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The PowerPC accelerator for the Atari Falcon030
Source : fmax.atari.org
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For quite some time, the Atari community suffered from not having access to
the latest CPU-technology, developed by Motorola: The PowerPC technology.
Available to Apple Macintosh and Commodore Amiga users for quite some time
now, the fastest accelerators for the Atari Falcon030 were either a Motorola
68040, running at 33 MHz or a Motorola 68030, running at 50 MHz. Both were
relatively expensive, hard to install and offered a limited compatibility to
existing software.
Times change, Tempest introduces PowerPC technology to the Atari community,
using a 603e processor at 300 MHz max, giving you much more CPU power for
less money.
Latest news
Due to some changes at Motorola's products, the Tempest PCB had to be modified
and these modification have to be tested in simulations now.
Fortunately, these modifications were minor and should not affect the price
of Tempest. Even better, Tempest is now more flexible in what CPU to use, from
MPC 8241 to MPC 8245, allowing clockspeeds of up to 300 MHz.
Leading Specs on One View
* Introduces Motorola PowerPC technology
* Up to 300 MHz clockfrequency
* Up to 256 MB FastRAM using SDRAM technology
* Fast and intelligent 680x0 Emulation
* Highly compatible to existing 680x0 software
* Highly compatible to bus-accelerators like Nemesis
* Easy to install, Solderfree installation possible
* Recasing the Falcon usually not necessary
* Opens an all new Future to your Atari
* Inexpensive, estimated price less than 200 UK Pounds
Tempest is not simply another accelerator for your Falcon. It's not only the
fastest one you can get in the near future, it opens a lot of other possibi'
lities, like
* PowerPC native applications
* Even faster
* does not require any kind of emulation
* Easy conversion of OpenSource projects
* More flexible emulation
* MC68030
* MC68040
* MC68060
* Multiprocessing by using
* the MC68030
* the DSP56001
* the PPC 603e simultaneously
* Suitable for more Atari computers
* Atari TT using DesTTiny
* Atari Mega ST/STE using an adapter
* Milan040/060 using a PCI-card
No other accelerator available or being designed currently can offer all this
at once for such a low price.
Tempest is a brave project. Introducing PowerPC technology to the Atari
community is no easy task. But by now Tempest might as well be the starting
point for a whole new generation of lightning-fast, PowerPC-based, up-to-date
Atari compatible systems.
If you ever wondered what is possible on a standard 16 MHz 68030 Falcon, just
imagine what a 300 MHz PowerPC 603e based Falcon can do.
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