Review of Amiga 4000/030 - Tom Minchin =================================================== Bio Pic ======= I'm a 20 year old undergraduate at the Australian National University. Currently in the third year of my four year Arts/Science degree, specializing in Geographical Information Systems. While fond of the Amiga range, I've used (and abused) all sorts of computer systems, ranging from IBM Compats and Apple Macs, through Sun and SGI workstations, to the monster CPU arrays of the Fujitsu Vector Processor and the Connection Machine. My computer upgrade path started from the Vic20 -> C64 -> A500 -> A4000/030.  ¿? 35 ¿*? 35 ¿*? 35 ¿*? 35 ¿*? 35 ¿*? 35 ¿*? 35 ¿*? 35 ¿*? 35 ¿*? 35 ¿?  Introduction ============ The Amiga 4000 with its 68040 is a serious piece of computer, the flagship of the Amiga range (until the A4000T is released at the July WoC). Previous models of the Amiga range have had both price and graphics to aid them on the sales floor against the IBM compatible hordes. While the new AA (AGA) chipset has caught up with VGA cards, the Amiga has lost the price race against the 'compatible clone'. For the cost of an A4000/040 (currently around $4400 - but expected to drop during/after the World of Commodore show) you could get an impressive MS-DOS system of 486/33 (maybe even a 66Mhz system). So why buy that Amiga? No reason to at all! Bit like comparing a BMW (no, too reliable), maybe a sporty Alfa, with our 'local' Ford Falcon. You really have to like the ride. Give me the exotic platform anyday.  The Release =========== You'd hardly read the classified section of the paper to read about the latest Amiga products, but courtesy of "The Software Shop"|"Amiga Focus"|"Platypus Systems" (rather complicated business relationship since they all live in the same shop) I found out about the A4000/030. I'd have to admit that it took me by suprise, being an avid reader of Internet's USENET and an occasional participant on IRC, I'd only heard rumours of a 68030 based 1200 been bandied about. An inquiry posted on the net provoked an interesting response from an international audience, it appears that Commodore Australia had actually had a world exclusive on the A4000/030. Both the A4000 models are visually identical (except for the 030 and 040 badges).  What's in the Box? ================== Amiga 4000/030 CPU case: - 4M of RAM (2 Fast, 2 Chip) - 120M IDE Hard drive, High Density 3.5" floppy - all the same gear as the A4000/040 (RAM is only difference) Manuals: A4000 users guide (no reference to the A4000/030 included!) Amiga Hard Drives AREXX AmigaDOS 3.0 Amiga Workbench 3.0 AGA Supplement - squishy keyboard - pregnant mouse (very comfy) - 1048 to VGA convertor plug (don't lose this - very hard to get otherwise) - keys (for locking the computer) - 8 disk System OS 3.0 installation pack - HotShots User 'support' and warranty forms  System Benchmarks (via SysInfo3.14 by Nic Wilson) ================================================= CopyBack Mode.................................. N/A Instruction Cache.............................. ON Instruction Burst.............................. ON Data Cache..................................... ON Data Burst..................................... OFF Central Processing Unit Type................... 68030 (DISABLED) Memory Management Unit Type.................... 68030 (DISABLED (DISABLED) Floating Point Unit Type....................... NONE Vector Base Register (VBR) Address............. $00000000 Ramsey Chip Revision (A3000)................... N/A Gary Chip Revision (A3000)..................... N/A DMA/Gfx Chip................................... AA ALICE - 2Meg Display Mode................................... PAL:High Res Display Chip................................... AA LISA CHIP VBlank Frequency in Hz......................... 50 Power Supply Frequency in Hz................... 50 Horizontal Frequency in KHz.................... 15.60 Card Slot Installed............................ NO Hardware Clock installed....................... CLOCK FOUND EClockFrequency in Hz.......................... 709379 SPEED COMPARISONS AGAINST KNOWN MODELS & PERIPHERALS A500 512k or A600 with 1MB CHIP ONLY........... 7.14 B2000, A2000, A1000 or A500 with fast ram...... 5.99 A1200 68EC020 ................................ 3.28 A2500 A2620 68020 14MHZ card.................. 2.03 A3000/25 SCRAM ICACHE IBURST DCACHE NODBURST... 0.90 A4000 68040 ICACHE DCACHE COPYBACK............ 0.22 CPU Million Instructions per Second............ 4.37 FPU Million Floating Operations per Second..... N/A Speed of Chip Memory vs A600 Chip Memory....... 4.52 Dhrystones per second.......................... 4192 Nics Comment................................... Cowabunga! CPU speed in MHZ............................... 25 NOTES: * the C= specs say that the CPU is a 68EC030 (ie an economy version of the 68030 minus the Memory Management Unit (MMU)). This may or may not be true of all A4000/030 models. * no maths coprocessor (FPU), although there are socket(s) on the CPU card module for either the 68881 or 68882. The actual method of attachment seems to be undefined at the moment by C=. * slower than the A3000 due to its lack of an FPU, the AGA chipset, however, makes it more than twice as fast as the A3000 in the graphics department.  AIBB Benchmarks =============== I've included the A4000/030 with this review so that you can compare your current system with it using AIBB 5.5. AIBB has quite a war chest of benchmarks (you can extract all the individual results using 'modinfo' - included with AIBB - if you're that interested). AIBB does give a general performance comparison. Integer Graphics Floating Point --------------------------------------------------------------- A500 NFR 6.05 5.37 7.56 A2000 FR 5.89 3.98 5.10 A3000 0.98 2.26 0.54 A4000 0.48 0.97 0.18 --------------------------------------------------------------- NOTES: * each value reflects how much faster the A4000/030 than the indicated system (eg 6.05 x A500, 0.18 x A4000 etc). * NFR: No Fast RAM, FR: Fast RAM, A4000 is the 68040 model * adding an FPU will make it comparable to the A3000 * AIBB said the A4000/030 is faster than the A4000/040 in the Text and Graphics test. Must be something to do with chose monitor and screen mode.  Comparison to other models (standard system config) =================================================== Model A4000/030 A4000/040 A1200 A3000 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- CPU 68EC030 68040 68EC020 68030 Mhz 25 25 14 25 FPU socket avail. internal optional 68881 MMU maybe|yes|no internal none internal RAM 4M, max 18M 6M, max 18M 2M, max 16M 2 HD 120M IDE 120M IDE 40M IDE 80M SCSI Floppy HD HD DD DD or HD Clock yes yes no (grr) yes Flicker software software software hardware Cost $2995 $4500 $1199 ~$2000-3000 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Notes: * A1200 is only expandable via the trapdoor socket (since the CPU is now surface mounted there won't be any of those CPU socket expansions). Currently for the A1200 trapdoor socket: clocks, SCSI, RAM, FPU, 68(EC)030, but not all on the one board! * A3000 specs are sketchy (from memory) but model is technically abandoned now (along with A1000, A500, A2500, A2000). * In regards to RAM. Both A4000 models can only have a maximum of 18M fitted in the sockets provided you use the 4M SIMMS (36 bit SIMMS? weird but true). You can add even more by using ZorroIII cards. The A1200 can only autoconfig 16M of RAM, but you need a trapdoor card to add more to the standard 2M, or use the PCMCIA2 card socket (pricey though). * In regards to the maybe|yes|no for the A4000/030. AIBB 5.5 says there might be an MMU, but asks you say whether the CPU is the EC version or not. SysInfo3.14 says there is an MMU, but it is disabled as default. C= says there is no MMU with the EC version. Confused? I am! My A4000/030 can load the OS ROM data into Fast RAM (makes Workbench noticeably faster), according to the AmigaDOS manual you need a "supported MMU" to do this. Third party accelerator board manufacturers had rigged hardware/software solutions that can remap the operating system into RAM (not that hard, 'skick' can pop OS2.1 from a file in A500 RAM).  Expansion ========= * ZorroIII slot expansion - SCSI-2 controller: Currently, one from C= (~$500) it still has some compatibility problems with the Buster chip, one from Phoenix ($995) a much more option laden board that has 64M RAM space amongst other things. - DSP board: You might be able to put one here, C= keeps changing their mind. - Emulator cards: The newer IBM Compatible hardware cards should be able to work (possibly clashes with AGA chipset in older software), Emplant and AmaxII will work, if they don't require an MMU (Amax does not). These cards might go in the PC/AT slots, who knows. - older ZorroII cards _might_ work. Obviously accelerator cards won't, the 2091 can limp along with a software patch (slower than IDE). - more I hope! * PC/AT slot expansion - run most cards, if you have the software, Ethernet and internal modems look like a good bet, along with Bridgeboard type stuff. * Graphics slot - A4000 Toaster and other graphical goodies like 24bit colour cards * Processor slot - upgrades to faster '030s/'040s - new CPUs: possibly 68060 (or RISC) * Drive bays - can add an extra 3.5" floppy - can add a 5.25" floppy, magnetic tape backup, CD-ROM, removable hard disk to other frontal drive bay. - two internal low profile 3.5" hard drives (one is already taken) * Monitors - you can attach VGA monitors (using that special convertor plug) and use the special resolutions available, but the hassle is that you can't see the Early Boot Menu (in 15.6kHz mode) or the workbench in it's default screenmode (also 15.6kHz). If you do get such a monitor, borrow a friends or take your machine around to your dealer to configure it (using a multiscan or 15.6kHz monitor). Commodore have released the 1940 and 1942 monitors that will replace the 1960 and 1950 range, wait until someone reviews them before you buy one.  Is it worth it? =============== A4000/030 vs A4000/040 The price of the A4000/030 is very close to its 68040 version. Interestingly, the price difference is about the same cost of 2M more of RAM, and the cost of a 68040. Since the CPU is mounted on a card they can be updated later to either a 68040 or the new 68060, you can get the cheaper A4000 and wait for the new 68060, a faster 68040 (50Mhz!), or a second hand 68040 25Mhz one. You can't use the A3000 and A2000 accelerator cards. Some people say that the IDE hard drive controller is rather slothful, SysInfo (generously) rates it at 1.25M/sec, compared to my A590 SCSI Quantum HD that did 0.88M/sec. Fast enough for me. The only limitation on the IDE interface is the number of devices you can attach - two only, and one is already taken by the HD (SCSI can handle 8). A4000/030 vs A1200 The cost of the A1200 is about half of the A4000/030. By the addition of a GVP acclerator running a 68040 at 50Mhz you can make it 8% (some I'm told) faster than the A4000/040, but still cost less than it. This speed is achieved by overclocking the CPU (in this case doubling the speed), but for limited results, ie 8% gain. However, the A1200 looks like a dinky toy, has several irritating features, and is as expandable as the A500. A4000/030 vs the IBM PC compatible The entire Amiga range is slaughtered by the Intel hordes by price. If you spent $2000 you could get either a full '486 box (100M hard drive, 4M of RAM, HD floppy, Windows3.1 etc) with SVGA monitor ...or you could have an A1200 with a 1960 monitor (VGA). The Amiga range has to compete with the PC on performance alone, with C= making a huge yearly loss of ~$200 million price cutting seems unlikely (unless they go bankrupt and then they can really flood the market).  Future? ======= The AAA (and the AA+) chipsets are a subject of international speculation. Certainly they will be far more advanced than the current A[G]A chip, probably possessing a 24bit color screenmode (A HAM8 picture (a 262000+ colour one) in Hires and Lace looks spectacular as it is!). An improved sound chip is next too. So? Should you wait until the next model? I think not, the AAA chipset will be expensive - approaching the Silicon Graphics Inc stage of wallet thumping. Workbench 3.1 is next on the list. Networking is going to be built in apparently. But C= is C= is C= and may change their minds :)  Finally... ========== So why did I get that A4000/030? If you can tolerate the price, you do get a very elegant computer system (from a user's point of view). MS-DOS cannot compare AT ALL (yes, I DO have such a machine), and Windows3.1 is improving but still flawed in its greedy resource grabbing. C= is obviously prepared to sacrifice some compatibility of older software and hardware to implement its new features, while the PC range attempts to bake cakes and eat 'em too. Compatibility of older software and the AGA-based chipset is definitely not 100% (quite a bit less). If the program spat on OS2 it's even less likely to run now. Games, in particular tend, to bypass the operating rules to get to the 'good bits', the careful use of the Early Startup Control menu (disable CPU Caches to reduce speed, select between AGA, ECS and OCS chipsets, between PAL and NTSC screen formats), and programs like Degrader can increase the range that will run. My favourite, Civilization still runs - looks good in full screen NTSC mode (fit camels between the scanlines), calculation speed is up (the world generates in 2 minutes compared with 5 or 6), but graphics updating is down. The lack of a MMU is not critical at the moment, but could be irritating later on if you wanted to use the full range of options on the Emplant OS emulator, use virtual memory, use the 'Enforcer' software, or run a UNIX partition (unlikely now since C= has dropped it - alas). Price-wise, it should drop $500.  A Plug ====== Special thanks to The Software Shop, and Platypus Systems, for being very helpful and patient with me, and very insistent with C=. Best Amiga shop in the ACT (even if it's the only one).  ¿? 35 ¿*? 35 ¿*? 35 ¿*? 35 ¿*? 35 ¿*? 35 ¿*? 35 ¿*? 35 ¿*? 35 ¿*? 35 ¿?