SAM440EP 667Mhz - Hardware questions

Hi all

I am currently on the look out for a SAM and have had a SAM440EP 667Mhz offered to me.

I was wondering:

Can the RAM be increased higher than 512MB?

Can I install a PCI Radeon 9200 graphics card in it?

Can it be overclocked to say 733Mhz? If so, how?

Many thanks in advance
Taj

I'm pretty sure the EP has built in video so it's best to get a Flex model for expandability.
I'd recommend getting either a Samflex@733 or @800 if possible as the EP struggles with newer game ports and more demanding games/ programs under E-UAE. Good news is that there seems to be quite a few Samflex systems available lately since the announcement of the X1000

I thought that might be the case Ill keep my search to the faster models then

Can you point me to where some of these SAMs are on sale?
I havent seen anything on eBay or on Amibay, and Ive seen one on AmigaWorld.net but I havent had a response from the guy selling it.

The SAM I was offered is via a friend on another forum but from my research and your response, I dont think it will be suitable for my needs.

http://www.vesalia.de i.e. has them in stock (just search for "sam")

What are your needs? What are you planning to use the amiga for?

Its my first foray into OS4 so Im wanting to try a bit of everything to sample the OS - gaming, browsing, trying out various apps and some emulation too.

I plan on getting a cheap SAM first and then an x1000 should I like the system and enjoy using it Upon some discussion and research, I think its wise to go for a faster SAM rather than the slower 533/667Mhz ones.

If anyone can point me to the sale of an appropriate system Id be most grateful I looked at Vesalia and AmigaKit, but TBH Im looking for something cheaper so it will have to be second hand.

Quote:
Poor little naive soul...we talk again when you recovered your first AmigaOS4 rush






tehehehe

I have SAM440ep 667Mhz.

There exist a tool to overclock SAM, but I have not tried it. Not really had enough time yet to find tasks where my SAM is too slow.

Ep models biggest "handicap" is the 64MB of 3D RAM. It limits you from using both compositing and 24bit colors on high resolutions. (for me 1920x1080x16b + compositing is ok for workbench, because I can run paint programs on separate 24bit screen, in Amiga style)

One can use PCI Radeon92xx cards to increase 3D RAM, but it does not increase 3D speed (because M9 has very fast built-in RAM and because M9 is on 66Mhz bus while the free PCI is a 33Mhz bus).

To my knowledge 1GB upgrade might be possible by soldering RAM chips on the board. But no-one offers such service.

Unlike the ep, flex model have 1GB RAM and can use 66Mhz PCI expansions.

SAM440 series have more mature drivers than SAM460 series. Another well performing HW option is pegasosII with G4 CPU.

Quote:

1° No, the memory is limited to 512 (we rarely reach the 512MB limit nonetheless).

2° Yes you can but it will be slower than the integrated Radeon M9 (but the integrated M9 has only 64MB).

3° Yes, it can be overclocked up to 733Mhz thank to HyperClock

Depending on your budget, you could go for a cheap Sam440ep (check classified ads on AW for exemple), buy a new Sam Flex 733 (also overclockable) or go for an AmigaOne 500 (Sam460).

In France, we have 2 Sam systems waiting to be bought (Link)

Any of the above will allow you to enjoy AmigaOS 4.1

Thanks for the advice guys

I think I will leave the 667Mhz SAM440EP and look for a Flex 733Mhz model. Its a shame, theres a 667Mhz SAM440EP for sale on Amibay right now (Its £450 though which is more than I want to pay anyway).

I saw this at AmigaWorld:

http://amigaworld.net/modules/classif ... ?pa=viewannonces&lid=2936

From user jas_mc. Im not registered there but it let me fill out an email form, no response from him though

I can confirm there is practically no difference in the end user experience of the 733MHz and the 800MHz versions, since the 733MHz has a faster BUS (which one I forget, probably memory?)

For example. I used my 800MHz daily until I had a random corruption during a UBoot upgrade. I contacted ACube who sent me a replacement PIC chip. This took 3 weeks in total. The same day the 800MHz fell ill I swapped out the MB with my backup 733MHz. It's been months now since the incident and I still haven't swapped the 733 back out for the healed 800...

Either way you're going to enjoy AmigaOS4.x.x

@Tajmaster
Personally, I would not be too worried about CPU speed, 667MHz should be enough (although more would be nicer of course!).

OTOH, the original (NON-Flex) Sam440 is limited to 64MB of video ram, and this is rather limiting for many of the more advanced 3D games. So the Flex is much better in this regard, since you can use a 128MB (or even 256MB) Radeon 92x0 graphics card. (Technically you can on the original Sam440, but it is better avoided if you plan to use a Radeon gfx card.)

Having more than 64Mb of video ram also means you can use screen resolutions larger than about 1024x768 without worrying (e.g. 32-bit with fancy Compositing effects enabled).


Having said all that, my original Sam440 with only 64MB of video ram runs very nicely at 1280x1024 (with 32-bit & Compositing) with careful configuration. It's only games like Aquaria (2D but uses OpenGL) or Lugaru that give me problems with 64MB video ram (and thus I have to temporarily disable Compositing & switch Workbench to 16-bit to get them to run well).

EDIT: Hmmm, just occured to me that I should be able to make those "problematic" games *automatically* switch to 16-bit without Compositing, by having a script copy two prefs files to Env:Sys before the game is started (and then copy the correct prefs files back after it finishes).

@CrisH

How about running Aquaria etc on a separate screen?
Would it work? (does AOS4 then free the 3D RAM reservations of WB)

@Kimmok
Sorry, I don't really understand the question:

Aquaria ALREADY works on a separate screen just fine. But because I only have 64MB of video ram, I have to use 16-bit & disable compositing.

@ChrisH

I think the OS should free the 3D RAM reserved by composed workbench, when workbench is not visible. Does it not?
But the Aquaria needs more than 64MB anyway (if composing and 24bit is used on it's own screen??)?

Maybe it will work with the "Screens" Prefs...but then it should be able to also use it's own GUI prefs which i doubt

@ChrisH

Such a script (if it works) would be awesome for Nightlong (albeit i doubt that it will work that easily...i mean, there may be programs that need to be closed to change the GUI settings, which can't be closed by a script - flipclock and limpidclock springs to mind)

I'll definitely use it when available though

Thanks to all for the good advice

Im hoping Im in with a shout for a 733Mhz SAM Flex, we will see. I pretty much settled on going for the slightly faster system than the 667Mhz one now, as long as I can get it for a reasonable price.