This document is Press Information (VERBATIM including capitalization, spacing, and spelling) provided by SOFTWARE SUPPLIES, AKA ATARI NEW ZEALAND, on ATARI Logo paper. Transcribed using optical character reader for precise conversion by Z*NET NEWS SERVICE, 7/9/90. Z*Net assumes no responsibility for the accuracy of the information itself. -------------------------------------------- PAGE 1 (in very large letters) ATARI TT030 Compatible Expandible Flexible Affordable -------------------------------------------- PAGE 2 The Atari TT030 - Compatible with the Atari ST, 1000"s of software titles already available - 3 New Graphics modes: 320 x 480 with 256 colours from a palette of 4096 640 x 480 with 16 colours from a palette of 4096 1280 x 960 high resolution monochrome - Stereo 8-bit PCM sound - 68030 running at 32 Mhz - 68881 Floating Point co-processor - 2 Megabytes of RAM, expandable to 26 Mb - SCSI and ASCI with DMA built in - Internal Hard disk - SCC LAN port with DMA - Four serial ports - Parallel port - MIDI ports - Detachable keyboard - Internal A24/D16 VME card slot - Real time clock with non-volatile RAM - ROM cartridge slot - External floppy connector -------------------------------------------- PAGE 3 Comparison of standard features Amiga 3000 Mac IIcx Atari TT030 CPU 68030 68030 68030 FPU Yes Yes Yes Clock speed 16 Mhz - 32 Mhz RAM 2 to 17 1 to 32 2 to 26 Burst Mode Yes No Yes ROM 512K 256K 512K Graphics Max resolution 1280 x 480 Optional 1280 x 960 Interlaced Non-interlaced Max colours 32 Colours 256 Colours from 4096 from 4096 Max video RAM 1 Mb 8 Mb Sound Stereo Stereo Stereo Expansion Proprietary NuBus VME Hard disk DMA Non-DMA DMA Floppy disk Proprietary Proprietary PC compatible Network No Yes Yes, DMA Serial 1 x RS232 2 x RS232 4 x RS232 Parallel Yes No Yes MIDI No No Yes ROM Cartridge No No Yes -------------------------------------------- PAGE 4 The Atari TT030 Hardware The TT030 (Thirty-two/Thirty-two bit) is the first member of a new series of Atari computers designed as enhanced versions of the existing ST and MEGA family. The TT series maintains compatibility with the ST/MEGA architecture, but uses the Motorola 68030 microprocessor and provides enhanced graphics and sound. The TT030 is also designed to run Unix (Unix is a trademark of AT&T). The TT030 is based on the high performance 32-bit Motorola MC68030 processor running at a 32 Mhz clock frequency. The 68030 includes on-chip data and instruction caches which can be filled from some regions of memory in bursts of double word fetches The architecture also includes the industry standard VME bus to facilitate expansion. The system supports the latest revision (C.1) of the VME bus specification. The TT030 can accommodate one single-Eurocard (3U) A24/D 16 or A 16/D 16 slave-only VME board, The TT series is expected to function in an environment with other TTs and even machines from different manufacturers. To facilitate connectivity, each system has an on-board port for a moderate speed LAN. If the LAN is not being used, the port can be programmed to be a standard RS232C port. Through an optional VME bus-based or SCSI-based Ethernet controller, the TT also has the capability of connecting to heterogeneous Ethernet networks. The TT030 has three additional standard RS-232C serial ports for connection to modems, display terminals, or digitizing tablets. The hardware features of the TT030 include: - Motorola MC68030 at 32MHz - Motorola MC68881 Floating Point Coprocessor (the coprocessor is socketed, so that it can be optionally upgraded to a MC68882) - ST RAM: 2 Mbyte of ST-compatible dual-purpose (video/system) RAM, expandable by an add-on daughterboard containing a further 2 or 8 Mbyte of dual-purpose memory. This 64-bit wide memory appears 32 bits wide to the processor and SCSI/SCC DMA engines TT video logic has access to this memory on a time critical basis. The remaining system logic, including the processor, can access this memory in the alternate 250 nS TIME SLICES. - TT BURST MODE RAM: provision for a daughter-board that will accept either 4 x 1 Mbyte or 4 x 4 Mbyte SIMMS, allowing another 4 Mb or 16 Mb expansion. This RAM can only be accessed by the processor, the SCSI DMA Engine, and the SCC Network DMA Engine. The 68030 can take advantage of burst-mode for filling its internal cache from this RAM. - 4 socketed 1 Mbit ROMS, providing 512 Kbyte of ROM space. ------------------------------------------- PAGE 5 - Internal video modes that are a superset of those in the Atari ST/STe series using an analog RGB (VGA-like) colour monitor: pixels rows colors palette 320 200 16 4096 (STe compatible) 640 200 4 4096 (STe compatible) 640 400 2 4096 (STe superset) 320 480 256 4096 640 480 16 4096 using a high resolution ECL monochrome monitor 1280 960 black on white - parallel I/O port, generally used for Parallel printer output - internal speaker, which can be disabled under software control - 2 low-speed asynchronous serial I/O ports (one from each of two 68901 MFPS) at programmable baud rates up to 19.2 baud - 2 high-speed asynchronous/SDLC Serial I/O ports (from a Zilog 8530 SCC). One part can be programmed to be a Local Talk compatible LAN interface with a proprietary single channel DMA controller. The other port is intended for use as an asynchronous AS-232 port with programmable split baud rates. - battery backed-up real time clock (RTC) with 50 bytes of non-volatile RAM - ST/MEGA compatible intelligent keyboard, with mouse and joystick ports including support for a 3 button mouse - Atari ACSI DMA channel (for Atari Hard Disk, Laser Printer, CD-ROM, etc) - Floppy disk controller and interface sharing the ACSI DMA channel - Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI) STe compatible DMA sound engine with programmable volume and tone control which can play back stereo 8-bit samples at rates up to 50 Khz - Atari ST compatible cartridge port (128 Kbyte Storage) - SCSI interface using 23-pin connector implemented with the NCR 5380 SCSI controller chip and a proprietary DMA controller - Industry standard VME bus for expansion When comparing the TT030 with the competition, four important features stand out: - flicker-free, high resolution colour graphics built-in as standard - high bus bandwidth, independent of video resolution - excellent connectivity including four RS232 ports, MIDI, LAN, ASCI & SCSI. - high speed burst-mode RAM, 32 Mhz CPU clock speed. ---------------------------------------------------- End of Press Release