I thought direct news are better than summed ones. So here the complete announcement directly from phase5 WWW site (www.phase5.de/news.
Oberursel, February 25, 1997: phase 5 digital products is proud
to announce the upcoming CYBERSTORM PPC PowerPC-based accelerators for Amiga
3000(T) and 4000(T) as well as systems with compatible CPU-slot. With these
innovative and powerful new accelerators a new dimension of performance is
brought to the Amiga, with performance increases of 10 times and more
compared to the fastest 68k based accelerators available today, resulting in
a breath-taking performance.
Primarily being designed as an upgrade board for existing Amiga
systems, the CYBERSTORM PPC incorporates phase 5's innovative dual-processor
technologie, where a fast PowerPC RISC processor is combined with a 68k
processor, in case of the CYBERSTORM PPC either a 68040 or a 68060 CPU. Both
CPUs dynamically share the memory and system busses, what is necessary for a
true multiprocessor behaviour. While the original AmigaOS 3.x continues to
run on the 68k CPU - as well as all existing applications do, what provides
100% compatibility - the PowerPC CPU is supported by a comprehensive PPC
Library developed by phase 5, which provides all functionality to integrate
the PowerPC into the Amiga multitasking environment. Software developers can
easily optimze their programs step by step by porting single tasks to
PowerPC code, which then can run parallel with 68k tasks. Many important
Amiga software vendors are preparing ported versions of their software
packages already, so it is expected that a large quantity of software
products supporting the PowerPC will be available soon.
The CYBERSTORM PPC will initially be availabe with the fast PowerPC
604e processor in clock speeds of 150, 180 and 200 MHz; the socket for the
68k companion processor accepts either a 68040 or a 68060 CPU. It provides a
64-bit wide, extremely fast memory expansion option (which can be upgraded
by using pairs of standard PS/2 type SIMMs) which is dynamically shared by
the two CPUs. Additionally, the CYBERSTORM PPC comes along with a DMA-driven
Wide ULTRA SCSI controller on-board, which allows transfer rates of up to
40MB/s and is ready for the most demanding and professional applications. A
32-bit high-speed expansion connector with DMA access to the main memory is
also provided for later upgradability. The 200MHz version of the CYBERSTORM
PPC provides - only on the PPC side - a raw performance of more than 350
MIPS or approximately 8.1 SPECint95 and 7.1 SPECfp95 (estimations based on
Motorola/IBM manufacturer specifications) - a blistering performance that
goes far beyond most PC systems available today.
The CYBERSTORM PPC will be delivered with a comprehensive software
package, which includes the PPC library as well as tools for creative users,
among them a Public Domain GNU C compiler for PowerPC (including sourcecode)
and many demo programs and utilities with sourcecode; in addition to this
software free developer support is available via the phase 5 FTP site. Last
not least a PowerPC-optimized version of CyberGraphX V3 with RISC-optimized
CyberGL/3D and MPEG functions and libraries is included - of course with
comprehensive documentation.
The CYBERSTORM PPC will be selling for a very attractive price,
offering a superior price/performance relation. The suggested retail prices
are as follows:
CYBERSTORM PPC w/ 180 MHz 604e processor
DM 1595,- / GBP 649.00 / USD 879.00
CYBERSTORM PPC w/ 200 MHz 604e processor
DM 1895,- / GBP 769.00 / USD 1069.00
Note: All prices are recommended retail prices. English and german price
include local VAT, the recommended US price does not include local taxes.
The prices are without the 68k CPU which is necessary to operate the
CYBERSTORM PPC. 68k processors from existing processor boards can be used on
the CYBERSTORM PPC by pluging these into the provided socket. If you don't
own a 68k CPU already, ask you local dealer for an attractive bundle offer.
Registered owners of a phase 5 68040- or 68060 board will - within the
PowerUp upgrade program - receive special, attractive upgrade offers by mail
during March 97. The handling of these upgrades will be done via local
appointed representatives.
In the second half of the year, an innovative graphic board will become
available for the CYBERSTORM PPC expansion slot which will provide a
functionality subset of the innovative CAIPIRINHA custom chip. By providing
a stand-alone version of the DLRP (Display List Risc Processor) this board
will offer superior display funtionality, highest WRAM-based resolution,
pixel depth and speed as well as the possibility to start developing
software that will support the functionality of our upcoming A\BOX
computer system (please refer also to the project information about the
A\BOX project in our news section).
I hope this was good enough for some of you.
