ZorRam - new memory board for Zorro 3

[arnljot]

I want to be able to use netsurf without worring (too much) about RAM

But a ram disk is cool too!:)

[bloodline]

Perhaps one loaded with 4gig would be more fun Obviously it would need some kind of DIP switch (or software setting), to set the visible memory window (so as not to chew up all the ZIII address space)... but an Amiga with 4gig... that would be funny

[recidivist]

The old 128 meg boards bring a pretty penny on ebay-be good to see an new affordable 128 meg or better.Why not 512 meg?That leaves plenty of adress space for other things.
 This could be what is needed to make 3000/4000 move from the storage closet to the desk again.

[Jose]

I'm worried about the speed. Would much rather see a new 68K/PPC accelerator for the classic with onboard memory sockets.

/Dream
Would also like to see a new Buster Rev with proper DMA without bugs.
/Dream

[Matt_H]

I'm worried about the speed. Would much rather see a new 68K/PPC accelerator for the classic with onboard memory sockets.

/Dream
Would also like to see a new Buster Rev with proper DMA without bugs.
/Dream

An accelerator would be nice indeed, but still limited to 128MB by the CPU slot. This RAM board also has the advantage of being much cheaper

[Jose]

"An accelerator would be nice indeed, but still limited to 128MB by the CPU slot. This RAM board also has the advantage of being much cheaper"

Not really, the A2000 accelerators have much more than the 8MB limit of the ZII space. I'm of course just speculating but I've see various posts in the past indicating that more than 128MB would simply work like in the A2000, i.e. only 128MB would be acessible by the ZIII bus, which is more than enough for expansion cards.

Not saying that this cool card doesn't have it's space in the market, judging by the fastlane prices on eBay.
Overall I've found most stuf

[save2600]

Any ideas on a price??

This thing's got to be cheaper than populating an A3000 with ZIPS!  :lol:

If the price ends up reasonable, count me in Amigakit!

[johnklos]

I think it's funny how people often seem to comment about all the additional features they want to see in a product which would surely drive said product from feasible to eternal vaporware. :p

No matter, I think this is an excellent idea. The old FastLane Z3 isn't too slow - it even has a mode in which it supports 40 ns memory. Since the memory on this card is obviously much faster than old 60, 70, or 80 ns 30 pin SIMMs, I'm sure it gets accessed at the fastest speed the Amiga can go, and I'm sure it'll be faster than other Zorro III memory cards. I'll buy one.

[amigakit]

We have tried to limit costs of the card as much as possible so I estimate that the card will cost around US $135* which is far less than the crazy prices that the DKB 3128 on Ebay can go for.

[koshman]

That kind of price will certainly be nice (and it rhymes, no less ... ).

[kolla]

An Indivision, a Deneb and Zorram is all you need to make an old A3000/A4000 usable again. The only thing lacking is a new combined CPU+RAM+graphics card

[cv643d]

Nice to see new hardware for classic!

[Trev]

We have tried to limit costs of the card as much as possible so I estimate that the card will cost around US $135* which is far less than the crazy prices that the DKB 3128 on Ebay can go for.

But an onboard battery would have elevated the recoverable RAM disk to legendary status. ;-)

So, next project: memory addressable SSD interface? EDIT: Scratch that. Finding SSD devices that fit in the Zorro III address space would be a chore. Just throw a battery on the RAM board and call it done.

[trekiej]

Does anyone still make a ZII version?
With an adapter would it work with an A500, if it were configured to work in ZII mode?

[save2600]

Does anyone still make a ZII version?
With an adapter would it work with an A500, if it were configured to work in ZII mode?

No, nobody currently makes a ZII RAM board AFAIK.

And judging by the description on the original page, looks like this is strictly going to be a ZIII card. If you want more RAM in your A500, seek out the 4mb trapdoor/Gary solution that pops up on eBay once in a while. AdRAM 540 or something like that...

[Zac67]

Just throw a battery on the RAM board and call it done.

(S)DRAM uses quite a bit of power, plus you'll need the controller to continue refreshing. Anything beyond a couple of minutes would increase the price to no-go regions.