From: mike@agrijag.UUCP (Mike Schiller)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.hardware
Subject: Re: '040 and SCSI
Date: 21 Jul 92 08:07:50 GMT
Organization: Not an Organization
X-NewsSoftware: GRn 1.16e (7/4/92) by Mike Schwartz & Michael B. Smith

In article <53585@mentor.cc.purdue.edu> ab@nova.cc.purdue.edu (Allen B) writes:
> In article <kaltenha.710501074@fidji> kaltenha@informatik.uni-freiburg.de
> (Raoul Kaltenhaeuser) writes:
> >I plan to buy a A2000 + 68040 + SCSI-Drive (a A3000+040 would be
> >too expensive). I heard that there are 040 boards with SCSI host
> >controller onboard. Is that true? Which companies produce them?
> >Is this combination faster than SCSI host and 68040 on seperated
> >boards? Are there drawbacks to the combo-solution?
>
With the recient price reduction of the A3000 & 2000, and with the price of
the original PP&S 040 card for the 3000 having dropped in price, I would
say that you'd probably be better off getting the A3000/PP&S040 combo rather
than an A2000 with an 040. First off, the 040's on the 2000 may well run at
28mhz, but the rest of the system (the system bus) still only runs at 7.16
mhz, whereas with the 3000 not only is the 040 running at 25mhz, but the
rest of the system is as well! One advantage to the PP&S 040 is that it's
the only one that I know of that runs Syncronously with the A3000, and what
that means is that most of the others that run Async, you have a similiar
situation to the 2000 boards, that is the board runs at 28mhz, but the rest
of the system still only runs at 25mhz (or 16mhz if you get a 16mhz 3000).
The benefit of this isn't clear right away, but it is this - If you find a
dealer that has one of the 16mhz A3000's in stock, chances are you can pick
it up REAL cheaply, as usually nobody wants them, they want the 25mhz ones.
Now when you put the PP&S 040 in it makes the whole system run at 25mhz
(other than the 16mhz 68030/68882's there's no difference between the 2
models of 3000), so now that you're not using the stock processor anymore
you will have all the benefits of a 25mhz 040 3000 in a much cheaper package!
The only disadvantage to the 16mhz machines is that you can no longer jump
back to the 68030 like you can with a 25mhz machine, as you have to change
some jumpers on the MB of the 3000 that determine the speed of it, the
choices you get are: 16mhz, 25mhz, or external speed which is what the PP&S
board uses, as it regulates the speed of the machine, and it's telling the
machine to go at 25mhz, and the 16mhz parts can't handle that speed!

> As the last poster said, PP&S makes them.  The only
> drawback is how much they cost ($2400 with no RAM (and no
> drive?), I think).  As someone who just bought a
> Fusion-Forty and a GVP Series II for less than the
> equivalent single card solution, I should know.
>
> For me the extra disk performance wasn't worth the extra
> expense at this time.  RCS (makers of Fusion-Forty) claim
> they will have a combination '040/SCSI card in the future
> that I'll be able to trade up to.  I'll think about it.  'Til
> then, I'll just take advantage of the extra cycles.
>
> ab

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