New Sam460cr boards will hit the road soon!

[giZmo350]

That's a pretty good deal! Thanks for the heads up Elwood!   

[giZmo350]

I thought the CR does have onboard graphics? Isn't it only the SATA and sound chip that's removed?

So with the SATA controller presumably removed, what are you supposed to connect the harddisk to?

Buy one from eBay.....  $10.00 + Free Shipping   

https://www.ebay.com/itm/PCI-e-PCI-Express-Controller-Card-IDE-SATA-eSATA-Internal-External-Raid-Adapter/351796811897?epid=1079771554&hash=item51e8b95879:g:w8MAAOSwEW9aWRpE

Sam460cr Specs......

http://www.acube-systems.biz/index.php?page=hardware&pid=756

What is the difference between the Sam460cr and the Sam460ex?

The Sam460cr is cheaper than the 460ex because the following components are removed: (more like they couldn't get the components anymore - which is a shame) SM502 audio/video chip and onboard SATA. The number of expansion slots (PCI, PCIe) remains the same as for the regular Sam460.

Yeah, as Spectre pointes out, I'm not so sure this is such a good deal. Might have to go with a USB sound card too. Bu, bu, but...... DRIVERS!

Hmmmmmmmmm...... 

[giZmo350]

Here's a couple of PCI SATA cards from Alinea......

PCI SATA Raid Controller 2-Port
It doesn't mention what chip.
https://www.amiga-shop.net/en/Amiga-Hardware/Other-hardware/PCI-SATA-Raid-Controller-2-Port::406.html

PCI SATA Raid Controller 4-Port
Uses the Sil 3114 chip.
https://www.amiga-shop.net/en/Amiga-Hardware/Other-hardware/PCI-SATA-Raid-Controller-4-Port::474.html

[giZmo350]

Oh yea.....  I forgot about that integrated SD card reader. I don't recall.... can you boot from that?

[giZmo350]

Which begs the question (provided that the memory card allows auto-boot) - how does it stack up against a PCI-connected SATA interface, speed-wise?

Not sure about speed without spec'ing all the possibilities... From the user manual it states....

How can the operating system be loaded? It is possible to load the operating system from a PATA/SATA harddisk, a CDROM connected on PATA/SATA, an USB key, a SD card or from the network.

Seems to me that the data x'fer rate might be sufficient from SD card but then I suppose it depends on what you're going to do (you tube, data streaming, etc). What would provide a data cache - if at all?

User Manual.......
http://www.acube-systems.biz/download/Sam460cr_EndUserManual_v1.0.pdf