Amiga.org

Amiga computer related discussion => Amiga Hardware Issues and discussion => Topic started by: dusanjocic on August 31, 2003, 08:13:25 AM

Title: Check This Out! (Hoax Amiga vapourware)
Post by: dusanjocic on August 31, 2003, 08:13:25 AM
I came out the spec. from the company named "Orion" who will make an AmigaOne with this. It will be out at the market in 2004 or 2005.

 - PPC Processor (Single, Dual or Quad; G4, 970 or 980)
- Rambus Redwood I/O technology support
- Rambus XDR DRAM memory support (up to 16 GB)
- Rambus RaSer IP Cell for PCI Express
- Single, Dual or Quad indenpendente FSB (from 400 MHz to 6,4 GHz)
- Kickstart In 4 MB or 16 MB MRAM
- Custom Made Matrox graphic card (Pixel and Vertex Shaders 3.0 and Direct X 9.1)
- Second Generation Of Custom Chips
- RLDRAM II memory support for Custom Chips ( up to 576 MB)
- USB 2.0 (6 ports) support
- FireWire 800 (4 ports) support
- Wireless Technology - WiFi 802.11n (320 MB/s) support
- SerialATA II (3 GB/s) support
- High Definition DVD-ROM (HD-DVD) support
- Blue Ray Disc support
- 56 K V.92 Modem support
- PCI Express slots support (up to 4)
- Zorro 5 slots support (up to 3)
- RAID support for Dual And Quad models (2+4 independent connectors)
- x86-64 processor (AmigaOne expansion card add-on)
- Coldfire processor (AmigaOne expansion card add-on)
- HDD support from 80 GB to ... (with 10.000 rpm and 8 MB cache)
- Creative Labs 3 support
- Wireless USB support

subject line edited by mikeymike
Title: Re: Check This Out!
Post by: olegil on August 31, 2003, 08:18:22 AM
Proof, please.

Edit:
Wow, that was interesting. Looked up "orion powerpc" on Google and got a sponsored link here: www.kelkoo.no/erotica

Uhm, what? :-)
Title: Re: Check This Out!
Post by: iamaboringperson on August 31, 2003, 08:20:51 AM
What?? And they don' even have a website? (http://www.google.com.au/search?q=Orion+AmigaOne&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en&meta=)

LOOKS LIKE A TROLL TO ME
Title: Re: Check This Out!
Post by: olegil on August 31, 2003, 10:02:42 AM
They have a website, just no mention of any AmigaOne products ;-)

On the other hand, Embedded version of OS4 would be nice on their existing products...

I say it's just a hoax like always. But at least the company in question IS a large powerpc board manufacturer :-)
Title: Re: Check This Out!
Post by: Ni72ous on August 31, 2003, 10:13:02 AM
This sounds to good to be true, so it most likely ain't true :-(

Do Zorro 5 slots exist ?
Title: Re: Check This Out!
Post by: olegil on August 31, 2003, 10:17:43 AM
@NitrousB:
No

No new Amiga would come out with Custom chips or a new Zorro standard. There just isn't any incentive for that after 10 years of not using it...
Title: Re: Check This Out!
Post by: Ni72ous on August 31, 2003, 10:22:24 AM
Did'nt think so, i don't even recall real Zorro 4 slot existing either, what enjoyment can someone get out making crap like this up?
Title: Re: Check This Out!
Post by: seer on August 31, 2003, 10:24:28 AM
Looks like a hoax again. Take a look at the listed specs;

- Custom Made Matrox graphic card (Pixel and Vertex Shaders 3.0 and Direct X 9.1)
- Second Generation Of Custom Chips


Why not mention AAA then  ;-)  But if it has a "custom made Matrox" why the need for the second generation custom chipset ? Besides, I don't think Matrox is interested in this, doesn't follow their current bussines plan..

- Zorro 5 slots support (up to 3)

There isn't even a "official" Z4, who would develope Z5 and use that instead of PCI-X?

- x86-64 processor (AmigaOne expansion card add-on)
- Coldfire processor (AmigaOne expansion card add-on)


Oh come on.... Yet Another Bridgeboard... Nice touch tho..

- Creative Labs 3 support

Meaning ?

I almost believe Merlancia over this  ;-)

Still, would be nice if some of it was true
Title: Re: Check This Out!
Post by: Kronos on August 31, 2003, 10:34:24 AM
Shawn-the-bus-arch-troll's wet dream ... :-D
Title: Re: Check This Out!
Post by: olegil on August 31, 2003, 10:53:14 AM
Some day Shawn is going to realize that Z3 uses a multiplexed addressing (it's a 24 + 16 bit bus used to transfer 32 + 32 bit address/data information), and that this means PCI (with 32 bit multiplexed between address and data) is actually not less efficient.

Hopefully he'll fit his whole head in front of the shotgun.
Title: Re: Check This Out!
Post by: Lando on August 31, 2003, 11:46:20 AM
Sounds fantastic!
I would like to pre-order one, is there a pre-ordering scheme in place yet?
Title: Re: Check This Out!
Post by: seer on August 31, 2003, 11:58:30 AM
Sounds fantastic!
I would like to pre-order one, is there a pre-ordering scheme in place yet?


Well, I could always make a web form and give you my bank account number for you to transfer your cash to ? Won't give you this setup, but that won't make a difference.... ;-)
Title: Re: Check This Out!
Post by: mikeymike on August 31, 2003, 12:13:30 PM
*Yawn* Fake.

It has advanced a bit since someone submitted it as a news article here though...
Title: Re: Check This Out!
Post by: lempkee on August 31, 2003, 01:21:31 PM
hehe, ok i want one! ..

i guess its just another troll, his first post..

and became utterly quiet...

hmmz ...

oh well...lets wait and see when the world grows into amiga only :)

cheers
Title: Re: Check This Out! (Hoax Amiga vapourware)
Post by: T_Bone on August 31, 2003, 01:37:18 PM
Cool, we have kamikazi trolls here too :)

(never believe a news item by a user with 1 post) :-D
Title: Re: Check This Out! (Hoax Amiga vapourware)
Post by: levelLORD on August 31, 2003, 02:05:23 PM
Dushane Jocicu, da ne kakish ti malo? U chemu je tvoj problem? Custom-made MAtrox Card sve zajedno sa DirectX9.1 na AMigi???  PPC procesor 1,2,4, shta bilo, G4 na 970 ili 980 i to 2004 ili 2005??? Ko zna shta ce biti 2004 ili '05... Kome ti ovo prodajesh? Ne razumem samo ulozhen napor da se registrujesh na sajt kako bi potpalio vatru...

Ajd, pa u zdravlje....

levelLORD
Title: Re: Check This Out! (Hoax Amiga vapourware)
Post by: Coder on August 31, 2003, 02:06:57 PM
@T_Bone

Quote
(never believe a news item by a user with 1 post)


I agree. Really when there is no info in the profile of them. :-)

Coder
Title: Re: Check This Out! (Hoax Amiga vapourware)
Post by: levelLORD on August 31, 2003, 02:11:50 PM
Guy is a troll, all that he's talking about doesn't make any sense to me... Whatever.
I don't believe him a word, u ppl how ever u like....

Later,

levelLORD
Title: Re: Check This Out!
Post by: csirac_ on August 31, 2003, 02:51:44 PM
@olegil
Quote
Some day Shawn is going to realize that Z3 uses a multiplexed addressing (it's a 24 + 16 bit bus used to transfer 32 + 32 bit address/data information), and that this means PCI (with 32 bit multiplexed between address and data) is actually not less efficient.

Hopefully he'll fit his whole head in front of the shotgun.


HAHA, So I guess I'm not the only one who tried to convince him of these facts. He was totally convinced "bus arch" is so poor, Amiga is farking fantastic, he wouldn't even explain what he meant by "bus arch" after I went to _great_ lengths explaining what a bus is, all CPUs have them, it's just a bunch of wires for chrissake... must have been about 6 or 7 emails before I gave up. He's got mates working on Z5, you know, and he's got some qualification from some Computing faculty somewhere, and my MEE degree is obviously worthless if I can't see how bad "Bus Arch" is...

Silly as a wheel.

- Paul
Title: Re: Check This Out!
Post by: vortexau on August 31, 2003, 05:15:05 PM
(http://www.noisecontrol.de/info/big/total_bs.gif)

What's in a name?

 ° DID you get it?
Sometimes it is all revealed by a simple 'mouseover?'

Ahh! THAT name! Its better when Cheech says it.
Title: Re: Check This Out!
Post by: Kees on August 31, 2003, 06:23:40 PM
@ olegil

You need to upload a new avatar dude ...  :-)
Title: Re: Check This Out!
Post by: Doobrey on August 31, 2003, 11:29:52 PM
Looks like someone has just written a list of all the latest technology buzzwords with bugger all thought on how it would all fit together..
 How would all those different memory specs fit together?
 Would Rambus XDR Ram be of any use to a G5?
 And " HDD support from 80 GB to ..."  Does that mean that drives under 80GB won`t work ??
 And whats with the obsession with custom chipsets...they ain`t needed anymore. All they do if make the end product a lot more expensive( and waste a lot more development time) than using someone elses gfx or sound etc etc.

Ah well, at least that post gave me a good laugh..
Title: Re: Check This Out!
Post by: downix on August 31, 2003, 11:56:16 PM
@olegil

I can actually come up with a scenario for a custom or semi-custom hardware design, one which is starting to occur:

Most computers run Windows.  Most of the rest run Mac OS X.  That means that Microsoft and Apple can apply a *LOT* of pressure on chip vendors to only support their solutions and no other.  As a result, vendors for alternative solutions have to turn to customized, or semi-customized chips just to remain competitive.

It's either that or remain forever 3-4 generations behind the market-leader, if you're lucky.  (Ever tried to get nVidia support for a non-x86 Linux?)

It's a "Customize or die" time then.
Title: Re: Check This Out!
Post by: downix on September 01, 2003, 12:02:49 AM
@Doobrey

You can buy off-the-shelf chipsets, yes.  But getting support for those, that is the trick.  Having the latest and greatest GeForce FX is not going to do you any good when there are no drivers to be found, nor even any ability of getting drivers for the next 2-3 years, unless you run Windows.  
Title: Re: Check This Out!
Post by: CodeSmith on September 01, 2003, 12:08:50 AM
Thankfully, custom chips are no longer as much of an expense as they used to be.  Thanks to FPGAs getting faster and cheaper, someone working on alternative hardware no longer needs to spend mega-$$$ to mass-produce his new boards.  Look at the c-one - it's essentially a home-grown computer that's about as complex as an OCS/ECS Amiga, the production runs are tiny (300 boards), but Jens can sell them for less than $300 each.  A decade ago, everything else being the same, that $300 would've been about $10K if not more.
Title: Re: Check This Out!
Post by: downix on September 01, 2003, 01:14:48 AM
@CodeSmith

Which is part of my point.  Now note, you can't make something to compete with even a first-generation Radeon in an FPGA, however there are other, faster, chip processes availible, and new fabbing systems have been created which reduce the cost of manufacture.  Even in low-batches, a Radeon 9800 competing chip (going by gate-count here only) would run only $400 to produce.  That's not too terribly much more than a Radeon 9800 card itself, and we're talking in batches of tens, not thousands.  And that's going soly by gate-count.  The possibilities are endless today, as custom and semi-custom chips can be produced for far lower cost than what was possible even 5 years ago.
Title: Re: Check This Out!
Post by: olegil on September 01, 2003, 07:44:13 AM
@Kees:
Nah, my face isn't ready for public consumption.
Title: Re: Check This Out!
Post by: CodeSmith on September 01, 2003, 09:03:58 AM
@downix:

Exactly - FPGA is just one of the tools smaller developers have these days.  If you are small fry and you want hardware to fit a particular spec, and the companies that make such hardware will give you neither drivers nor the information you need to write them (as is the case with nvidia), 10 years ago you would've been hosed.  The biggest reason Commodore had their own chip manufacturing arm was to make sure the people making their chips had Commodore's best interests in mind.
Title: Re: Check This Out!
Post by: Dr_Righteous on September 01, 2003, 09:17:29 AM
Quote

@Kees:
Nah, my face isn't ready for public consumption.


Ahh, but the real question is, are you sure you want the public to consume your face?!  :-P
Title: Re: Check This Out! (Hoax Amiga vapourware)
Post by: Hammer on September 01, 2003, 09:33:14 AM
Quote

dusanjocic wrote:
I came out the spec. from the company named "Orion" who will make an AmigaOne with this. It will be out at the market in 2004 or 2005.

 - PPC Processor (Single, Dual or Quad; G4, 970 or 980)
- Rambus Redwood I/O technology support
- Rambus XDR DRAM memory support (up to 16 GB)
- Rambus RaSer IP Cell for PCI Express
- Single, Dual or Quad indenpendente FSB (from 400 MHz to 6,4 GHz)
- Kickstart In 4 MB or 16 MB MRAM
- Custom Made Matrox graphic card (Pixel and Vertex Shaders 3.0 and Direct X 9.1)
- Second Generation Of Custom Chips
- RLDRAM II memory support for Custom Chips ( up to 576 MB)
- USB 2.0 (6 ports) support
- FireWire 800 (4 ports) support
- Wireless Technology - WiFi 802.11n (320 MB/s) support
- SerialATA II (3 GB/s) support
- High Definition DVD-ROM (HD-DVD) support
- Blue Ray Disc support
- 56 K V.92 Modem support
- PCI Express slots support (up to 4)
- Zorro 5 slots support (up to 3)
- RAID support for Dual And Quad models (2+4 independent connectors)
- x86-64 processor (AmigaOne expansion card add-on)
- Coldfire processor (AmigaOne expansion card add-on)
- HDD support from 80 GB to ... (with 10.000 rpm and 8 MB cache)
- Creative Labs 3 support
- Wireless USB support

subject line edited by mikeymike

It’s better to have a commoditized X86 based motherboard (e.g. AMD K8 motherboard) with PowerPC G3/G4-on-a-PCI/PCI-X card solution for cost reasons...
Title: Re: Check This Out!
Post by: mikeymike on September 01, 2003, 11:27:39 AM
Quote

Nah, my face isn't ready for public consumption.


Pretend you look like Johnny Depp, that's what I've heard some people do.
Title: Re: Check This Out!
Post by: olegil on September 01, 2003, 01:01:18 PM
@mikeymike:

ROFL

Damn. I think I blew a bloodvessel in my brain. Hurts like hell. Don't DO that to people, man.
Title: Re: Check This Out!
Post by: iamaboringperson on September 01, 2003, 01:10:31 PM
"WOW!! did somebody mention a new Amiga with new custom chips?? and a new 500GHz CPU, with other 64-bit CPU's built in, and  a new 500 terra bit floppy? this should surely be printed in an amiga magazine!!!!"

Title: Re: Check This Out!
Post by: downix on September 02, 2003, 04:05:09 AM
@CodeSmith

There are other advantages as well.  1)  no cost-overhead added from the chip fab company.  2) total control over the fabs and 3) the ability to custom-engineer *around* the fabs.  These three things combined to make the VIC-series and the Amiga-series of Commodore machines as great as they were.