posted by Troika on 12-Sep-2006 9:08:19 (17381 reads)
Amy'05 update part 1 Speed & upgrades
This is the first of two updates on the Project Prometheus/Amy'05 design that we will be releasing this week. The second part before BB4, is scheduled for Wednesday 13th September 2006.
Read more for details... (mod note)
The PowerPC CPU has been improved upon, we now have an IBM 750GL @ 800 MHz with 1 MByte of L2 cache, against the previous 512K of cache. The design of the motherboard will support 750GL CPUs upto 1 GHz core speed in the future. The 800 MHz part was chosen as the baseline as it represents the best price/performance mix.
To keep the system cool, both the CPU and our Northbridge the Tundra TSI107 need heatsinks, but the TSI-107 does not require a fan in normal use. The Troika team developed a thermostatically controlled fan system for the CPU and optional case fan. Amy has a dedicated fan controller IC, this will allow quiet operation, if allowable by system usage patterns.
SDRAM DIMM detection has been improved compared to previous OS4 capable systems. The TSI107 provides the necessary features to more accurately setup the SDRAM timing based upon the Serial Presence Detect (SPD) ROM parameters of the installed memory stick(s). This will ease the purchasing of suitable RAM for Amy'05.
In keeping with the speed increase, the graphics slot has been doubled in speed. The PCI slot for the graphics adaptor now runs at 66 MHz, yielding a maximum throughput of 264 MByte/sec. This provides comparable speed to the AGP 1X slot.
From previous experience, this bus speed has been sufficient to run 1280x1024 Open GL 2D/3D graphics @ 60 Hz with no issues using the ATI Radeon 9700 series and above graphics cards.
Only one PCI slot supports the 66 MHz speed and there is the appropriate bridge chip and logic to connect to the system 33 MHz PCI bus.
That is all for this update, the second and final update is on Wednesday.
For those concerned about the lack of AGP - Olegil made an adaptor to enable the use of PCIx cards in a PCI slot.
From what I remeber - you dont need to write any special drivers, you just plug the adaptop into the slot, and the PCIx card into the adaptor. Cards run at the speeds allowed by the PCI bus.
So finding cards for Amy will honestly not be a problem, as you've got access to regular PCI cards as well as PCIx cards.
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The_Editor
Re: Troika Amy Design-speed Upgrades Posted on 13-Sep-2006 10:53:22
There are a number of cases out there like the Silverstone ones, which would allow you to install the Amy05 board and mount a 90 degree bridge slot. Many of the bridge adapters also include a flexable cable between the connector parts to allow more freedom as to where it goes in the case.
Amy05 should be able to use any of those type connectors to adapt to cases and slot bridges. We would have to wait and see the final layout of the board before actually knowing which case would work best.
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polka.
Re: Troika Amy Design-speed Upgrades Posted on 13-Sep-2006 14:45:40
what is the problem with pci-cards? the bandwidth isn't a problem for the moment since I doubt there is software that demands more bandwidth as given by PCI?
And even when there is a bandwidth problem in some cases.... hello again... we are talking about an entrylevel board that is perfectly capable running OS4 like it is today. If it really comes to a batch of these they will be what they are ment to be and I am sure when a new high-end motherboard comes out you can sell them for a good price when you like to upgrade.
just in case someone does not understand: ENTRYLEVEL
You can easily find cheap components on Ebay and it will be lots cheaper then the 1000¤ i paid for my µA1... I hope anyway
_________________ - Proud Member Of The Belgian Amigaclub Since 2003 -
Joined: 20-Aug-2003 Posts: 6291
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@ ChrisH Date
Quote:
@all Am I the only one who wishes that Troika would STOP improving their mobo, and just release the damn thing? Does no-one remember Mick Tinker & the Boxer?
I sure remember. I thought Tinker tinkered too much!
____________________ Moxee
_________________ Moxee AmigaOne X1000 AmigaOne XE G4 I'd agree with you, but then we'd both be wrong.
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Mike67
provincia di torino Posted on 21-Aug-2007 22:05:08
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