail from up here in Canada. Anyhow... >It's a 68040 card with 4 MB RAM, priced at 6000 DM (ca. $3300). >It's rated with 18 MIPS, so someone perhaps can tell what the real >clock frequency is. Because in the text, they say (translated): > > The 68040 processor works internally with 50 MHz, though the > external clock is only 25 MHz. > From talking to 'em they said 68040 running at 25Mhz, nothing about 50 Mhz internal OR external. Rated at 20-27 mips according to their ad in AmigaWorld (May 1991, pg 53) >Best regards, Dr. Peter Kittel // E-Mail to \\ Only my personal opinions... >Commodore Frankfurt, Germany \X/ {uunet|pyramid|rutgers}!cbmvax!cbmger!peterk -- __ __ /// \\\ /// UUCP: ...uunet!utai!lsuc!becker!cccan!entity CYBERNETWORX INET: entity@cccan.UUCP