@Nbache : can you point me to where you've found this PCI-E Sii3114 card ? I've been looking for months for this kind of card and was not able to find one.
Regarding the AmigaOne 500, I'm currently testing one AmigaOne 500 at home to see if it could replace my AmigaOne G4.
I can say that currently, I'm pleasantly surprised. And with an SSD connected to the internal SATA port, it's fast enough and I have yet to see some real difference with my AmigaOne XE.
I'll be using it for two months without booting up my A1 XE G4 and will tell then if it is good choice. So far, I can firmly say yes.
X1000 all the way. Pretty fast machine, expandable, looks bad-ass, and I think one day having the dual cpu will be a rather cool thing if 4.2 supports it, etc...
Mine is a bit loud comared to what I am used to, Macs that are whisper quiet, but maybe one day a different video card will help with that.
I am just waiting to learn what the best video card will end up being in terms of 3D, quiet, and most supported, for someone like me that does not really know Amiga super dooper well.
I personally would rather buy three A1-500 machines for the money of x1000. (unless you have very good use for the extra bits on x1000)
Once >2GB RAM, SATA2 RAID, 3D over PCIex16 and multicore becomes available via 4.2, things might change. Also xorro might be interesting for HW tinkerer.
- Kimmo --------------------------PowerPC-Advantage------------------------ "PowerPC Operating Systems can use a microkernel architecture with all it�s advantages yet without the cost of slow context switches." - N. Blachford
I have seen that referred a few times. PA6T supports at least 16GB. Is nemo somehow limited to only 8GB?
- Kimmo --------------------------PowerPC-Advantage------------------------ "PowerPC Operating Systems can use a microkernel architecture with all it�s advantages yet without the cost of slow context switches." - N. Blachford
Wow, so many good responses, but I still can't make my mind up!
In a way my AmigaOne Micro is enough for me and the only thing lacking is a better graphics card that will allow me to drive a DVI widescreen monitor and maybe work on Open GL support for Allegro. My Radeon 7000 on my Micro can't do the first of those at all and can't do the second very well!
So in a way the AmigaOne 500 is just what I need and is very affordable.
BUT everyone is recommending the X1000 so it is a hard choice! And I do sort of get the feeling that the AmigaOne 500 might be nice at first but in the long run I will be wishing that I could expand it more. Some of the things mentioned about SATA (no DMA support and only having support for one drive) are worrying too and could be a limiting factor.
Hmmm, decisions decisions. I E-Mailed Amikit a couple of days ago to ask the price of an X1000 shipped to Germany so let's see what they say. No respnse yet!
the X000 is a huge beast and I'm not really sure why its creators chose to make it so big in these days of miniaturisation. I suppose they wanted to make it look impressive! But I do prefer smaller systems
I'm not sure if it would void your warrenty (best to presume it will until proven otherwise), but you could fit the X1000 motherboard in the following *relatively* small case: http://www.coolermaster.com/product.php?product_id=6056
Assuming you can still find one to buy, it is the smallest full-sized ATX compatible case I was able to find a year ago. It's still larger than I'd like (my Sam440 is in a tiny custom case), but it doesn't feel like a "huge beast"
The other thing to beware of is that this will restrict the length of your Radeon graphics card. If you need to know, then I can look-up what I previously measured.
Oh, and the build quality isn't nearly as good as the X1000's Fractal case, but as it only cost me 30 quid I'm not complaining!
So in a way the AmigaOne 500 is just what I need and is very affordable.
BUT everyone is recommending the X1000 so it is a hard choice!
Well, the X1000 is the better machine (far more expandable, faster, comes with fully working sound*, network* & SATA, etc), but it also costs a LOT more than a Sam460 system (I think over double?). (*=currently provided by PCI cards, but who cares since they work great.)
If you can live 'for a while' with the Sam460's current driver limitations (which I assume ACube will eventually fix like they did with the Sam440), and won't ever need more than what a Sam460 will offer with finished drivers, then it probably makes more sense to go with the Sam460. Otherwise go for the X1000 (since you seem to be able to afford it).
Just to complicate things a bit: If you want to (try to) use AmigaOS4 exclusively, and avoid Windows/Mac/Linux (as much as possible), then the X1000 is probably the machine to go for (if you can afford it), since you will have the least worries about your Amiga being too underpowered to handle something (e.g. playback of large videos, or some future port of a demanding 3D game) or being slower than you'd prefer (e.g. compiling large programs, encoding audio/video, or other off-line CPU-intensive tasks).
Quote:
I don't mind paying the money for the X1000 because I know it will last me for 10 years like my AmigaOne Micro has
At the very least the X1000's build quality seems very good (not surprising given the background of the company who designed & built it on A-Eons behalf), so I am hoping mine will last a long time (given the cost). I can't speak for the Sam460, since I don't have one.
K-L wrote: @Nbache : can you point me to where you've found this PCI-E Sii3114 card ? I've been looking for months for this kind of card and was not able to find one.
Mine is called ExSys EX-3506. I got it here (who I originally found on ebay, IIRC), but search around for "ExSys EX-3506" and you're bound to find more stores who sell it.
This is true, at least for now (until the kernel is enhanced to handle it). I did test it in the 460 myself with no success. But it's fine in the X1000, as already mentioned.
I've owned a SAM460 for a couple of months and frankly as cool as the X1000 is I would not do much more with it than I already do:
-Play DVD movies (fast enough) -Play mp3 music (sound now fine) -Browse the net (OWB is fast, Timberwolf is soon to be working fine) -E-mailing -Burn CDs/DVDs -Connect to my network drive (NAS using samba) -Connect USB stick and my Android Phone for file transfers -Play Quake, Quake 2, Quake 3 (not yet really in 3D) -Play old games with RUNinUAE -Play SCUMM games -and much more
To my knowledge the X1000 does all this just faster but does the cost justify the speed? I think not.
KimmoK wrote: I personally would rather buy three A1-500 machines for the money of x1000. (unless you have very good use for the extra bits on x1000)
Oooohhhhh, soooo close KimmoK!
Hi Hitman... I'm a fanatic, and I think that anyone that can barely, or comfortably buy an X1000, should help Amiga not fail buy getting one, as it's at the brink of disappearance and every move we make can change that in either direction.
My reference to KimmoK's comment was that he came closest to bringing up that it's 64 bit and dual core. "128 bit computing" if you want to grab a page from Jaguar?
And if this page is to be believed it's got a SIMD and I like the 2.04 mention. Also, the X1000 IS the best Amiga to use 4..... AMIGA, i.e. E-UAE.
I personally, if I could buy another Amiga would not hesitate at all in getting the X1000 (I have nothing against ACube, mind you, as if one could only afford the less expensive unit, they should still get one from them.)
A-Eon need as much help as they can get, and if the people that are better off buy into the high end, it would help immensely.
I plan to buy a few netbooks when they come out, assuming they are in the $450 Canadian range, that is.
Hope this helps.
Support Amiga Fantasy cases!!! How to program: 1. Start with lots and lots of 0's. 10. Add 1's, liberally. "Details for OS 5 will be made public in the fourth quarter of 2007, ..." - Bill McEwen Whoah!!! He spoke, a bit late.
The SAM460 is a great machine. Only issue to be to be aware of is sound drivers. A few folks, myself included, still do not have satisfactory sound. It seems fairly random, who has working sound and who doesn't. Might be related to when the board was made, who knows.
The 460 has far better bangs per buck. But then the X1000 will really fly if/when things like SMP get implemented. It's also more expandable.
Your dilemma is very much the same as mine, but my budget could only stretch to the 460. I'm still glad that, despite the sound problems I went with the 460 instead of the 440, but only just...
Well, that is not my experience. Surfing on the Amiga is still a sluggish affair. On simple sites, like the Amiga sites, it works fine. Advanced, modern sites is a drag, though. Trying to juggle two modern sites in different tabs = hell. If one site stops, the second tab will also freeze, so you can't surf on one site while the other loads.
I don't know if this is a software issue or limitations of AmigaOne 500.
Well, that is not my experience. Surfing on the Amiga is still a sluggish affair. On simple sites, like the Amiga sites, it works fine. Advanced, modern sites is a drag, though. Trying to juggle two modern sites in different tabs = hell. If one site stops, the second tab will also freeze, so you can't surf on one site while the other loads.
I don't know if this is a software issue or limitations of AmigaOne 500.
Seconded. MUI-OWB is useable with simple sites, and a few complex ones as well. But even a long wikipedia article pretty much locks the browser on my system for a minute or so. Wikipedia makes scant use of JS and the styling is simple, so it must be purely the length of the page that jams it up. OWB is certainly usable, but "fast" is certainly stretching the truth.