Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!uwm.edu!csd4.csd.uwm.edu!bionet!apple!sun-barr!newstop!texsun!convex!eugene!swarren
From: swarren@eugene.uucp (Steve Warren)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.tech
Subject: Re: Amiga 3000 rumors
Keywords: A3000 ECS 32 bit Graphics Sound
Message-ID: <1778@convex.UUCP>
Date: 15 Sep 89 23:02:12 GMT
References: <4686@shlump.nac.dec.com> <32275@auc.UUCP>
Sender: usenet@convex.UUCP
Reply-To: swarren@eugene.UUCP (Steve Warren)
Organization: Convex Computer Corporation, Richardson, Tx.
Lines: 35

In article <32275@auc.UUCP> rar@auc.UUCP (Rodney Ricks) writes:
                     [...]
>Sit down.  Are you ready?  I think that Chip RAM should be expanded to...
>at least 8 Megabytes.
                     [...]
I like this.  With the enormous address space available to the 32-bit
680X0 family, it would be really nice to make optional chip ram expansion
available to those who can afford it.
                     [...]
>I do think that the A3000 REALLY should have a scalable-speed asynchronous
>design.  By that, I mean that the user, by replacing the CPU and some other
>(socketed) chips, should be able to upgrade their 25Mhz A3000 to a 33 Mhz
>A3000 (unless you want to ship it as a 33Mhz machine ...).  They should also
>be able to upgrade it to a 50Mhz machine, and so on, when the CPU is available

Well, the only hard part is that the 50 Mhz version is probably going
to require a controlled impedance PC board (ie multiwire) and fully
terminated nets, which will cause the size, complexity, and expense
of the design to mushroom.  Most likely a 50 Mhz uP chip would have
to run asynchronously on a daughter card in the 3000, unless they are
planning on pricing it out of reach of most of us.
                     [...]
>I have a feeling that this isn't exactly an easy thing to engineer, but if
>it is done, it would have very interesting implications.  Commodore could
>sell several "versions" of the Amiga 3000, running at different clock rates,
>which would actually be the same machine, except for a few chips!

Except that the slower version would be *much* cheaper if it didn't
have to be capable of running at the higher speeds also.  The higher
speeds bring in a whole new set of design considerations.  That is
why really fast systems cost so much more.

--Steve
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