Sam440
Encyclopedia
Sam440, also known by Sam or its codename Samantha, is a line of modular motherboard
s produced by the Italian company ACube Systems Srl
. The Sam440ep version is a Power Architecture
motherboard based on the PowerPC 440EP system-on-a-chip
processor which includes a double-precision FPU. It is made by AMCC
. Their primary targets are the industrial and embedded markets, running operating systems such as Linux
and AmigaOS 4
.
At the time of release in 2008, it was the only AmigaOS 4 compatible hardware since the AmigaOne
machines ceased in 2006; as of April 2009 Sam440 was the only Amiga-compatible board in production and now is succedeed with Sam460ex
and forthcoming AmigaOne X1000.
Sam440ep was the first modular motherboard produced by ACube Systems Srl.
Motherboard
In personal computers, a motherboard is the central printed circuit board in many modern computers and holds many of the crucial components of the system, providing connectors for other peripherals. The motherboard is sometimes alternatively known as the mainboard, system board, or, on Apple...
s produced by the Italian company ACube Systems Srl
ACube Systems Srl
ACube Systems Srl is a company that started in January 2007 from the synergy of the Italian companies Alternative Holding Group Srl, Soft3 and Virtual Works....
. The Sam440ep version is a Power Architecture
Power Architecture
Power Architecture is a broad term to describe similar RISC instruction sets for microprocessors developed and manufactured by such companies as IBM, Freescale, AMCC, Tundra and P.A. Semi...
motherboard based on the PowerPC 440EP system-on-a-chip
System-on-a-chip
A system on a chip or system on chip is an integrated circuit that integrates all components of a computer or other electronic system into a single chip. It may contain digital, analog, mixed-signal, and often radio-frequency functions—all on a single chip substrate...
processor which includes a double-precision FPU. It is made by AMCC
Applied Micro Circuits Corporation
Applied Micro Circuits Corporation is a fabless semiconductor company designing network and embedded Power Architecture , and server processor ARM , optical transport and storage solutions...
. Their primary targets are the industrial and embedded markets, running operating systems such as Linux
Linux distribution
A Linux distribution is a member of the family of Unix-like operating systems built on top of the Linux kernel. Such distributions are operating systems including a large collection of software applications such as word processors, spreadsheets, media players, and database applications...
and AmigaOS 4
AmigaOS 4
AmigaOS 4, , is a line of Amiga operating systems which runs on PowerPC microprocessors. It is mainly based on AmigaOS 3.1 source code, and partially on version 3.9 developed by Haage & Partner...
.
At the time of release in 2008, it was the only AmigaOS 4 compatible hardware since the AmigaOne
AmigaOne
AmigaOne is a series of computers intended to run AmigaOS 4 developed by Hyperion Entertainment. Earlier models were produced by Eyetech, and were based on the Teron series of PowerPC POP mainboards...
machines ceased in 2006; as of April 2009 Sam440 was the only Amiga-compatible board in production and now is succedeed with Sam460ex
Sam460ex
Sam460ex is a line of modular motherboards produced by the Italian company ACube Systems Srl. The machine was released in October 2010 and can run AmigaOS 4 or Debian GNU/Linux....
and forthcoming AmigaOne X1000.
Main features
Notable features of the Sam boards (including all versions):- Low power consumption
- Passive cooling (no CPU fan)
- Scalability
Sam440ep
- 400/533/600/667 MHz AMCC PowerPC 440EP SoC processor
- 128/256/512 MB 266 MHz DDR SDRAMDDR SDRAMDouble data rate synchronous dynamic random access memory is a class of memory integrated circuits used in computers. DDR SDRAM has been superseded by DDR2 SDRAM and DDR3 SDRAM, neither of which are either forward or backward compatible with DDR SDRAM, meaning that DDR2 or DDR3 memory modules...
soldered to the motherboard - 1× 32-bit, 66 MHz PCIPeripheral Component InterconnectConventional PCI is a computer bus for attaching hardware devices in a computer...
slot - 1× Flash memoryFlash memoryFlash memory is a non-volatile computer storage chip that can be electrically erased and reprogrammed. It was developed from EEPROM and must be erased in fairly large blocks before these can be rewritten with new data...
device controller - 4× USB2 ports, 1x USB1
- 2× EthernetEthernetEthernet is a family of computer networking technologies for local area networks commercially introduced in 1980. Standardized in IEEE 802.3, Ethernet has largely replaced competing wired LAN technologies....
10/100 ports - 4× Serial ATASerial ATASerial ATA is a computer bus interface for connecting host bus adapters to mass storage devices such as hard disk drives and optical drives...
ports - Cirrus LogicCirrus LogicCirrus Logic is a fabless semiconductor supplier specializing in analog, mixed-signal, and audio DSP integrated circuits . They are presently headquartered in Austin, Texas. Their audio processors and audio converters are found in many professional audio and consumer entertainment products,...
CS4281 and RealtekRealtekRealtek Semiconductor Corp. , a fabless IC design house situated in the Hsinchu Science Park, Hsinchu, Taiwan, was founded in October 1987, and subsequently approved as a listed company on the Taiwan Stock Exchange in 1998...
ALC655 audio - ATIATI TechnologiesATI Technologies Inc. was a semiconductor technology corporation based in Markham, Ontario, Canada, that specialized in the development of graphics processing units and chipsets. Founded in 1985 as Array Technologies Inc., the company was listed publicly in 1993 and was acquired by Advanced Micro...
RadeonRadeonRadeon is a brand of graphics processing units and random access memory produced by Advanced Micro Devices , first launched in 2000 by ATI Technologies, which was acquired by AMD in 2006. Radeon is the successor to the Rage line. There are four different groups, which can be differentiated by...
Mobility M9 graphics with 64 MB VRAM, s-videoS-VideoSeparate Video, more commonly known as S-Video and Y/C, is often referred to by JVC as both an S-VHS connector and as Super Video. It is an analog video transmission scheme, in which video information is encoded on two channels: luma and chroma...
and DVIDigital Visual InterfaceThe Digital Visual Interface is a video interface standard covering the transmission of video between a source device and a display device. The DVI standard has achieved widespread acceptance in the PC industry, both in desktop PCs and monitors...
out. - GPIO expansion connector
- LatticeLattice SemiconductorLattice Semiconductor Corporation is a United States based manufacturer of high-performance programmable logic devices . Founded in 1983, the company employs about 700 people and has annual revenues of around $300 million, with Darin Billerbeck as the chief executive officer...
XP expansion FPGA
Revision C
The specifications are the same as for the revisions before, except for:- 1× DDR RAM slot supporting up to 512 MB RAM (in place of soldered RAM moduls)
Sam440ep-flex
There is no graphics chip on the Sam440ep-flex, so you have to use a PCI-graphics board.Prototype
- 400/533/667 MHz AMCC PowerPC 440EP SoC processor
- 512 MB DDR SDRAMDDR SDRAMDouble data rate synchronous dynamic random access memory is a class of memory integrated circuits used in computers. DDR SDRAM has been superseded by DDR2 SDRAM and DDR3 SDRAM, neither of which are either forward or backward compatible with DDR SDRAM, meaning that DDR2 or DDR3 memory modules...
soldered to the motherboard - 1× 32-bit, 66 MHz PCIPeripheral Component InterconnectConventional PCI is a computer bus for attaching hardware devices in a computer...
slot - 2× 32-bit, 33 MHz PCIPeripheral Component InterconnectConventional PCI is a computer bus for attaching hardware devices in a computer...
slot - USB 2.0 OHCI/EHCI NXP PCI controller
- 2× EthernetEthernetEthernet is a family of computer networking technologies for local area networks commercially introduced in 1980. Standardized in IEEE 802.3, Ethernet has largely replaced competing wired LAN technologies....
10/100 ports - 4× Serial ATASerial ATASerial ATA is a computer bus interface for connecting host bus adapters to mass storage devices such as hard disk drives and optical drives...
ports - Cirrus LogicCirrus LogicCirrus Logic is a fabless semiconductor supplier specializing in analog, mixed-signal, and audio DSP integrated circuits . They are presently headquartered in Austin, Texas. Their audio processors and audio converters are found in many professional audio and consumer entertainment products,...
CS4281 and RealtekRealtekRealtek Semiconductor Corp. , a fabless IC design house situated in the Hsinchu Science Park, Hsinchu, Taiwan, was founded in October 1987, and subsequently approved as a listed company on the Taiwan Stock Exchange in 1998...
ALC655 audio - GPIO expansion connector
- FPGA Lattice XP with 80 pin I/O expansion connector
- ZigBee module (optional)
Revision 1
The specifications are the same as for the flex prototype, except for:- 2× DDR SDRAM, max 1 GB RAM
Revision 2
In 2 April 2009, ACube announced the availability of SAM440ep-flex revision 2, it has the same specifications as the flex prototype except for:- 667/733/800 MHz AMCC PowerPC 440EP SoC processor (passive cooling, 733 and 800 MHz are achieved by overclocking)
- 2× DDR SDRAM, max 1 GB RAM
- RAM clock running at 133 MHz (667 and 800 MHz models) or at 147 MHz (733 MHz models)