Considering SAM440 - a few Q's...

[blakespot]

Ok, I may grab a SAM440 to play with AmigaOS 4.1.  Some questions:

- I see there are 667MHz configs and overclocked 733MHz.  How safe is this?  I've done my share of overclocking, but would not want to fry a whole SoC in this rare board.  Is this something I can easily to on my own, if I grabbed a 667?

- Aside from on-board video and 3 vs. 1 PCI slots - are there other advantages / disadvantages to think about with the 440ep vs. 440ep-Flex?

- Will the Flex fit in a standard minitower case?

- Will most PC power supplies work with both boards?

Thanks.




blakespot

[blakespot]

What is the CD-ROM connection on the 440?  SATA?  Will any SATA drive work?

Tnx.



blakespot

[blakespot]

Ok.  I don't need a DVD writer, so any regular DVD drive that's SATA will work?  Or is there a shortlist that I must choose from?  

And will any PC PCI-based Radeon 9250 fit the bill?  Thanks.

And does OS 4.1 include a M68K emu layer to run old WB-friendly apps?  Or just PPC-based?




blakespot

[blakespot]

@ blakespot
I'm in the exact same situation! debating the 667 vs the 733 for the same reasons ..hmmm

Well, I ordered a 733MHz board w/ 512MB tonight from Mr. Amigakit.  OS CD as well.  Good times ahead.

I do love the retro...




blakespot

[blakespot]

So, does the SAM440ep-Flex have a floppy connector?  If so, will a standard PC floppy drive function properly in DD mode with DS/DD floppies to work as a 1010-compatible?  

Thanks.




blakespot

[blakespot]

I have ordered a HIS-branded Radeon 9250 PCI (3.3v, 5v) w/ 128MB.  Should be here Monday, with the board.  $50 from Amazon (or so).

Can the increased speed of this board be felt in moving windows around under OS 4.1 as compared to the Mobility Radeon in the 440ep (integrated)?




blakespot

[blakespot]

Will the SAM440ep-Flex fit into this case?

http://microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0265321

It's a MicroATX tower.  It says it support 9.6"x9.6" mATX boards.  The Flex is a "FlexATX" board (...okay...) that's 8.5"x6.7".  Would it work - I mean, rear port areas and posts matching?



blakespot

[blakespot]

Got the board yesterday (they tried delivery Fri, tho - I was out).  Mounted in Antec case:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/blakespot/3803137175/

Ended up with a 320BG HD.  

So.  Is there an advantage to having two partitions (aside from swap) or OK to have just one?  Do I want the SS01 format for the boot partition?  Space is not a issue really, so what is the best performance filesystem?




blakespot

[blakespot]

Sounds good.  Any issue with making SWAP like 4GB?  Does that slow the system vs. 2GB?  This is a 320GB drive, after all...

But I do realize AmigaOS is extremely light weight as far as memory usage vs. other modem OS'.




blakespot

[blakespot]

Hmm, the Radeon 9250 I ordered for this SAM440ep-Flex uses 64-bit memory.  It seems most 9250's used 128-but memory.  Anyone know if this makes a huge diff in practice?

Hm....


blakespot

[blakespot]

As of April, SAMimgas did not recognize over 128MB of video RAM on the card.  Is that still the case?  Even still, I suppose the 128 of a 128-bit board's 256MB of video RAM would be accessed via the same 128-bit channels, so...



blakespot

[blakespot]

Got it together.

This Radeon 9250 128MB is not listing a 1600x1200 screenmode.  What's up?

I should be able to do 1600x1200 on this screen...?  (1280x1024 is max listed in ScreenModes...)



blakespot