A new GVP-M Accellerator production run?

[Darrin]

tone007 wrote:
However, this might shrink some bubbles, if they're only doing 1200 accelerators, sounds like only 1230s as that seems to be all they ever released for the 1200.

There should still be a market though as some outlets are still selling NOS A1200s.  Couple that with an Indivision, a Subway and one of these GVP cards and it will make a nice machine... for those with some spare cash.  :-)

[lofstudio]

I had asked about the 1230s a few weeks ago, and got essentially the same reply from Michael:

Hello.

We will have end of april a limited quantity available for sale.
Please confirm your interest so we can contact you once product is available.
As well, please specify what accelerator you are exactly looking for.

Regards,
Michael

I wonder if GVP's switched to using standard SIMMs/DIMMs for these limited runs, and not rolling their own...

[LoadWB]

tone007 wrote:
So it took them a while. Bubble burst FAIL.

A while.  Almost eight years after my original inquiry.  I have recall of the time-frame as I was living in my last student apartment complex when I inquired.

Blah.  I hate this train, but I have a nay-sayer ticket after all of the broken promises over the years.  There are barely a handful of people actually producing hardware for the Amiga right now.  Believe me, even though I lack discretionary funds right now to participate, I am thoroughly pleased by it.  The prospect of a fully-operational USB system in my 14 year-old Amiga 4000D with an internal, clip-on SD/FF makes me giddy.  If GVP-M can join those ranks, then spectacular.

Bottom line for me is that I am not getting excited over an email like that when I have seen one before in my own Incoming folder, which took more years to materialize than most sane people would wait.

If GVP-M produces new accelerators, that would be awesome.  It will not bring them great fame and fortune, but it will certainly make a lot of current and potential Amiga owners happy.

hrmmmm but then, collectors trying to jump on the "Retro-Classic" bandwagon might be willing to pay quite a premium for newly minted accelerators.  In better times, I myself would pay a nice penny for another 060 unit for my 2000.

I could probably have summed this all up in a simple statement.  Throw your name in for interest, it certainly will not hurt anything.  Just do not hold your breath.  I have particular misgivings with GVP-M, and I dearly hope that I am wrong.

[wawrzon]

i hear they will assemble a number of those a4k 060 accels too. somhow it is strange, either it is old stock, or where they have all that old parts from? connectors, if not the ics?

[Rob]

@wawrzon

Code: [Select]

i hear they will assemble a number of those a4k 060 accels too. somhow it is strange, either it is old stock, or where they have all that old parts from? connectors, if not the ics?

Maybe they had some sort of government contract where they have to keep parts available for so many years.  Military spec  :-)

On a serious note, it's at least encouraging that they've supplied Software Hut with new simms.

[fiat1100d]

Would be nice to have 16 MB SIMMs... As far as I can see, SoftHut just had 4 MB ones. But prices should be lower than that! :-(

[rattlehead]

I sent an email last month inquiring on the availability of an TekMagic 060 board for my A2000 and they sent the same email to me that they would be making a small production run sometime this year.

I would suggest that anyone that is interested should contact GVP Sales and let them know that there is a high degree of interest in their porducts and also to thank them for supporting our small community.

Also lets remember that we should be reasonable in our requests.  The only accelerators that we should encourage them to make are 060 boards for the A2000, A1200, A3000 and A4000 based on their current designs.  This will help them to keep their production costs down and make it possible for them to do this. Lets be realistic here, yes it would be nice to see a PPC board but it was never one of the products they offered. So that would be an extremely unreasonable request on your part to ask for. Think about what your asking them to do? REMEMBER THE DRAGON!!! (Elbox's Money Pit) Keep in mind we want GVP to make a good deal of money on the items that they sell so as to encourage them to continue to support our aging hardware.

If and when they do make enough money, then we should ask them to PLEASE look at R&D on a newer accelerator card.  Maybe a newly designed 060 board with newer features or maybe even a PPC board based on the tried and proven Blizzard boards.

Remember, "Please" and "Thanks" will get you a better response than making Demands.

Thanks,

Rattlehead...... :-)

[Darrin]

rattlehead wrote:

Remember, "Please" and "Thanks" will get you a better response than making Demands.

Thanks,

Rattlehead...... :-)

Good avice, and also try and avoid the words "You must be f****** joking!" when they mention the price.   ;-)

[LoadWB]

Darrin wrote:

Good avice, and also try and avoid the words "You must be f****** joking!" when they mention the price.   ;-)

Indeed.  Just how much IS a 68060 these days?  I know of a Chinese bloke flogging one for $150.

[blanning]

Here's my stupid question disclaimer:  I know literally nothing about hardware development.  I'm a software guy.  

Having said that, I was very interested in the talk about some project or other.  I can't remember if it was the minimig or something else.  Anyway, everyone was talking about emulating a 68000 in one of these new-fangled reprogrammable logic contraptions.  (FPGA?)  The idea was that they could recreate the 68000, then amp up the clock rate to something serious.  

I've also read that the amiga was nice for developing accelerator boards because of it's design.  If this is the case, would it really be that difficult for someone to emulate a 68030 (with mmu and fpu) at a higher clock speed?  Add in some memory and a buddha from jens, maybe a clock port.  

I mean, compared to a buddha, deneb, indivision, mediator, etc, is this really that hard to do?  I've heard that recreating the powerpc half would be tough.  But I know a lot of people would be interested in a motorola-only accerator board for the 2000/500/600/1200.

brian

[mongo]

blanning wrote:

If this is the case, would it really be that difficult for someone to emulate a 68030 (with mmu and fpu) at a higher clock speed?

Yes.

[jj]

FPGA are no where near fast enough at a reasonable price to be able to emulate an 060

[recidivist]

- I have been watching the pricesw USED,NON-WARRANTED, boards bring on eBay; "you have got to be f--- " is paid often!

There are definitely people still with money and interest;used A4000s  have been bringing $315 USD.

 ANY and all available boards  pulled out of new old stock and finished  will be eagerly purchased if the prices are not too high.

 

[terminator4]

@Rattlehead

GVP-M is a former shadow of itself.  They cannot even support their products properly.  I won't get into specifics now, but shouldn't their knowledge be higher than average user's?
Few weeks ago I had issues with an accel board.  I found help on a.org.  Already, supporting A2000, A1200, A3000 and A4000 is unrealistic (production run for 4 products!) and you can expect prices way higher than they are on ebay.  
I would recommend A2000/1200 (most common to find, and 1200 NOS still available).
I doubt they have any software developers or engineers in house - so who is going to design newer hardware?
Oh, and don't bring Elbox into the mix.  I went to Cracow, Poland, and looked for 3 hours for their office - anyone that was asked had no clue where it was, even though I went to the right street etc.  The Dragon must have sucked them in. :lol:
Proven Blizzards?  TekMagic boards are also proven.

Anyway the price you pay will be higher than ebay's.  Thats for all of you that a dreaming of 060 for $300
 :lol:

[Linde]

JJ wrote:
FPGA are no where near fast enough at a reasonable price to be able to emulate an 060

I don't know, but maybe some less complex processor designs such as the 68030 or 040 are possible. I've always thought this would be the future for classic Amiga expansions. The real processors cost too much, produce too much heat and draw too much power, and I'm sure a board with an FPGA could be made more compact too.

... and seeing the second hand prices of accelerators on eBay makes me pretty sure that a new run of FPGA accelerators could only be cheaper .

[rkauer]

 Nice! Where you'll find the 030 mask/gerbers?

 A plain 68000 is dead easy to emulate, but not the more complicated chips without using a very expensive FPGA. Even NatAmi go to gerber a 060 "clone".