Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.reviews Path: menudo.uh.edu!usenet From: jts@krk.FI (Janne Siren) Subject: REVIEW: Amiga Accelerator System (68000) 14MHz Hack Message-ID: <1992Sep21.211616.11530@menudo.uh.edu> Followup-To: comp.sys.amiga.hardware Keywords: hardware, accelerator, hack, shareware Sender: amiga-reviews@math.uh.edu (comp.sys.amiga.reviews moderator) Nntp-Posting-Host: karazm.math.uh.edu Reply-To: jts@krk.FI (Janne Siren) Organization: The Amiga Online Review Column - ed. Daniel Barrett Date: Mon, 21 Sep 1992 21:16:16 GMT PRODUCT NAME Amiga Accelerator System: (68000) 14MHz Hack Version 4.0, 10/03/1992 BRIEF DESCRIPTION Accelerating your Amiga isn't cheap. Even small accelerators like AdSpeed, running a 68000 at 14MHz, might just be too much for your wallet. How about building one by yourself? Livio Plos and Joerg Richter have one answer to the problem: they have released building instructions for a simple 14MHz accelerator to the public as shareware. AUTHOR/COMPANY INFORMATION Name: Livio Plos Address: via Amalteo 15 33170 Pordenone Italy Internet: livio@alessia.dei.unipd.it Name: Joerg Richter Address: Dresdener Strasse 21 2150 Buxtehude Germany Internet: Joerg.Richter@arbi.informatik.uni-oldenburg.de LIST PRICE Shareware fee: US $15 PCB and fee: US $30 Components: US $40 (approximately) All in one: US $70 (approximately) SPECIAL HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS HARDWARE None, but FAST memory is heavily recommend for best speed results. SOFTWARE None. COPY PROTECTION None. REVIEW The accelerator I'm testing was built by a friend of mine, and it's based on 14MHz hack version 4.0 with a few modifications. For information about building such accelerator, you should obtain the building instructions. You should be able to download the distribution archive from your local BBS. The board is quite easy to install. First, remove all peripherals and open your machine (invalidates warranty!), and then replace the old processor with the accelerator board. And if you did everything as you should, your Amiga is now running a 68000 at 14MHz. It is also possible to use a 68010 processor; it's faster, but not very stable. The performance increase is not very much if compared to commercial 68020 (or faster) accelerators, but with FAST memory expansion you will notice the difference. There might also be some compatibility problems, but in general there shouldn't be any problems, because (running at 14MHz) only the E-Clock signal is modified a little bit and the CIA's of the Amiga can handle this. You can also turn the 14MHz mode off, even while the computer is still up and running. PERFORMANCE [Basic (7MHz) Amiga 500 with no FAST memory] SysInfo V2.70 by Nic Wilson SPEED COMPARISONS AGAINST KNOWN MODELS & PERIPHERALS A500 512k or A500 with 1MB CHIP ONLY........... 1.06 B2000, A2000, A1000 or A500 with fast ram...... 0.80 B2000 GVP A3001 28MHZ ALL CACHES & BURSTS..... 0.09 A2500 A2620 68020 14MHZ card.................. 0.28 A3000/25 SCRAM ICACHE IBURST DCACHE NODBURST... 0.12 A3000 PP&S 68040 ICACHE DCACHE COPYBACK....... 0.02 IBM PC/XT or compatible........................ 3.44 CPU Million Instructions per Second............ 0.49 FPU Million Floating Operations per Second..... N/A Speed of Chip Memory vs A3000 Chip Memory...... 0.21 CIA (A) timer accuracy test ................... Passed If Slow/Fast, Error in Ticks per Second ....... 0 Nic's Comment.................................. Basic Amiga CPU speed in MHZ............................... 7.09 -- [Basic (7MHz) Amiga 500 with 2 MB FAST memory] SysInfo V2.70 by Nic Wilson SPEED COMPARISONS AGAINST KNOWN MODELS & PERIPHERALS A500 512k or A500 with 1MB CHIP ONLY........... 1.30 B2000, A2000, A1000 or A500 with fast ram...... 1.00 B2000 GVP A3001 28MHZ ALL CACHES & BURSTS..... 0.12 A2500 A2620 68020 14MHZ card.................. 0.34 A3000/25 SCRAM ICACHE IBURST DCACHE NODBURST... 0.15 A3000 PP&S 68040 ICACHE DCACHE COPYBACK....... 0.03 IBM PC/XT or compatible........................ 4.25 CPU Million Instructions per Second............ 0.60 FPU Million Floating Operations per Second..... N/A Speed of Chip Memory vs A3000 Chip Memory...... 0.25 CIA (A) timer accuracy test ................... Passed If Slow/Fast, Error in Ticks per Second ....... 0 Nic's Comment.................................. Only Amiga... CPU speed in MHZ............................... 7.09 -- [Accelerated (14MHz) Amiga 500 with no FAST memory] SysInfo V2.70 by Nic Wilson SPEED COMPARISONS AGAINST KNOWN MODELS & PERIPHERALS A500 512k or A500 with 1MB CHIP ONLY........... 1.16 B2000, A2000, A1000 or A500 with fast ram...... 0.88 B2000 GVP A3001 28MHZ ALL CACHES & BURSTS..... 0.10 A2500 A2620 68020 14MHZ card.................. 0.31 A3000/25 SCRAM ICACHE IBURST DCACHE NODBURST... 0.13 A3000 PP&S 68040 ICACHE DCACHE COPYBACK....... 0.03 IBM PC/XT or compatible........................ 3.78 CPU Million Instructions per Second............ 0.53 FPU Million Floating Operations per Second..... N/A Speed of Chip Memory vs A3000 Chip Memory...... 0.29 CIA (A) timer accuracy test ................... Passed If Slow/Fast, Error in Ticks per Second ....... 0 Nic's Comment.................................. Basic Amiga CPU speed in MHZ............................... 11.92 -- [Accelerated (14MHz) Amiga 500 with 2 MB FAST memory] SysInfo V2.70 by Nic Wilson SPEED COMPARISONS AGAINST KNOWN MODELS & PERIPHERALS A500 512k or A500 with 1MB CHIP ONLY........... 1.49 B2000, A2000, A1000 or A500 with fast ram...... 1.13 B2000 GVP A3001 28MHZ ALL CACHES & BURSTS..... 0.13 A2500 A2620 68020 14MHZ card.................. 0.39 A3000/25 SCRAM ICACHE IBURST DCACHE NODBURST... 0.17 A3000 PP&S 68040 ICACHE DCACHE COPYBACK....... 0.03 IBM PC/XT or compatible........................ 4.85 CPU Million Instructions per Second............ 0.69 FPU Million Floating Operations per Second..... N/A Speed of Chip Memory vs A3000 Chip Memory...... 0.26 CIA (A) timer accuracy test ................... Passed If Slow/Fast, Error in Ticks per Second ....... 0 Nic's Comment.................................. Maxamundo! CPU speed in MHZ............................... 12.83 -- [Basic (7MHz) Amiga 500 with 2 MB FAST memory] CPU-Performance-Test V1.4 by J. Richter MULU/S 0.98 CMP 1.10 DIVU/S 0.98 NOT 1.08 ASL/R 0.98 OR 0.98 LSL/R 0.98 EOR 0.98 ROL/R 0.98 AND 0.98 ADD 0.98 SWAP 0.98 SUB 0.98 MOVE 0.98 NEG 1.08 EXG 1.08 CLR 1.08 -- [Accelerated (14MHz) Amiga 500 with 2 MB FAST memory] CPU-Performance-Test V1.4 by J. Richter MULU/S 1.65 CMP 1.42 DIVU/S 1.81 NOT 1.41 ASL/R 1.90 OR 1.23 LSL/R 1.81 EOR 1.22 ROL/R 1.90 AND 1.05 ADD 1.22 SWAP 1.05 SUB 1.22 MOVE 1.04 NEG 1.42 EXG 1.42 CLR 1.41 -- [Basic (7MHz) Amiga 500 with no or 2 MB FAST memory] PC-Task V1.12 (PC-Emulator) by Chris Hames CPU Benchmark Test Elapsed time in seconds . . . . . . . . . . . . 169.73 Unable to identify CPU type Effective clock speed is . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00 Estimate MIPS at . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.02 Times faster than original 4.77 mhz PC . . . . . 0.10 (C) Copyright 1989 Visionary Software Technology, Inc. Canton, CT -- [Accelerated (14MHz) Amiga 500 with no or 2 MB FAST memory] PC-Task V1.12 (PC-Emulator) by Chris Hames CPU Benchmark Test Elapsed time in seconds . . . . . . . . . . . . 145.77 Unable to identify CPU type Effective clock speed is . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00 Estimate MIPS at . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.03 Times faster than original 4.77 mhz PC . . . . . 0.12 (C) Copyright 1989 Visionary Software Technology, Inc. Canton, CT WARRANTY None. CONCLUSIONS This hack won't increase your Amiga's performance very much, but it gives certain amount of boost, and won't cost you much. If you have the time and interest, go for it. COPYRIGHT NOTICE Copyright 1992 Janne Siren. All rights reserved. No warranties are made about the reliability of this review. --- Daniel Barrett, Moderator, comp.sys.amiga.reviews Send reviews to: amiga-reviews-submissions@math.uh.edu Request information: amiga-reviews-requests@math.uh.edu General discussion: amiga-reviews@math.uh.edu