POLL: What is the most viable Amiga platform for *you*?

[Arkhan]

and though it is clocked at 2.whatever mhz the snes does pretty well too.

You do know the SNES is a pain in the ass to develop for because of the 65816 being the CPU inside of it , right?

Among other things.

[commodorejohn]

The 65816 is a nightmare.  I think it is the worst CPU to code for, ever.

I wouldn't go that far - as an update to the 6502 architecture it's actually pretty decent, and it's not too bad for a single-tasking system like a game console. You just wouldn't want to build a multi-tasking computer around it. Ever.

The apple IIgs is pretty impressive machine, and though it is clocked at 2.whatever mhz the snes does pretty well too.

In terms of functional horsepower, yes. It's just not even remotely as nice to code for as the 68k, because it's an 8-bit architecture kludged up to 16-bit (see also: Intel 8086,) instead of being a 32-bit architecture on a 16-bit bus like the 68k.

[KThunder]

I didn't say use a 65816 I said they should have had their own  16bit 6502 cpu!!!

[commodorejohn]

Not sure that's really a great idea, either - most of the 65816's problems stem from its being a 16-bit kludge on an 8-bit processor. If they were to do a custom CPU for the Amiga, it would've been better to create something from scratch.

[KThunder]

Mos/CSG Commodore had the 6502 from what 1974 or 75, they had their own chip fab; it is insane that they never produced a 16bit upgrade to the 6502.

They sold the C64 into the 90's so there definitely was a market there. And they had the fabrication abilities in the mid-80s.

and besides the Phenom II x6 is a multicore 64bit cludge, on a 32bit pentium cludge, on a 32bit 386 cludge, on a 16bit 286 cludge, on a 8/16bit 8088 cludge and it does great.

[commodorejohn]

and besides the Phenom II x6 is a multicore 64bit cludge, on a 32bit pentium cludge, on a 32bit 386 cludge, on a 16bit 286 cludge, on a 8/16bit 8088 cludge and it does great.

Only because everything in the x86 line post-Pentium Pro is a much cleaner microarchitecture running an x86 in emulation, on top of which is the fact that Intel's on the bleeding edge of chip fabrication technology. It does well, but it would probably do better if it weren't tied to an architecture that's more legacy cruft by this point than it is actual modern CPU.

I'm not saying there wasn't a market for a 16-bit 6502 variant, but that niche is probably filled about as well as it could be by the 65816, and as for a theoretical Amiga CPU, I go by this: whenever you're not tied by backwards-compatibility issues (which you aren't when developing a new computer) it's better to pick or develop a clean, unencumbered design than to pick something loaded down with legacy-compatibility issues.

[KThunder]

I would agree with that, unless you have sold millions of computers with said cpu, have a large software base, and have the capability of working around legacy problems.

In hindsight there is another factor as well though. The 68020 was pretty much perfectly compatible with the 68000, the 68030 slightly less so, the '040, even less and the '060 well don't even try to run it without software patches. Coldfire are pretty much incompatible. Looking back, a cpu design produced and maintained by Commodore is even better.

Your one comment on Intel being bleeding edge fabrication is my point. In the 70's MOS was bleeding edge, the 6502 took the world by storm because MOS and MOS alone knew how to fix their masks and raise chip yeilds to 70% where intel and others were throwing away 70%.

By the 80's MOS/CSG was average, and by the 90's they were well behind, all because Commodore used the vertical integration to raise profits and then not invest in additional capability. That started with the Amiga and the 68000. All of their previous computers used MOS chips almost exclusively.

[runequester]

Looks like the "NG" options are about equal, with classics being quite a bit ahead.

UAE on its own is far behind. If you combine it with "other" (presumably the various FPGA options fit here), its about equal with any of the NG options.