Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!swrinde!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!lll-winken!iggy.GW.Vitalink.COM!widener!dsinc!bagate!cbmvax!daveh From: daveh@cbmvax.commodore.com (Dave Haynie) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.advocacy Subject: Re: New baseline Amiga? Message-ID: <20802@cbmvax.commodore.com> Date: 20 Apr 91 04:44:53 GMT References: <1991Apr12.155350.20444@convex.com> Reply-To: daveh@cbmvax.commodore.com (Dave Haynie) Organization: Commodore, West Chester, PA Lines: 44 In article <1991Apr12.155350.20444@convex.com> swarren@convex.com (Steve Warren) writes: >I wish that Commodore would redesign the A500 motherboard to utilize a 68020 >instead of a 68000. Call it the A500+ or something. Do the same with the >A2000. Include a socket for a 68881 chip. They wouldn't need to bump up the >memory bus to 32-bits; they could leave the motherboard memory just like it >is. The idea would be to have the 020 as the baseline processor for the Amiga >line. What would this buy you? A 68020 without 32 bit memory will, on the average, give you about 15% more speed than an equivalent 68000. Many things will run slower, things that fit nicely in the I-Cache run faster. >This would involve some NRE costs but it would not be *that* expensive. The >68020 now sells for less than the 68000 did when the 1000 came out. Hardly. The 68000 was around $5-$6 when the A1000 came out. You get me a $5 68020 and I won't have too much trouble convincing the Big Boss Men that a jazzed up A500 would be A Good Idea. >There would be a modest performance boost on integer code and a significant >performance boost for floating point code. That's, as you said, optional, so the base machine is only ever-so-slightly faster than an A500 is today. Not good enough, you gotta have 32 bit memory. >Well, what do you think, would that be cool, or what? Personally, I would love to see a cheap-ass 32 bit system. But a real 32 bit system, not some trick. If there's no 32 bit RAM, there's no 32 bit system. I don't think the 68020 pricing is quite there just yet. The main reason the 68000 pricing was so low was competition -- Signetics, Thompson, Hitachi, etc. made 68000s as second sources. That happens to the 68020, and the price could drop. I think packaging concerns may always keep it higher than the 68000 though. >--Steve ._||__ DISCLAIMER: All opinions are my own. > Warren v\ *| ---------------------------------------------- -- Dave Haynie Commodore-Amiga (Amiga 3000) "The Crew That Never Rests" {uunet|pyramid|rutgers}!cbmvax!daveh PLINK: hazy BIX: hazy "That's me in the corner, that's me in the spotlight" -R.E.M.