Will there be an ACA1240 or ACA1260?

[AmigaClassicRule]

I am not so sure if this topic already was posted here but I am wondering will there be ever an ACA1240 or ACA1260?
 
I like the way ACA1232 looks, I like the cheap price of it and I like the power behind it, especially where the RAM is soldiered in and not a SIMM which saves a lot of space for A1200D, especially. I love how it comes already with 128 MB of RAM too.
 
I was wondering, will there be something like that for an ACA1240 or ACA1260 where it will be running on 040 or 060 instead of the 030? This will be better than the outdated and over priced accelerator cards we get from eBay or AmiBay where there also risk being rarer and rarer to find.
 
If the price factor and the fact that it is not economically feasible for profit wise for manufacturer, why not then increase the speed of the ACA1232 itself from 33 Mhz (which seems a little slow for me) to something like 100 or 200 Mhz? This way we get the full compatibility of all the applications and games that 030 provide and it could outspeed even the 060. I am sure I can spend 800 dollars for a 200 Mhz 68k if I am willing to spend 1k on an outdated 060 card on eBay.
 
Thanks in advance.

[Blinx123]

I'm pretty sure a 030 won't run at 100MHz, let alone 200MHz.

As for availability of higher end accelerators. I asked Jens that very question a couple of weeks ago. His reply was along the lines of "not in the foreseeable future" and "way too complex to be practical".

EDIT: Actually, cut that last part. He never mentioned it to be too complicated to achieve. He did, however, say that if I was interested in a fast Amiga now I should invest in one of his 1230 series cards.

[AmigaClassicRule]

I'm pretty sure a 030 won't run at 100MHz, let alone 200MHz.
 
As for availability of higher end accelerators. I asked Jens that very question a couple of weeks ago. His reply was along the lines of "not in the foreseeable future" and "way too complex to be practical".
 
EDIT: Actually, cut that last part. He never mentioned it to be too complicated to achieve. He did, however, say that if I was interested in a fast Amiga now I should invest in one of his 1230 series cards.

Jens if you are listening or reading this it is for you. I am going to INVEST in one of your 1230 series because I am hoping you are a man of your words and you will make a new faster ACA series for the Amiga. Because I love everything about your ACA design, the color, the shape, AND ESPECIALLY HOW EVERYTHING is in soldiered into the card ITSELF,for example the ram and how it is fixed to 128 MB. I love that!! It is really a space saver for my Amiga 1200 and I love how it is a completely new hardware and not old. If you see a new sale on it, it is because I bought one.
 
I added it to my shopping cart in AmigaKit. I am just waiting for the new supply of them to show up right now they are unavailable in AmigaKit.

[Lord Aga]

I have a feeling that ACA1240 is quite plausible

[ChaosLord]

I can understand why he isn't making 060 cards.  He is saving all the 060 chips for Natami and FPGAReplay boards.

I donno why he isn't making 040 cards tho.

Jens please please please please make an 040 card!

I wrote a game that really needs a cpu with a real L1 cache and high execution speed.  I burn all available cpu power rendering animations in the game at super high speeds.  In all of my many timing tests 040 provides a big boost over 030.

I can't realtime decompress mods, mp3s or soundfx on slooooooooow 030.
I can't do fullscreen rotation on 030.  Its just entirely too slow.

Please make an 040 card with 128MB of ram (or more) onboard.  The 128MB of RAM really helps out with the coding, debugging, multitasking etc. etc.

[ChaosLord]

Most of the old 68040 accelerators were 25Mhz which is like a 75Mhz 030.

But there was the WarpEngine 4040 which was 40Mhz for A2000 which was really zooooming fast.  I assume there is no way to use that in an A1200?

[Lord Aga]

Maybe with some modern-type, active cooling...

[Blinx123]

I can understand why he isn't making 060 cards.  He is saving all the 060 chips for Natami and FPGAReplay boards.

I donno why he isn't making 040 cards tho.

Jens please please please please make an 040 card!

I wrote a game that really needs a cpu with a real L1 cache and high execution speed.  I burn all available cpu power rendering animations in the game at super high speeds.  In all of my many timing tests 040 provides a big boost over 030.

I can't realtime decompress mods, mp3s or soundfx on slooooooooow 030.
I can't do fullscreen rotation on 030.  Its just entirely too slow.

Please make an 040 card with 128MB of ram (or more) onboard.  The 128MB of RAM really helps out with the coding, debugging, multitasking etc. etc.

AFAIK, NATAMI is going to rely on it's own softcore which they call the 68070. So no 68060 required. And isn't the goal of the FPGAReplay developers to eventually end up with an integrated solution (perhaps even one based on NATAMI) as well?

Amen on the programming part.

I recently got back into programming games and this would certainly be a nice minimum spec for a render adventure. Though I'd probably still want a 68060 at one point.

[ChaosLord]

All Natamis produced to date include a real 060 @~90Mhz

The expansion board for FPGAReplay also has a similar 060.  Probably the exact same kind.

If you can get ahold of an Apollo 040 or 060 card then Cosmos can mod it into an 80Mhz 060 for u.

[spirantho]

@AmigaClassicRule
Please don't buy an ACA because you expect a faster one later - I think it's very unlikely Jens will make one, and he's never promised he will.
Things to bear in mind:
The 68030 is based on the 68020 - it's a simple accelerator. The 68040 is NOT - it is quite different, which is why you need 68040.library and not a 68030.library. 68060 is closer to 68020 in many ways, but in other ways even more incompatible.
The 68040 is a real heat monster. This is why you should only use 68040s in towered Amigas. 68060s are better.
68060s are near impossible to find new, I believe. Chinese suppliers claim to have them but there's doubt as to how genuine they are. 68040s the same, but I don't even think the Chinese sell them.

I can't speak for Jens, but I get the strong impression that there will be never be a faster ACA than the 56MHz one - and he's already discontinued that one.
Certainly don't just buy an ACA in the expectation of getting a faster one down the line - the ACA is a fantastic accelerator as it is, buy it for that reason. Then you won't be disappointed.

Incidentally, a 200MHz 68030? Maximum speed on a 68030 is 50MHz (the 56MHz is overclocked and pushing it) I believe? 200MHz or even 100MHz is completely impossible without a major redesign - and it wouldn't be a 68030 any more.

[Rob]

68060s are near impossible to find new, I believe. Chinese suppliers claim to have them but there's doubt as to how genuine they are. 68040s the same, but I don't even think the Chinese sell them.

Chinese don't sell 68040s because they are too busy relabeling them as 68060s.

[ChaosLord]

Chinese don't sell 68040s because they are too busy relabeling them as 68060s.

:laugh1:


u r joking, right?

btw: 2 teams of ppl have acquired numbers of those 060s and they really can go 100Mhz and they are real 060s.  Some have FPU some don't.  I think only the nonFPU chips can reach 90Mhz but I can't remember right now.

[NovaCoder]

Jens has already indicated that FPGA is the way to go for high-end cards.

[AmigaClassicRule]

@AmigaClassicRule
Please don't buy an ACA because you expect a faster one later - I think it's very unlikely Jens will make one, and he's never promised he will.
Things to bear in mind:
The 68030 is based on the 68020 - it's a simple accelerator. The 68040 is NOT - it is quite different, which is why you need 68040.library and not a 68030.library. 68060 is closer to 68020 in many ways, but in other ways even more incompatible.
The 68040 is a real heat monster. This is why you should only use 68040s in towered Amigas. 68060s are better.
68060s are near impossible to find new, I believe. Chinese suppliers claim to have them but there's doubt as to how genuine they are. 68040s the same, but I don't even think the Chinese sell them.
 
I can't speak for Jens, but I get the strong impression that there will be never be a faster ACA than the 56MHz one - and he's already discontinued that one.
Certainly don't just buy an ACA in the expectation of getting a faster one down the line - the ACA is a fantastic accelerator as it is, buy it for that reason. Then you won't be disappointed.
 
Incidentally, a 200MHz 68030? Maximum speed on a 68030 is 50MHz (the 56MHz is overclocked and pushing it) I believe? 200MHz or even 100MHz is completely impossible without a major redesign - and it wouldn't be a 68030 any more.

Oh, the only downside or fear I have with ACA is that it may not be fast enough for a smooth 20 fps ScummVMAGA games and it may not run 20 fps easily HAMP.RUN movies as well as say a 040 or a 060? If it can run games of ScummVMAGA with 20 fps smoothness as well as HAMP movie then the ACA1232 is most perfect card ever, because it comes with 128 Mb of RAM and very financially easy to me.

[Lord Aga]

btw: 2 teams of ppl have acquired numbers of those 060s and they really can go 100Mhz and they are real 060s.  Some have FPU some don't.  I think only the nonFPU chips can reach 90Mhz but I can't remember right now.

Yup. It's Mc68060fe133.
Kinda weird looking, and lacking MMU (FPU?), but legit, and capable of 100+ MHz clocks.