Sam460ex

Last updated

Sam460ex running AmigaOS 4.1 AmigaOS 4.1 on Sam460ex.png
Sam460ex running AmigaOS 4.1

Sam460ex is a line of modular motherboards produced by the Italian company ACube Systems Srl. [1] The machine was released in October 2010 and can run AmigaOS 4, MorphOS, or Debian GNU/Linux (indeed only CRUX PPC Linux is available [2] [ clarification needed ] because there is neither a Debian official support nor a Debian install ISO).

Contents

The Sam460ex made its debut at the Vintage Computer Festival at Bletchley Park in the UK on 19 June 2010, where it was demonstrated to the public running AmigaOS 4.1 along with the Timberwolf web browser, a port of the Mozilla Firefox for the AmigaOS 4. Its hardware features were also showcased, with its SIM card slot and aerial, its ability to boot AmigaOS from SD card. In September 2011, Acube Systems introduced AmigaOne 500 based on Sam460ex mainboard. [3] [4] [5]

Versions

Sam460ex

The SATA2 port and the PCI-e 1× slot are mutually exclusive, only one of them can be used at a time.

Sam460ex Lite

The specifications are the same as for the Sam460ex, except for: [7]

Sam460cr

The specifications are the same as for the Sam460ex, except for:
Absence of

Users are expected to use graphics, sound and Sata interface cards with this model. [8]

Reception

Amiga Power magazine saw PCIe expansion for modern graphics cards, silent fan-less CPU operation, plenty of RAM and USB 2.0 as main advantages of the new Sam460ex board. However, the same review mentioned among weak points CPU speed, problems with audio on some motherboards and lack of 3D drivers for Radeon HD cards under AmigaOS. [9] Reviewing AmigaOne 500, Amiga Future magazine highlighted supplied 2 GB RAM and overall system performance comparable to older Pegasos II computer, but criticized weak built in graphics chip recommending customers to buy dedicated graphics card. [10]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amiga</span> Family of personal computers sold by Commodore

Amiga is a family of personal computers introduced by Commodore in 1985. The original model is one of a number of mid-1980s computers with 16- or 16/32-bit processors, 256 KB or more of RAM, mouse-based GUIs, and significantly improved graphics and audio compared to previous 8-bit systems. These systems include the Atari ST—released earlier the same year—as well as the Macintosh and Acorn Archimedes. Based on the Motorola 68000 microprocessor, the Amiga differs from its contemporaries through the inclusion of custom hardware to accelerate graphics and sound, including sprites and a blitter, and a pre-emptive multitasking operating system called AmigaOS.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Industry Standard Architecture</span> Internal expansion bus in early PC compatibles

Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) is the 16-bit internal bus of IBM PC/AT and similar computers based on the Intel 80286 and its immediate successors during the 1980s. The bus was (largely) backward compatible with the 8-bit bus of the 8088-based IBM PC, including the IBM PC/XT as well as IBM PC compatibles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">PowerPC</span> RISC instruction set architecture by AIM alliance

PowerPC is a reduced instruction set computer (RISC) instruction set architecture (ISA) created by the 1991 Apple–IBM–Motorola alliance, known as AIM. PowerPC, as an evolving instruction set, has been named Power ISA since 2006, while the old name lives on as a trademark for some implementations of Power Architecture–based processors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">AmigaOne</span> A series of computers intended to run AmigaOS 4

AmigaOne is a series of computers intended to run AmigaOS 4 developed by Hyperion Entertainment, as a successor to the Amiga series by Commodore International. Unlike the original Amiga computers which used Motorola 68k processors, the AmigaOne line uses PowerPC processors. Earlier models were produced by Eyetech; in September 2009, Hyperion secured an exclusive licence for the AmigaOne name and subsequently new AmigaOne computers were released by A-Eon Technology and Acube Systems.

MorphOS is an AmigaOS-like computer operating system (OS). It is a mixed proprietary and open source OS produced for the Pegasos PowerPC (PPC) processor based computer, PowerUP accelerator equipped Amiga computers, and a series of Freescale development boards that use the Genesi firmware, including the Efika and mobileGT. Since MorphOS 2.4, Apple's Mac mini G4 is supported as well, and with the release of MorphOS 2.5 and MorphOS 2.6 the eMac and Power Mac G4 models are respectively supported. The release of MorphOS 3.2 added limited support for Power Mac G5. The core, based on the Quark microkernel, is proprietary, although several libraries and other parts are open source, such as the Ambient desktop.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amiga 4000</span> 1992 personal computer

The Amiga 4000, or A4000, from Commodore is the successor of the Amiga 2000 and Amiga 3000 computers. There are two models: the A4000/040 released in October 1992 with a Motorola 68040 CPU, and the A4000/030 released in April 1993 with a Motorola 68EC030.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pegasos</span>

Pegasos was sold by Genesi USA, Inc., and designed by their research and design partner bplan GmbH based in Frankfurt, Germany. It is a MicroATX motherboard powered by a PowerPC 750CXe or PowerPC 7447 microprocessor, featuring three PCI slots, one AGP slot, two Ethernet ports, USB, DDR, AC'97 sound, and FireWire. Like the PowerPC Macintosh counterparts, it boots via Open Firmware.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Power Mac G4</span> Series of personal computers

The Power Mac G4 is a series of personal computers designed, manufactured, and sold by Apple Computer from 1999 to 2004 as part of the Power Macintosh line. Built around the PowerPC G4 series of microprocessors, the Power Mac G4 was marketed by Apple as the first "personal supercomputers", reaching speeds of 4 to 20 gigaFLOPS. This was the first existing Macintosh product to be officially shortened as "Mac", and is the last Mac able to boot into classic Mac OS with the introduction of MacOS X.

microATX Standard motherboard form factor

In computer design, microATX is a standard motherboard form factor introduced in December 1997. The maximum size of a microATX motherboard is 9.6 × 9.6 in (244 × 244 mm). However, there are examples of motherboards using microATX designation despite having a smaller size of 244 × 205 mm (9.6 × 8.1 in). The standard ATX size is 25% longer, at 12 × 9.6 in (305 × 244 mm).

The Taito Type X is an arcade system board released in 2004 by game developer and publisher Taito.

Microprocessors belonging to the PowerPC/Power ISA architecture family have been used in numerous applications.

The AMD 700 chipset series is a set of chipsets designed by ATI for AMD Phenom processors to be sold under the AMD brand. Several members were launched in the end of 2007 and the first half of 2008, others launched throughout the rest of 2008.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Serial Digital Video Out</span> Proprietary Intel technology

Serial Digital Video Out (SDVO) is a proprietary Intel technology introduced with their 9xx-series of motherboard chipsets.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Genesi</span>

Genesi is an international group of technology and consulting companies in the United States, Mexico and Germany. It is most widely known for designing and manufacturing ARM architecture and Power ISA-based computing devices. The Genesi Group consists of Genesi USA Inc., Genesi Americas LLC, Genesi Europe UG, Red Efika, bPlan GmbH and the affiliated non-profit organization Power2People.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Efika</span>

Efika is a line of power efficient ARM architecture and Power ISA based computers manufactured by Genesi.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NanoBook</span>

The NanoBook is an ultra-mobile PC reference design by VIA Technologies, Inc. It has a clamshell form factor, a 7-inch 800×480 touchscreen display, and a full-size keyboard. It weighs less than 850g and has a claimed battery life of up to 4.5 hours. It is based on the VIA VX700 chipset, featuring the VIA UniChrome Pro II IGP integrated graphics and powered by the 1.2-GHz VIA C7-M ultra low voltage processor. It includes up to 1 GB DDR2 memory, a minimum 30-GB hard drive, 802.11g WiFi, Bluetooth and Ethernet support, as well as a 4-in-1 card reader, a DVI port and two USB 2.0 ports.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sam440ep</span> Type of motherboard

Sam440, also known by Sam or its codename Samantha, is a line of modular motherboards produced by the Italian company ACube Systems Srl. The Sam440ep version is a motherboard based on the PowerPC 440EP system-on-a-chip processor which includes a double-precision FPU. It is made by AMCC. Their primary targets are the industrial and embedded markets, running operating systems such as Linux and AmigaOS 4.

The Apricot Picobook Pro is the first product of the reformed Apricot Computers. It is a netbook based on the VIA NanoBook, first shown to the press on October 15 2008.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">AmigaOne X1000</span> PowerPC-based personal computer

AmigaOne X1000 is a PowerPC-based personal computer intended as a high-end platform for AmigaOS 4. It was announced by A-Eon Technology CVBA in partnership with Hyperion Entertainment and released in 2011. Its name pays homage to the Amiga 1000 released by Commodore in 1985. It is, however, not hardware-compatible with the original Commodore Amiga system.

Lenovo's line of Essential desktops is a collection of budget-conscious machines designed for consumers, and advertised as being "affordable, space saving, and energy efficient". The Essential desktop line is different from both Lenovo's ThinkCentre line and Lenovo's IdeaCentre line. Lenovo defines its ThinkCentre desktops as business-oriented computers, while the IdeaCentre desktops are meant primarily for entertainment. The Essential range of desktops can be categorized as being between the two – meant more for ordinary everyday use.

References

  1. "Introducing Sam460ex". ACube Systems Srl. 2 April 2010. Retrieved 2 April 2010.
  2. "CRUX PPC 2.7a, bugfix release". 19 July 2011. Retrieved 20 July 2011.
  3. "FILE N. 1: A new AmigaOne for all Amiga users" (Press release). Bassano del Grappa, Italy: Acube Systems. 19 September 2011. Retrieved 9 August 2016.
  4. Windeck, Christof (20 September 2011). "Amiga-System mit PowerPC-SoC". c't magazin. Retrieved 9 August 2016.
  5. Klaß, Christian (22 September 2011). "Neuer Amiga-Kompaktrechner aus Italien". golem.de. Retrieved 24 August 2016.
  6. "PowerPC 460EX Embedded Processor" (PDF).
  7. "Sam460ex". ACube Systems Srl. Retrieved 8 June 2011.
  8. "After the Sam460ex here comes the Sam460cr". ACube Systems. 25 October 2014. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
  9. Wiblé, Benoît (October 2011 – March 2013). "Matériel : Sam460ex/AmigaOne 500". obligement.free.fr (in French). Retrieved 22 October 2016.
  10. Wahnem, Sascha van; Schmidt-Pendarovska, Aleksandra (January 2012). "AmigaOne 500". Amiga Future. No. 94. APC&TCP. pp. 26–28.