The µ-A1 (from the back)

The Mai Logic Northbridge Chip

The µ-A1 Ram & IDE Slots

The µ-A1 Via & Sound Chips

.Specifications for the µ-A1

Both boards include cpu, 256MB memory, cpu cooler and on board graphics and sound, but exclude OS4 (-OEM or -PR as appropriate) which is an additional cost (euros 100 or equivalent), compulsory purchase item. The revenue from OS4 goes directly to Hyperion to fund past and ongoing development of OS4.

Additional A1XE-G4 boards available

We anticipate having a small batch of A1XE-G4 boards. Please note however, that these new boards will not be 'Earlybird' systems and OS4-OEM (or -PR as appropriate) is an additional cost item.

µ-A1-C specification in outline

The µ-A1-C is closely based on the specifications of the A1XE board, modified where appropriate for the mini-ITX form factor and to get round various quirks which have surfaced on the existing XE boards. It will be shipped with a 750Fx @800 MHz cpu module on a standard AmigaOne MegArray connector, and a single SODIMM socket populated with 256MB. Graphics will be provided by an onboard Radeon 7000 with 32MB memory. 6-channel 5.1 surround sound is provided by a CMI 8738 chip.

The board comes with a single PCI slot which is capable of taking a -1, -2 or -3 slot riser card. This will not be supplied by us, (single slot risers should normally be supplied along with the case), but we will be making the specifications available to third parties so they can produce, for example, a riser with 2 PCI and 1 AGP (operating in PCI mode) slots. These should then be available directly through your local dealer.

We are only shipping G3 cpu modules with the board at this stage, due to the high power consumption of commonly (and economically) available G4 cpu's, and the resulting cooling problems when the board is mounted in a mini-ITX case. It is our intention to have the upgrade G4 cpu modules made for this board using lower power G4's (like the MPC7447 cpu) when these become available at reasonable prices in small quantities.

µ-A1-I specification in outline

The specification for the µ-A1-I is very comprehensive. We really have tried to include as many on board peripherals as practicable also including what we believe are unprecedented expansion facilities in such a compact design. The main expansion slot is fully documented and 'open standard' so that specialty hardware interface companies (eg Individual Computers) can produce and market a range of add-ons - in true Amiga tradition. This expansion port has been designed to be PCI-104 compatible, resulting in a wide range of all manner of expansion cards already being available off-the-shelf. The PCI 104 bus is a 'stacking' bus, which allows more than one expansion card to be used simultaneously. These expansion boards lie parallel to the main board, simplifying the implementation of robust, reliable mechanical fixing - which is essential for high reliability industrial applications.

On-board peripherals include USB, IEEE 1394 (firewire); ATA133; Gbit/100/10 ethernet; 5.1 6-channel surround sound; SVGA, SVHS and composite video output and the usual array of legacy connectors (games, 2x serial, parallel). Several of these I/O functions are supplied on headers, making interconnections on industrial systems (eg: a serial touch screen controller) much easier to implement.

In addition the single standard PCI slot will support a 1 to 3 slot expansion riser as with the µ-A1-C above.

The board will also incorporate 256MB of on-board memory plus an expansion SODIMM socket, passive cpu cooling and a CF (compact flash) 'hard drive' slot. These features together will allow for completely solid-state operation, essential for the high reliability needed in many industrial applications. AGP graphics will be provided by an on-board ATi 7000-series graphics processor with 32MB of DDR memory.

With all this added functionality, board space is extremely tight, and something had to give. The chosen cpu module was the exchangeable MegArray-based cpu module as used on the AmigaOne-XE. There simply was not room to fit it in with all of the other stuff.

However, the good news is that the µ-A1 will now come with an 800MHz 750Gx cpu as standard, which represents an upgrade to the 750Fx used in the AmigaOne XE-G3. Eyetech rejected the option of using a Motorola G4 cpu as the higher heat dissipation meant that passive cooling was not possible - and it is cpu fan failure which is one of the major causes of unreliability in computer systems.

Will it fit in an Elbox tower / standard ATX tower?

No. The µ-A1 has an ITX form factor and will therefore fit into any suitable ITX case with a 100W or higher PSU. It will fit directly into the MRH Micro-1 Tower and MRH Mini Micro case in the PC board position. We are working on the MRH Micro-1 Tower to also allow an A1200 motherboard to be mounted within the same case as the µ-A1 motherboard.

The EZTower-Z4, the Power/Elbox Tower and any other Amiga-specific tower design are not suitable for the µ-A1.