Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!wuarchive!psuvax1!psuvm!cxw148
From: CXW148@psuvm.psu.edu
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st
Subject: Re: AMIGA Specs
Message-ID: <91037.172827CXW148@psuvm.psu.edu>
Date: 6 Feb 91 22:28:27 GMT
References: <1991Feb3.121355.5874@marlin.jcu.edu.au>
 <1991Feb4.100645.23401@qut.edu.au> <1991Feb4.014940.14419@marlin.jcu.edu.au>
 <1991Feb4.163342.22821@daffy.cs.wisc.edu>
Organization: Penn State University
Lines: 18

The limit on Amiga video ram is due to the inability of the custom chips (the
three chips called the Agnes, the Blitter, and the Portia).  These same chips
are responsible for the multitasking power of the Amiga.  The 68K CPU is free
to attend to other operations while Portia handles the port accessing, and the
Blitter and Agnes operate the graphics and sound.  Every limitation on the
Amiga is due to these three chips, which Commodore has been slow to revise and
upgrade.  The only exception being the new 'Fat Agnes' which can access 1 meg
of video memory at a time, and the new ECS (Enhanced Chip Set). While a slight
improvement, the only thing I can remember about the new capabilities is the
ability to run Viking Moniterm resolution in 4 colors.  There is also a 50MHz
accelerator board available for the Amiga, and the Tahiti rewritable optical
drive which stores 1 gigabyte of information.  The Amiga 3000 has the
capability to have RAM expansion to a few gigabytes (but I don't remember the
exact number).  You should both get your facts straight, and read industry-
wide publications instead of product specific publications.  Every system has
it's limits.  Read Byte instead.
                                Chris Winward
                           userid CXW148 on PSUVM