We should set up a sort of bounty/donation system for a new ppc accelerator for any of the classic Amigas. I'm no engineer but after I get some expenses out of the way I would definitely put some down for it.
PPC accelerator bounty?
- Thread starter RedDaemonFox
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Nah
PPC in a classic has a big bottleneck and it's called "Amiga".
I would like to see a new one made if that is any consolation 
If it's such a useless card, why do they fly off here and Evilbay ?
And sometimes even for 4 digit amounts ?
You all are missing the point. The point is to bring our Amigas up to modern day specs without shelling out for something more expensive. G3 maybe no longer used but is a good starting point and may renew interest in the platform?
Because those guys don't know the true color of the board until they have got one.
I still have 2 BlizzPPC boards here and i am not interested in using them anymore.
I am more happy with Blizz060/Apollo060.
If anyone really wants to buy one for a 4 digits amount, i would be quite happy to sell it.
@Dreamy,
I admire your passion, but my friend there are so many hurdles before an engineer (or engineers could begin)
Today's micro electronics are not that of 15 years ago, we use less voltage as such our new components are incompatible with older components, sure we have means and methods to interface from 3.3v logic to 5v logic... however its expensive and can use up a large bit of PCB real-estate.
the other problem is that some components are just not made anymore and are depreciated like a lot of CPU's =(
The practicality of a PPC chip is, IMHO a complete killer ... it would be much better for an x86 processor with an intergrated Northbridge with graphics / sound / network and DMA IDE and memory adapter(s)
however.... its going to take a couple of engineers good year or two to develop the PCB so thats a good 100k just in wages,
Thats a lot of cash for a limited prospect of return.
I admire your passion, but my friend there are so many hurdles before an engineer (or engineers could begin)
Today's micro electronics are not that of 15 years ago, we use less voltage as such our new components are incompatible with older components, sure we have means and methods to interface from 3.3v logic to 5v logic... however its expensive and can use up a large bit of PCB real-estate.
the other problem is that some components are just not made anymore and are depreciated like a lot of CPU's =(
The practicality of a PPC chip is, IMHO a complete killer ... it would be much better for an x86 processor with an intergrated Northbridge with graphics / sound / network and DMA IDE and memory adapter(s)
however.... its going to take a couple of engineers good year or two to develop the PCB so thats a good 100k just in wages,
Thats a lot of cash for a limited prospect of return.
tokyoracer
(Not actually from Tokyo).
The point of having an Amiga is the joy of having something that is dated and different. It's limitations is it's charm if you ask me.
Let's assume somebody really built a board like that:
We'd have a really fast CPU-card with all the mentioned gimmicks, sitting on a 20+ years old board with aging/failing components (which would be utilized by this CPU-card for power, connectors and possibly backwards-compatibility) - sounds almost like an SBC with added connectivity to/through the Amiga-hardware.
The major flaws in this concept are:
- the Amiga hardware doesn't get any younger
- after a while, this CPU-card would be outdated again, so
- new CPUs would usually require new CPU-cards (we're already used to that) and
- if they were made at all, these new CPU-cards would again be expensive (nothing new there either)
But most of us probably have a PC (or MAC) at home anyway, so why not reverse the roles and implant the Amiga into those?
Imho some kind of FPGA-Amiga as an addon-card for a PC would be the most plausible and cost-effective way to go (if this was possible at all).
And now after I wrote all of this I'm thinking "And the point would be what? We have UAE for the old stuff..."
Oh well
Well I'm all for a new PPC card, even if it is pointless and dreamy, G3 would be nice, something a little newer would be awesome. And i'm one of the few that paid a fortune for my PPC and actually still like it. I also dream of a classic system that can do just what it did back in the 90's but also kick ass with NG software all in one 
Ed.D
Active member
Why not take all the custom Amiga chips and add them to a new PCI-E card to plug in to a PC, Mac, Sun, whatever platform? You could even add a 68000 socket on the card.
Or, design an interface which allows connection to and control of the Amiga hardware from an OS on another platform. The extra 16bits of the clockport connector perhaps?
Or, design an interface which allows connection to and control of the Amiga hardware from an OS on another platform. The extra 16bits of the clockport connector perhaps?
New 060 accelerators would be the best choice for me too... It would be great to have new ones for A2K, A1200, A4000/3000.
In my point of view, PPC boards are too expensive for what they can do...
In my point of view, PPC boards are too expensive for what they can do...
surely the only failing of the PPc was that it arrived late to the Amiga and most of the market had died by then? 99% of software for the Amiga is 68K and of that most runs on the 68000 A500 anyway , except for AGA stuff - which again arrived late.
imagine if PPC had arrived a couple of years earlier on the Amiga. 601-based Power Macintosh arrived in mid 1994 by then Commodore was no more. (Commodore declared bankruptcy on April 29, 1994)
its the old problem ....no software without hardware - no hardware without lots of money and interest.
i think the PPC has had its day , correct me if im wrong but only IBM (xbox & ps3 too) use modern version of the PPC. The biggest market in world today is x86 intel/amd
so therefore the only option would be x86 cpu card or a new computer which is the FPGA computer / minimig / Natami
How long would Motorola keep making the 68060 in the future anyway? perhaps an FPGA accelerator card is the way to go with a 68060 core but clocked higher but then what do you run on it?
Im afraid i see the future as FPGA like computers which emulate the Amiga. a bright spark i all this is that the Natami project may see new software too.
imagine if PPC had arrived a couple of years earlier on the Amiga. 601-based Power Macintosh arrived in mid 1994 by then Commodore was no more. (Commodore declared bankruptcy on April 29, 1994)
its the old problem ....no software without hardware - no hardware without lots of money and interest.
i think the PPC has had its day , correct me if im wrong but only IBM (xbox & ps3 too) use modern version of the PPC. The biggest market in world today is x86 intel/amd
so therefore the only option would be x86 cpu card or a new computer which is the FPGA computer / minimig / Natami
How long would Motorola keep making the 68060 in the future anyway? perhaps an FPGA accelerator card is the way to go with a 68060 core but clocked higher but then what do you run on it?
Im afraid i see the future as FPGA like computers which emulate the Amiga. a bright spark i all this is that the Natami project may see new software too.
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