Sam440ep
{{Short description|Type of motherboard}}
Sam440, also known by Sam or its codename Samantha,[http://msaros.blogspot.com/2008/04/status-update-usb-on-sam440.html Status update - USB on Sam440.][http://www.amigafuture.de/pdf.php?t=12619&p=23295&sid=cdf9990a3f6fde31c7954c8f05e23323 Official Site of Samantha is OnLine.] is a line of modular motherboards produced by the Italian company ACube Systems Srl.{{cite web
|url=http://www.sam440.com/eng/summerfollies.html
|title=Sam440 website.
|publisher=ACube Systems Srl
|date=2008-11-11
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081105175149/http://www.sam440.com/eng/summerfollies.html
|access-date=2008-11-11 |archive-date=2008-11-05
}} 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.{{cite web
|url=http://www.acube-systems.biz/index.php?page=hardware&pid=1
|title=Sam440ep at ACube Systems Srl website.
|publisher=ACube Systems Srl
|date=2008-11-11
|access-date=2008-11-11 }}{{cite web
|url=http://www.acube-systems.biz/common/Bitplane15.pdf
|title=Codename Samantha.
|publisher=ACube Systems Srl
|access-date=2008-11-23 }} Their primary targets are the industrial and embedded markets, running operating systems such as Linux and AmigaOS 4.{{cite news |last=Holwerda |first=Thom |date=2009-07-14 |title=Review: sam440ep, AmigaOS 4.1 |url=http://www.osnews.com/story/21826/sam440ep_AmigaOS_4_1 |newspaper=osnews.com |access-date=2016-08-24 }}
At the time of AmigaOS 4.1 release in 2008, it was the only AmigaOS 4 compatible hardware available{{cite news |last=Klaß |first=Christian |date=2008-09-18 |title=AmigaOS 4.1 unterstützt auch ACube-Hardware |url=http://www.golem.de/0809/62494.html |newspaper=golem.de |access-date=2016-08-24 }} since the manufacturing of AmigaOne machines ceased in 2005; Sam440 was later succeeded by the Sam460ex (AmigaOne 500) and AmigaOne X1000.
Main features
Notable features of the Sam boards (including all versions):{{cite web
|url=http://www.acube-systems.biz/index.php?page=hardware&pid=2
|title=Sam440ep-Flex
|publisher=ACube Systems Srl
|access-date=2010-09-28 }}
- Low power consumption
- Passive cooling (no CPU fan)
- Scalability
Versions
=Sam440ep=
Sam440ep was the first modular motherboard produced by ACube Systems Srl.
- 400/533/600/667 MHz AMCC PowerPC 440EP SoC processor
- Cache L1/L2: 32KB/-
- 128/256/512 MB 266 MHz DDR SDRAM soldered to the motherboard
- 1× 32-bit, 33 MHz PCI slot
- 1× Flash memory device controller
- 4× USB2 ports, 1× USB1
- 2× Ethernet 10/100 ports
- 4× Serial ATA ports
- Cirrus Logic CS4281 and Realtek ALC655 audio
- ATI Radeon Mobility M9 graphics with 64 MB VRAM, s-video and DVI out.
- GPIO expansion connector
- Lattice XP expansion FPGA
== Revision C ==
The specifications are the same as for the revisions before, except for:
- 1× DDR RAM slot supporting up to 512 MB RAM (in place of soldered RAM modules)
=Sam440ep-flex=
There is no graphics chip on the Sam440ep-flex, so you have to use a PCI-graphics board.{{cite web
|url=http://www.acube-systems.biz/eng/news.php?id=29
|title=Introducing Sam440ep-flex.
|publisher=ACube Systems Srl
|date=2008-05-27
|access-date=2008-11-11 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080801081334/http://www.acube-systems.biz/eng/news.php?id=29 |archive-date = 2008-08-01}}
==Prototype==
- 400/533/667 MHz AMCC PowerPC 440EP SoC processor
- Cache L1/L2: 32KB/-
- 512 MB DDR SDRAM soldered to the motherboard
- 1× 32-bit, 66 MHz PCI slot
- 2× 32-bit, 33 MHz PCI slot
- USB 2.0 OHCI/EHCI NXP PCI controller
- 2× Ethernet 10/100 ports
- 4× Serial ATA ports
- Cirrus Logic CS4281 and Realtek ALC655 audio
- GPIO expansion connector
- FPGA Lattice XP with 80 pin I/O expansion connector
- Zigbee module (optional)
==Revision 1==
The specifications{{cite web
|url = http://sam440.com/eng/sam440ep-flex.html
|title = Sam440ep-flex Revision 1.
|publisher = ACube Systems Srl
|access-date = 2009-02-10
|url-status = dead
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090203091801/http://sam440.com/eng/sam440ep-flex.html
|archive-date = 2009-02-03
}} are the same as for the flex prototype, except for:
- 2× DDR SDRAM, max 1 GB RAM
==Revision 2==
On 2 April 2009, ACube announced the availability of SAM440ep-flex revision 2, it has the same specifications as the flex prototype except for:{{cite web
|url=http://www.acube-systems.biz/index.php?page=news&id=45
|title=New board Sam440ep-flex available.
|publisher=ACube Systems Srl
|date=2009-04-02
|access-date=2009-04-04 }}
- 667/733/800 MHz AMCC PowerPC 440EP SoC processor (passive cooling, 733 and 800 MHz are achieved by overclocking)
- Cache L1/L2: 32KB/-
- 2× DDR SDRAM, max 1 GB RAM
- RAM clock running at 133 MHz (667 and 800 MHz models) or at 147 MHz (733 MHz models){{cite web
|url=http://www.acube-systems.biz/index.php?page=news&id=49
|title=New Sam440ep-flex version available.
|publisher=ACube Systems Srl
|date=2009-06-24
|access-date=2009-07-14 }}
Reception
OSNews review provided view by someone who never used AmigaOS computer before: Thom Holwerda commended silent CPU-fan-less operation, but criticized higher price. His evaluation of AmigaOS was mixed; although the platform offered "whole new world of technology to explore and play around with", it was still a relic of the past mainly due to lack of modern features like memory protection and unusual user interface. Review of the Sam440ep in the Amiga Future magazine noted performance comparable to older AmigaOne generation, but criticized non expandable RAM and lack of legacy interfaces (ATA, floppy). Also some features of the new board were still unsupported by AmigaOS (USB 2.0).{{cite magazine |last=Wahnem|first=Sascha van|date=January 2009 |title=SAM440EP mit AmigaOS 4.1|magazine=Amiga Future |language=German|publisher=APC&TCP|issue=76|pages=37–38}} Testing the 800 MHz variant of the Sam440ep-flex, Amiga Future highlighted CPU speed behind the MicroA1 (750FX 800 MHz), but surpassing it in graphics, memory and harddisk performance.{{cite magazine |last=Preinsack|first=Anton|date=July 2009 |title=Samantha on speed SAM440EP-flex mit 800 MHz|magazine=Amiga Future |language=German|publisher=APC&TCP|issue=79|pages=37}}
See also
{{Portal|Amiga}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.acube-systems.biz/ ACube Systems Srl]
- [http://www.sam4x0.com/ Sam4x0 Home page]
{{AmigaOS 4}}
{{Amiga hardware}}