Chinese 68060 Rev 6

[Miloo]

@-D-

I ordered one as well just after I put this post up. The guys feedback was ok.

What would it cost to remark these cpus anyway - I paid £29 for one and it looks as if the seller has sold about 5 or 6 in the past 2 months - would it really be cost effective remarking old chips?

[Vlabguy1]

ebay...link?

Rich
ny

[Miloo]

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=230300294387&ssPageName=STRK:MEWN:IT&ih=013

[weirdami]

You don't think "the Chinese" have the technology?

Not their own, no.

[Damion]

AFAIK the only "fake" was a picture of one relabeled to a full (non-existent) 75MHz part. I don't know if anyone was actually scammed. In this case, I don't think it would be worth the trouble just to sell the odd CPU to an amiga or atari user. Plus, anyone can check the real revision in a matter of minutes and post scathing feedback... hardly worth it over $50.

[persia]

What"  The Chinese don't have the ability to copy 15 year old technology?  What poppycock.  They are more advanced than most Western Countries in terms of electronics.  They are more than capable of producing clones of decade and a half year old tecnology in their sleep.

[countzero]

once again, I'm not talking about producing the silicon. Tell me one leading semiconductor design company that hails from china.

[alexh]

China are not making any new 060 CPU's. They are being reclaimed from routers or warehouse clearances of NOS.

As for them making new ones. They don't have the mask set, the fab, the stream file or the source/schematics. We won't be seeing them making clones.

What you have to look out for are 040 CPU's marked as 060 CPU's or earlier 060 CPU's marked as rev 6

It's pretty easy to spot them.

Insist on a non-stock photo. Most of the adverts on ebay use the same photograph over and over. Insist on a photo of the item you are buying.

All FULL rev 6 parts I have seen are marked MC68060RC50 if it says anything else then you have to think twice.

The earliest rev 6 parts were manufactured in 1999. If the date code (four digits, two for the year, two for the week, i.e. 9952) is earlier then it is questionable. The latest I've seen were 0140 (2001, week 40).

They have the Mask number E41J. Most are prefixed by 71.

[AmigaHeretic]

countzero wrote:
once again, I'm not talking about producing the silicon. Tell me one leading semiconductor design company that hails from china.

Not sure, that's a little confusing.  First sentence sounds like your talking about companies that are "producing the silicon" and the second sentence sounds like asking for a "design company" that hails from China.

I know for sure on the "producing the silicon" side that Hynix (worlds second largest manufacture of RAM) just built a brand new $2 billion 12" fab in China (300mm).  Hence I no longer have a job at the 8" (200mm) fab I worked at.  But most companies are going to 12" and it costs a lot to try to upgrade, plus U.S. wages vs China, I'd probably go there too.  :-)

Though not sure what products the 12" fab in China is making, but Hynix fabs make RAM, CCDs, flash ram for iPods etc...


EDIT:
Intels new $2.5billion 12" fab is suppose to begin production in 2010, but I don't if they have any current 8" or other fabs over there right now.

[cantido]

countzero wrote:
once again, I'm not talking about producing the silicon. Tell me one leading semiconductor design company that hails from china.

If they're producing "clones"... why would they do it under the banner of a *leading semiconductor design company* (Whatever that means, there are lots of different semiconductor/integrated devices, not every company is like Maxim and produce almost almost every possible device they can. Most focus on a specific market.) ... That would be a little silly wouldn't it?
I doubt the Chinese would bother producing clones of an ancient chip that there is no market for, but that's not to say there's no one in the whole country that couldn't have a crack it if they wanted to. There are plenty of complex bootleg devices coming out of China. Maybe you're believing in Mt. Fuji a little too much?

[countzero]

I don't understand why some get touched just so that I state some facts. You got some Chinese ancestry or something ? I'm not belittling the Chinese here just stating some facts (And I'm not Japanese anyway). OK of course they can do it if the Chinese government set up a program to 'Duplicate the 68060', we're talking about people with a space program here. But it's no walk in the park for your average Yang who duplicates casio game watches. That's what I mean. Thank you and good day.

[cantido]

I'm not belittling the Chinese here just stating some facts (And I'm not Japanese anyway).

Well, I'm writting this from my fiancee's apartment in Hokkaido, so maybe I should be making the same assumptions about the Chinese as you...

OK of course they can do it if the Chinese government set up a program to 'Duplicate the 68060',

If there was a market for clones of this device there would be a fab in China producing those clones. Just as there are fabs in China pumping out clones of *popular* devices.

we're talking about people with a space program here. But it's no walk in the park for your average Yang who duplicates casio game watches.

But you said there was no one in China's population of 1,321,851,888 (Google) that could clone the all mighty 68060... I'm pretty sure their guys that built a home grown MIPS would have something to say about that, but we'll all have to rely on your superior knowledge of every single person in China here won't we.

That's what I mean. Thank you and good day.

I'm pretty sure you made a massive blanket statement about ability of the Chinese.

[StevenJGore]

I bought a 68060 for my Apollo 1260 off eBay from a seller called "IC China" who, not suprisingly, is based in China.

The item was delivered very quickly to the UK, was well packaged, and was exactly as described.

It was a MC68060RC60 Revision 6 Mask 71E41J. Running CPU060 confirmed this. I paid $72 (which at the time was £34).

Steve.

[Kin-Hell]

weirdami wrote:

You don't think "the Chinese" have the technology?

Not their own, no.

Don't you believe it! It's a far bigger Communistic State than Russia!  :roll:

[alexh]

cantido wrote:
I'm pretty sure their guys that built a home grown MIPS would have something to say about that

I bet you serious money that either :

A) They developed a 20 yo MIPS, fun but practically useless in modern applications.
B) They stole it.

The modern MIPS is available as RTL code, easily stolen and re-used, the 68060 was created using schematic capture for a fab that no longer exists for a technology that no-one uses anymore using tools that dont exist anymore. Even if you had the source it would take man years to convert. Even if you had the masks you couldn't make more as the FAB that used them closed down years ago and non of the modern FAB's use compatible process techniques.

Believe me, they did not reverse engineer and re-create a 68060. The documentation is extremely limited on how exactly the 68060 works.

Plus there is no market for volume 68060 chips.

[redrumloa]

alexh wrote:
Believe me, they did not reverse engineer and re-create a 68060. The documentation is extremely limited on how exactly the 68060 works.

Plus there is no market for volume 68060 chips.

Exactly, there is no market for volume. It wouldn't make sense. China is the leading recycler of electronics (not in a green way either). It only makes sense to resell any parts of value. A couple dozen 68060 pulls here and there eagerly gobbled up by Amigans and Atarians will make a little money. Reverse engineering and producing clones would never make back development costs.