ACA1240/1260
All versions of the ACA1240/1260 features our IDE speeder technology that accelerates the internal IDE port. Other than competing products, this IDE speeder does not require opening the computer or even removing chips from their socket. The IDE speedup to PIO mode 3 or 4 is activated with a software setting and reaches a raw data transfer rate of more than 10 MBytes per second, which results in every-day performance of 3.6MBytes/s with fast CF cards. Fast harddrives with cache may exceed 7MBytes/s performance. The IDE speeder feature is not available if connected to an ACA500 or ACA500plus.
The ACA1240/1260 boards have much faster memory performance than any other accelerator before - especially with cache, burst and copyback enabled. Refined strategies of keeping wait-states to a minimum result in the best memory performance on the Amiga market. All cards have 256MBytes physical memory. 1MByte of this memory is reserved for Kickstart re-mapping.
The ACA1240/1260 is PCMCIA-friendly: It will not disable the PCMCIA slot, so you can continue to use a networking card in that slot.
Notable features
- Memory auto-configuration
- Software-selectable clock speeds
- high speed chip ram write interface
- card enable/disable in software
- memory available to onboard CPU if accelerator is switched off (in development)
- accelerated clockport, which can be used concurrently with A1200-clock port
- 68040/68060 libraries in flash, (in development)
- Low-noise active cooling system with temperature sensor and fan speed control
- CPU core voltage software-controllable for under- and over-volting
- FPGA logic can disable 68040/68060 CPU and take over the bus for compatibility modes (in development)
- High-speed expansion port for graphics expansion (in development)
- micro-SD card slot as mass-storage device (in development)
- CPU is always in a socket, allowing CPU swapping by experienced users
Please note that features denoted as "in development" are currently available in the hardware and have been verified to work, but drivers aren't available at this point. This is why this card is discounted by 50,- EUR. There is no guaranteed timeline for development of this software. If a feature that you deem as a key feature is currently not available, please don't buy yet, but wait until the feature is available.
The high-speed chip ram write interface is a novelty in the Amiga world: If the CPU writes to the main board of the host computer, the CPU will not be stalled on the first access. Instead, it's allowed to continue running in it's local memory while the chip ram interface buffers the write access until the main board is ready to accept the written value. This improves chip ram access speed considerably, especially for slower 68040 CPUs which struggle to reach 60% of the possible access speed. With our high speed interface, access speed to chip ram, which is critical for flawless gaming, is always 100% or up to 7MBytes/s, even for the slowest 68040-25 CPU.
Installing the ACA1240/1260 in an A1200 requires you to leave the trapdoor slot open. Included rubber feet let you raise the A1200 case by a few mm, which allows controlled sideways-airflow past the custom heat sink.
The clockport of the ACA1240/1260 can either take an RTC module, or the legacy RapidRoad USB host controller. Operation of RapidRoad is 55% faster than with the internal clock port of the A1200 computer. This function is available in all modes of operation on an A1200 computer, and on the ACA500plus. It is not available if the ACA1240/1260 is operated on an ACA500.
The ACA1240/1260 uses a licensing system for CPU and memory speeds. Since every combination of CPU and RAM clock needs lots of work to adjust timings between the CPU and high-speed memory, we don't want everyone to pay for all the work. Instead, you're only paying for what you actually use. Every card comes with the speed license that the CPU is rated for, and all slower speeds. Faster speeds (overclocking up to 100MHz) can be attempted up to 20 times without a time limit (an attempt ends with a power cycle). After free trials are used up, the card will only work at it's licensed speed.
The ACA1240/1260 allows user-side CPU swapping. Note that this is not encouraged or endorsed, and it will void warranty for your unit. Swapping the CPU is not easy and it requires a proper PGA pulling tool. Removing the CPU with a screw driver or some other prying tool is not recommended, as it will likely result in the CPU being scratched, and the socket getting mechanically damaged.
The CPU type is auto-sensed and voltage is set accordingly. There is no danger of accidentally applying a too-high voltage to a precious 68060 CPU.
Variants
| Variant | CPU | Clock | MMU | FPU | Sysinfo Dhrystones | Fastmem read speed | Fastmem write speed | chipram read speed A1200 | chipram read speed ACA500plus | AIBB module |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ACA1240-LC25 | 68LC040 | 25MHz | * | - | ||||||
| ACA1240-25 | 68040 | 25MHz | * | * | ||||||
| ACA1240-33 | 68040 | 33MHz | * | * | ||||||
| ACA1240-40 | 68040 | 40MHz | * | * | ||||||
| ACA1260-50.5 | 68060 R5 | 50MHz (*1) | * | * | ||||||
| ACA1260-EC66 | 68EC060 | 66MHz | - | - | ||||||
| ACA1260-EC75 | 68EC060 R5 | 75MHz | - | - | ||||||
| ACA1260-LC50 | 68LC060 R4 | 50MHz | * | - | ||||||
| ACA1260-LC66 | 68LC060 R4 | 66MHz | * | - | ||||||
| ACA1260-LC75 | 68LC060 R4 | 75MHz | * | - | ||||||
| ACA1260-50 | 68060 R1 | 50MHz | * | * | ||||||
| ACA1260-90 | 68060 R6 | 90MHz (*2) | * | * |
(*1) The processor is clocked at 50MHz as standard, and this board comes with the 66MHz overclocking license pre-installed. (*2) This top version comes with an open license for currently up to 100MHz (possible higher frequencies will be free, should we achieve more in the future). Note that technically, this CPU is a 50MHz version, but given that this is the latest revision, it is known to work at higher speeds reliably.
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