ACA1233
Contents |
General
This accelerator comes with a 40MHz 68030 processor (incl. MMU) in gold/ceramic and 128MBytes physical memory. 1MByte of this memory is reserved for Kickstart re-mapping. Since the Z2 memory area remains unused, this card is 100% PCMCIA compatible.
No other accelerator before has given the user the possibility to load a 1MByte Kickstart rom and keep it reset-proof until the next power cycle. Software cannot tell a difference between a real ROM and a mapped Kickstart. Not only is this space twice as big as with any other accelerator before, but the user also benefits from the extremely fast memory interface with very low first-access-penalty and fast burst sequence.
Best thing about the ACA Maprom feature: The ACA cards do not need an MMU for this. Most other accelerator cards require the MMU for Kickstart mapping, so it's not available to other applications.
The ACA1233 boards have much faster memory performance than any other accelerator before - especially with cache and burst enabled. That's because the burst sequence is the fastest-possible sequence that the 68030 can perform: It's a sequence of four 32-bit transfers in four CPU cycles, which has not been shown before we first introduced the ACA1230 in 2010. The result is outstanding performance, even in comparison with other 68030-based accelerators at higher clock rates.
In addition to that, the ACA1233 makes sure that the exec base in burst-capable, cacheable 32-bit fastmem. This is another "first" that we've introduced to the world of 68020/68030 accelerators for the A1200.
Another huge improvement over older accelerators is memory mapping to the legacy 0x00c0.0000 address. This is the location where many A500 games expect a trapdoor memory expansion. No other accelerator has put memory in this location before, and the ACA1233 cards give a good compatibility boost only because of this little chunk of memory.
If you're planning to use this accelerator in an A1200, you might want to add an RTC module, which is available separately. If used on the ACA500, the real time clock of your trapdoor expansion will be used.
55.55 MHz limited edition
Starting mid-november 2015, a limited edition of this card is offered, using a 50MHz-rated 68030 CPU with full MMU. This card has a completely new SD-Ram controller, especially geared towards handling a higher CPU clock while maintaining all timing requirements of each and every component of the card. That means: Only the CPU is overclocked, but all other components are operated well within specifications. Previously, customers have overclocked our cards to obtain a 50MHz version, but these cards have shown instabilities because more components (especially memory and the memory controller) were also overclocked, so most of these customers went back to using the original (and guaranteed!) clock frequency.
Although this card is only moderately overclocked, each and every card has passed a burn-in test. However, it may still be required to remove the trapdoor cover in order to give the processor better ventilation.
possible required board modifications
A1200 board, solderside overview
four capacitor places circled
Commodore and Escom have made all kinds of mistakes when assembling A1200 motherboards. Internal memos from Commodore are available that clearly say to remove capacitors E123C and E125C for any version of the Budgie chip, yet, you can find lots of boards out there that have these capacitors assembled. Less often, but at least as severe, some boards have capacitors E121C and E122C assembled. This will harm the quality of the 14MHz board clock to a degree where most accelerators (not just ours!) become instable.
You cannot tell from the board revision or the year of your board if the capacitors have been assembled, as practically all revisions have been assembled with all combinations of chipsets and timing fixes (required or not). Your only chance is to check your individual board and remove the capacitors if they are there. There is no reason for these parts to be assembled, other than some Commodore employee's excuse about not getting the memo.
Only our latest accelerators ACA1233n, ACA1221ec and ACA1221lc have implemented special logic that can handle most of the timing errors caused by wrong assembly of the A1200 main board. These cards may work reliably, although the mentioned capacitors are installed. We still recommend to remove the capacitors, as they have other negative effects, too.
ACA 12xx Benchmarks
Benchmarks are measured with AIBB and the popular Sysinfo tool. While AIBB gives detailed information about the performance in specialized cases, Sysinfo will only give you a rough estimation of the performance you can get. We recommend to download the AIBB modules and compare the specific test results against your machine - this will give you much more information about a certain strength or weakness of the card you're comparing. Fastmem performance is measured with the freely available tool "Bustest". Only the "read multiple" and "write multiple" values are given here. Results may vary due to cache alignment differencies. Starting with the ACA1234, Bustest version 0.19 was used - the previous version was obviously too generous for some tests; take older measurements with a grain of salt.
| Product name | Sysinfo Dhrystones | AIBB module download | Fastmem included | Fastmem performance r/w | Chipmem performance r/w | MMU | comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ACA1220-16 | 3320 | media:AIBB_ACA1220-16.LHA | 128 MByte | 11.8 / 17.7 MB/s | 4.2 / 4.5 MB/s | no | discontinued per apr-2014 |
| ACA1220-20 | 3998 | media:AIBB_ACA1220-20.LHA | 128 MByte | 14.2 / 21.3 MB/s | 4.7 / 5.1 MB/s | no | |
| ACA1220-25 | 4266 | media:AIBB_ACA1220-25.LHA | 128 MByte | 17.6 / 21.4 MB/s | 6.1 / 7.0 MB/s | no | |
| ACA1220-33 | 5712 | media:AIBB_ACA1220-33.LHA | 128 MByte | 23.6 / 28.8 MB/s | 6.3 / 7.0 MB/s | no | |
| ACA1220-40 | 6867 | (n/a) | 128 MByte | 28.3 / 34.5 MB/s | 6.4 / 7.0 MB/s | no | not officially sold (overclocked) |
| ACA1232-20 | 4553 | (n/a) | 128 MByte | 13.3 / 21.3 MB/s | (not tested) | yes | |
| ACA1232-25ec | 5708 | media:AIBB_ACA1232-25.LHA | 128 MByte | 16.6 / 26.7 MB/s | (not tested) | no | |
| ACA1232-25 | 5708 | media:AIBB_ACA1232-25.LHA | 128 MByte | 16.6 / 26.7 MB/s | (not tested) | yes | |
| ACA1232-33 | 7529 | media:AIBB_ACA1232-33.LHA | 128 MByte | 22.2 / 35.7 MB/s | 6.2 / 7.0 MB/s | yes | |
| ACA1232-40ec | 9045 | media:AIBB_ACA1232-40.LHA | 128 MByte | 26.7 / 42.9 MB/s | 6.4 / 7.0 MB/s | no | |
| ACA1232-40 | 9045 | media:AIBB_ACA1232-40.LHA | 128 MByte | 26.7 / 42.9 MB/s | 6.4 / 7.0 MB/s | yes | |
| ACA1233-40 | 9045 | media:AIBB_ACA1232-40.LHA | 128 MByte | 26.7 / 42.9 MB/s | 6.4 / 7.0 MB/s | yes | |
| ACA1232-50 | 10576 | media:AIBB_ACA1232-50.lha | 128 MByte | 29.3 / 43.6 MB/s | 6.4 / 7.1 MB/s | yes | limited edition, starting mid-November 2015 |
| ACA1233-55 | 11747 | media:AIBB_ACA1233-55.lha | 128 MByte | 32.6 / 48.4 MB/s | 6.4 / 7.1 MB/s | yes | limited edition, starting mid-November 2015 |
| ACA1221-9.46 | 1878 | media:AIBB_ACA1221-9.lha | 9-63 MByte | 6.7 / 10.1 MB/s | 3.4 / 3.9 MB/s | no | under-clocked |
| ACA1221-17.03 | 3408 | media:AIBB_ACA1221-17.lha | 9-63 MByte | 12.1 / 18.4 MB/s | 4.8 / 5.4 MB/s | no | |
| ACA1221-21.28 | 4266 | media:AIBB_ACA1221-21.lha | 9-63 MByte | 15.2 / 23.0 MB/s | 6.1 / 6.9 MB/s | no | overclock option 5,- EUR |
| ACA1221-28.38 | 4914 | media:AIBB_ACA1221-28.lha | 9-63 MByte | 20.2 / 30.7 MB/s | 6.2 / 7.1 MB/s | no | overclock option 15,- EUR |
| ACA1221EC-42.56 | 6401 | (TBD) | 9+1+6 MByte | 25.8 / 37.1 MB/s | 6.4 / 7.0 MB/s | no | overclocked |
| ACA1221EC-21.28 | 4279 | (TBD) | 9+1+6 MByte | 15.2 / 23.1 MB/s | 6.1 / 6.9 MB/s | no | |
| ACA1221EC-28.38 | 4926 | (TBD) | 9+1+6 MByte | 20.3 / 30.7 MB/s | 6.2 / 7.1 MB/s | no | |
| ACA1221EC-17.03 | 3416 | (TBD) | 9+1+6 MByte | 12.2 / 18.4 MB/s | 4.3 / 4.8 MB/s | no | |
| ACA1233n-26.67 | 6031 | media:AIBB_ACA1233n26.lha | 128 MByte | 19.2 / 38.2 MB/s | 6.1 / 7.1 MB/s | yes | |
| ACA1233n-40 | 9203 | media:AIBB_ACA1233n40.lha | 128 MByte | 28.8 / 57.4 MB/s | 6.4 / 7.1 MB/s | yes | |
| ACA1233n-55 | 11763 | (TBD) | 128 MByte | 35.2 / 50.2 MB/s | 6.4 / 7.1 MB/s | yes | includes A1200 IDE accel |
| ACA1221LC-20 | 4015 | (TBD) | 11.2 MByte | 14.4 / 21.7 MB/s | 5.9 / 6.9 MB/s | no | includes A1200 IDE accel, starting dec-2019 |
| ACA1221LC-26 | 5365 | (TBD) | 11.2 MByte | 19.2 / 29.0 MB/s | 6.1 / 7.1 MB/s | no | includes A1200 IDE accel, starting dec-2019 |
| ACA1221LC-40 | 7430 | (TBD) | 11.2 MByte | 26.4 / 43.4 MB/s | 6.3 / 7.1 MB/s | no | overclocked, not guaranteed |
| ACA1234-25 | 5735 | media:AIBB_ACA1234.lha | 128 MByte | 15.9 / 35.4 MB/s | 6.2 / 7.0 MB/s | yes | |
| ACA1234-33 | 7583 | media:AIBB_ACA1234.lha | 128 MByte | 21.0 / 47.3 MB/s | 6.3 / 7.0 MB/s | yes | |
| ACA1234-40 | 9193 | media:AIBB_ACA1234.lha | 128 MByte | 25.5 / 58.0 MB/s | 6.3 / 7.0 MB/s | yes | |
| ACA1234-50 | 10579 | media:AIBB_ACA1234.lha | 128 MByte | 29.4 / 54.8 MB/s | 6.3 / 7.0 MB/s | yes |
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