REVIEW: Amiga Accelerator System (68000) 14MHz Hack

[Janne Siren]

PRODUCT NAME

Amiga Accelerator System: (68000) 14MHz Hack
Version 4.0, 10/03/1992

BRIEF DESCRIPTION

Accelerating your Amiga isn't cheap. Even small accelerators like
AdSpeed, running a 68000 at 14MHz, might just be too much for your
wallet. How about building one by yourself?

Livio Plos and Joerg Richter have one answer to the problem: they
have released building instructions for a simple 14MHz accelerator
to the public as shareware.

AUTHOR/COMPANY INFORMATION

Name: Livio Plos
Address: via Amalteo 15
33170 Pordenone
Italy
Internet: li...@alessia.dei.unipd.it

Name: Joerg Richter
Address: Dresdener Strasse 21
2150 Buxtehude
Germany
Internet: Joerg....@arbi.informatik.uni-oldenburg.de

LIST PRICE

Shareware fee: US $15
PCB and fee: US $30
Components: US $40 (approximately)
All in one: US $70 (approximately)

SPECIAL HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS

HARDWARE

None, but FAST memory is heavily recommend for best speed results.

SOFTWARE

None.

COPY PROTECTION

None.

REVIEW

The accelerator I'm testing was built by a friend of mine, and it's
based on 14MHz hack version 4.0 with a few modifications. For
information about building such accelerator, you should obtain the
building instructions. You should be able to download the
distribution archive from your local BBS.

The board is quite easy to install. First, remove all peripherals
and open your machine (invalidates warranty!), and then replace the
old processor with the accelerator board. And if you did everything
as you should, your Amiga is now running a 68000 at 14MHz. It is
also possible to use a 68010 processor; it's faster, but not very
stable.

The performance increase is not very much if compared to commercial
68020 (or faster) accelerators, but with FAST memory expansion you
will notice the difference. There might also be some compatibility
problems, but in general there shouldn't be any problems, because
(running at 14MHz) only the E-Clock signal is modified a little bit
and the CIA's of the Amiga can handle this. You can also turn the
14MHz mode off, even while the computer is still up and running.

PERFORMANCE

[Basic (7MHz) Amiga 500 with no FAST memory]

SysInfo V2.70 by Nic Wilson

SPEED COMPARISONS AGAINST KNOWN MODELS & PERIPHERALS

A500 512k or A500 with 1MB CHIP ONLY........... 1.06
B2000, A2000, A1000 or A500 with fast ram...... 0.80
B2000 GVP A3001 28MHZ ALL CACHES & BURSTS..... 0.09
A2500 A2620 68020 14MHZ card.................. 0.28
A3000/25 SCRAM ICACHE IBURST DCACHE NODBURST... 0.12
A3000 PP&S 68040 ICACHE DCACHE COPYBACK....... 0.02
IBM PC/XT or compatible........................ 3.44
CPU Million Instructions per Second............ 0.49
FPU Million Floating Operations per Second..... N/A
Speed of Chip Memory vs A3000 Chip Memory...... 0.21
CIA (A) timer accuracy test ................... Passed
If Slow/Fast, Error in Ticks per Second ....... 0
Nic's Comment.................................. Basic Amiga
CPU speed in MHZ............................... 7.09

--

[Basic (7MHz) Amiga 500 with 2 MB FAST memory]

SysInfo V2.70 by Nic Wilson

SPEED COMPARISONS AGAINST KNOWN MODELS & PERIPHERALS

A500 512k or A500 with 1MB CHIP ONLY........... 1.30
B2000, A2000, A1000 or A500 with fast ram...... 1.00
B2000 GVP A3001 28MHZ ALL CACHES & BURSTS..... 0.12
A2500 A2620 68020 14MHZ card.................. 0.34
A3000/25 SCRAM ICACHE IBURST DCACHE NODBURST... 0.15
A3000 PP&S 68040 ICACHE DCACHE COPYBACK....... 0.03
IBM PC/XT or compatible........................ 4.25
CPU Million Instructions per Second............ 0.60
FPU Million Floating Operations per Second..... N/A
Speed of Chip Memory vs A3000 Chip Memory...... 0.25
CIA (A) timer accuracy test ................... Passed
If Slow/Fast, Error in Ticks per Second ....... 0
Nic's Comment.................................. Only Amiga...
CPU speed in MHZ............................... 7.09

--

[Accelerated (14MHz) Amiga 500 with no FAST memory]

SysInfo V2.70 by Nic Wilson

SPEED COMPARISONS AGAINST KNOWN MODELS & PERIPHERALS

A500 512k or A500 with 1MB CHIP ONLY........... 1.16
B2000, A2000, A1000 or A500 with fast ram...... 0.88
B2000 GVP A3001 28MHZ ALL CACHES & BURSTS..... 0.10
A2500 A2620 68020 14MHZ card.................. 0.31
A3000/25 SCRAM ICACHE IBURST DCACHE NODBURST... 0.13
A3000 PP&S 68040 ICACHE DCACHE COPYBACK....... 0.03
IBM PC/XT or compatible........................ 3.78
CPU Million Instructions per Second............ 0.53
FPU Million Floating Operations per Second..... N/A
Speed of Chip Memory vs A3000 Chip Memory...... 0.29
CIA (A) timer accuracy test ................... Passed
If Slow/Fast, Error in Ticks per Second ....... 0
Nic's Comment.................................. Basic Amiga
CPU speed in MHZ............................... 11.92

--

[Accelerated (14MHz) Amiga 500 with 2 MB FAST memory]

SysInfo V2.70 by Nic Wilson

SPEED COMPARISONS AGAINST KNOWN MODELS & PERIPHERALS

A500 512k or A500 with 1MB CHIP ONLY........... 1.49
B2000, A2000, A1000 or A500 with fast ram...... 1.13
B2000 GVP A3001 28MHZ ALL CACHES & BURSTS..... 0.13
A2500 A2620 68020 14MHZ card.................. 0.39
A3000/25 SCRAM ICACHE IBURST DCACHE NODBURST... 0.17
A3000 PP&S 68040 ICACHE DCACHE COPYBACK....... 0.03
IBM PC/XT or compatible........................ 4.85
CPU Million Instructions per Second............ 0.69
FPU Million Floating Operations per Second..... N/A
Speed of Chip Memory vs A3000 Chip Memory...... 0.26
CIA (A) timer accuracy test ................... Passed
If Slow/Fast, Error in Ticks per Second ....... 0
Nic's Comment.................................. Maxamundo!
CPU speed in MHZ............................... 12.83

--

[Basic (7MHz) Amiga 500 with 2 MB FAST memory]

CPU-Performance-Test V1.4 by J. Richter

MULU/S 0.98 CMP 1.10
DIVU/S 0.98 NOT 1.08
ASL/R 0.98 OR 0.98
LSL/R 0.98 EOR 0.98
ROL/R 0.98 AND 0.98
ADD 0.98 SWAP 0.98
SUB 0.98 MOVE 0.98
NEG 1.08 EXG 1.08
CLR 1.08

--

[Accelerated (14MHz) Amiga 500 with 2 MB FAST memory]

CPU-Performance-Test V1.4 by J. Richter

MULU/S 1.65 CMP 1.42
DIVU/S 1.81 NOT 1.41
ASL/R 1.90 OR 1.23
LSL/R 1.81 EOR 1.22
ROL/R 1.90 AND 1.05
ADD 1.22 SWAP 1.05
SUB 1.22 MOVE 1.04
NEG 1.42 EXG 1.42
CLR 1.41

--

[Basic (7MHz) Amiga 500 with no or 2 MB FAST memory]

PC-Task V1.12 (PC-Emulator) by Chris Hames

CPU Benchmark Test

Elapsed time in seconds . . . . . . . . . . . . 169.73
Unable to identify CPU type
Effective clock speed is . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Estimate MIPS at . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.02
Times faster than original 4.77 mhz PC . . . . . 0.10

(C) Copyright 1989 Visionary Software Technology, Inc. Canton, CT

--

[Accelerated (14MHz) Amiga 500 with no or 2 MB FAST memory]

PC-Task V1.12 (PC-Emulator) by Chris Hames

CPU Benchmark Test

Elapsed time in seconds . . . . . . . . . . . . 145.77
Unable to identify CPU type
Effective clock speed is . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Estimate MIPS at . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.03
Times faster than original 4.77 mhz PC . . . . . 0.12

(C) Copyright 1989 Visionary Software Technology, Inc. Canton, CT

WARRANTY

None.

CONCLUSIONS

This hack won't increase your Amiga's performance very much, but it
gives certain amount of boost, and won't cost you much. If you have
the time and interest, go for it.

COPYRIGHT NOTICE

Copyright 1992 Janne Siren. All rights reserved.
No warranties are made about the reliability of this review.

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