313 by Freak of NFA Nothing too serious in this article, more like something for you to dream about the next time you get into a debate on the pros and cons of the various games platforms. We've all heard the rumours from Internet about the new Amiga that's (allegedly) in the pipeline, but what do YOU think would be the ultimate machine? Here's my spec, I have tried to take the best from all the currently available platforms and combine them in as real- istic a manner as possible, enjoy! -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- CPU: Who knows? Motorola are to release a 100MHz version of the 68060 R.I.S.C processor, which would kick the shit out of every home pooter currently available. RAM: 2Mb/4Mb Video Display Ram as in the PC, totally seperate to System RAM. 4/8/16 Mb of 32-Bit System RAM. Sound RAM? May cause problems though! CHIPS: Motorola D.S.P. for 16-Bit sound. Polygon Chip (Already in "Starwing"). Super-Blitter? SOUND: 8/16 tracks of 16-bit sound, more than enough. Built-in 16-bit instruments as in S/blaster Pro. DMA access for minimum CPU-intensive sound. Built-in Sampler and Midi interface. GFX: Nothing less than True-Colour in ALL modes. A chip to speed up Video Ram Access (You can already buy Windows Accelerators and Amiga True-Colour cards with built-in blitters). Programmable resolution would be nice but would need a bloody expensive monitor to show them all. SLOTS: 32/64 bit expansion/device slots, all with direct CPU access (so that RAM can be given directly to the CPU as in the Amiga Warp Engine board), and support processor systems can be added (like Video Screamer and Raptor systems). Booting ROM bus, so you can upgrade DOS versions by plugging in AND use it for cartrige based s/ware. PCMCIA-2 or -3 compatible slots, these are really wonderfully useful, but nobody has released much for them on the Amiga! DRIVES: 2 HD drives, possibly SHD (4Mb) which are already available but very finnicky over media quality. ½Gb SCSI-II Harddrive. Sony Mini-Disk, it would be inherently serial in operation but then so's a normal CD! BOARD: Processor socketed or on Daughter-board. 32 or 64-bit architecture. "Local" design as in the PC, for greater speed and reliability. Extensive use of CMOS design, low power consumption and heat generation, already planned for future Amigas, already in use in laptops! Auto-Config that will read a Device ROM in each unit so that everything mounts without the need for extra drivers. Un-restricted SIMM mixing, already possible on one A4000 RAM-board! |F3So Overall| PRICE: Not cheap, I would expect (and want) to pay about £3000 for the above machine, it COULD all be done for that price as most of the stuff is available already as extras, putting them all together from scratch would make it cheaper (obviously), but what of design & build costs? Look: CPU £600 (estimate per unit) RAM £300 (8Mb SIMM?) GFX £300 4Mb True Colour in all modes with accelerator (Amiga) SOUND £??? No bloody idea! HD £175 3.5in ½Gb FD £ 50 Over-Estimated! MD £200 Mini-Disk + Developement. So most of the hardware is already available, but Amiga UK would have to put in an AWFUL lot of work to build such a machine, the point is that it COULD be done. |F3Why I picked...| Sound RAM? Like video RAM but set aside exclusively for sound, it would leave the sound-chips and CPU with the minimum of hassle or interference from each other as the only time the CPU would have to touch the sound RAM is to upload some song data, you could even have a Soundtracker-clone in Sound ROM along with the built-in instruments! Sony Mini-Disc? It's Read/Write, it's FAST, and it's fairly cheap as Sony have combined already available technology to produce it in the first place! It records music by basically sampling it into one track instead of holding all tracks seperate, and what is sampled data but a list of numbers eh? Ditto ALL computer data, it's just a list of numbers!