Path: utzoo!censor!comspec!lethe!torsqnt!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!helios!bcm!dimacs.rutgers.edu!rutgers!cbmvax!daveh
From: daveh@cbmvax.commodore.com (Dave Haynie)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.advocacy
Subject: Re: A3000UX - Born to run UNIX SVR4
Message-ID: <18990@cbmvax.commodore.com>
Date: 14 Feb 91 23:47:45 GMT
References: <593.27ab5841@vger.nsu.edu> <1991Feb04.161126.8475@convex.com> <1991Feb7.151106.4795@cc.helsinki.fi> <32530@auc.UUCP> <1512@pdxgate.UUCP> <43939@ut-emx.uucp> <18893@cbmvax.commodore.com> <596@hydra.bucknell.edu>
Reply-To: daveh@cbmvax.commodore.com (Dave Haynie)
Organization: Commodore, West Chester, PA
Lines: 32

In article <596@hydra.bucknell.edu> klopcic@amethyst.bucknell.edu (KLOPCIC JOEL THADDEUS) writes:

>	As long as Dave Haynie is on the line - what exactly is the upgrade
>path of the Amiga?  Will we see a A4000 anytime with a 68040, or just a
>souped up A3000 with 040 processor/coprocessor?  How would this compare to
>the 68040 machines out on the market now?

While our marketing folks have the final say on it, it's my philosophy that
you build a new Amiga platform only when there's a reason to do so.  It doesn't
make any sense to put the '040 on the motherboard at this time -- an A3000
with an '040 coprocessor should be comparable with other '040 machines;
somewhere between NeXT and HP, depending on the design of the coprocessor 
board.  Of course, if such systems effectively use the '030 as well, I would
expect a bit more performance.  

There are several factors that would make an '040 motherboard reasonable.  If
Motorola reduced the price of the '040 to be close enough to the '030 + '882,
then there's no need to deal with '030s at the A3000 level anymore.  If every
A3000 wound up with an '040 board stuffed in it, it would certainly make
sense to build an '040 motherboard.  If we wanted a machine at a higher price
point than the A3000, it might make sense to build a new motherboard with 
an '040, faster system memory, and lots of secondary cache or something.

But we did start out with the intention to support '040s in the A3000 as
coprocessor cards.  So they are supposed to go in there, they're not a kludge
or anything even remotely suspect.


-- 
Dave Haynie Commodore-Amiga (Amiga 3000) "The Crew That Never Rests"
   {uunet|pyramid|rutgers}!cbmvax!daveh      PLINK: hazy     BIX: hazy
	"What works for me might work for you"	-Jimmy Buffett