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

[gazgod]

Dunno about overclocking the CPU.

The flex can take 1 gig of ram while the ep can only take 512 meg.

Yup it fit a standard ATX case.

Yup to PC psu's in both boards.


Gaz

[lsmart]

I bought a pre-build SamFlex with (overclocked) 800MHz. As far as I understand the chips are designed to work fanless under rather rough conditions, so overclocking them when you ad a fan to the box should be no problem. (I am a software guy - my oppinion on HW is hearsay.)

My box runs quite stable, although - well, let´s say Gurus/Reapers still are part of the user experience. Also my USB-Stack/driver seems to be easily disturbed, but USB is bitchy sometimes even on a mac, so I guess I can cope with it.

[Akiko]

It's overclocked by Acube, so fully covered with their 2 year warranty.

[blakespot]

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

Tnx.



blakespot

[amigakit]

The SAM Flex has four SATA ports - no IDE

So you will need a SATA DVD drive and hard drive.

[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

[amigakit]

Yes any SATA DVD or DVDRW will be OK.  We use Sony, Pioneer and Samsung drives without problems in our SAM builds.  Any Radeon 9250 PCI that is 5v and 3.3v will be OK.  Dual voltage cards have two notches in the gold PCI connector on the card (there is more information in the SAM Flex manual).

OS 4.1 runs 68K apps with its built in emulator called PETUNIA.

[amigakit]

Here is the SAM Flex user manual (see page 11 for PCI information):

http://www.acube-systems.biz/download/flex_manual_0.2.pdf

[klx300r]

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

[klx300r]

It's overclocked by Acube, so fully covered with their 2 year warranty.

and this means what after 2 years and 1 day :-)

[amigakit]

The 440ep chip runs very cool- it does not even require a CPU fan at 667Mhz and 733MHz and 800Mhz speeds.

[klx300r]

The 440ep chip runs very cool- it does not even require a CPU fan at 667Mhz and 733MHz and 800Mhz speeds.

I'm playing it safe & getting a 733..besides 3 is my lucky number :-)

[klx300r]

...My box runs quite stable, although - well, let´s say Gurus/Reapers still are part of the user experience....

well it's not a Amiga computer if you don't see the famous Guru every once in a while IMHO  :-)

[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