I did a set of these as I basically wanted a set of lower power consumption Purple Simms :)
It was more a bit of fun than anything. Though I have found that finding such simms are becoming harder and harder to find, in particular UK/EU. Mostly they are used and prices are only going up as time goes on.
I personally got tired of hunting around for simms, ending up ordering them form the USA and paying lots of postage all the time, and then having to wait weeks for them to turn up. So I thought it would be wise to design one for the future anyway :)
I had a fair few people express interest in these and also people wanting to resell them. I only built a couple of sets up for myself and didn't think anyone else would want them. So I have decided to put these into production and will be available in my store in due time :)
I have been asked about creating other simms. Such as 4MB 30pin simms. Though While I could easily do that, I never found 4MB simms sold in my store :( So I am reluctant to invest in any other simms at the moment. Also I have no way to test 4MB simms and wouldn't like to sell such things as "untested".
I have a lot of STE's needing these simms myself. So being able to manufacture them in my workshop makes life a whole lot easier for me :) Of course those who want to support my projects will buy my simms and not "elsewhere" :)
Direct Store Link.
https://www.exxosforum.co.uk/atari/store2/#0024
They look real cool, shame we never had the choice back in the day.
ReplyDeleteAs for 4Mb simms what can even use them?
I'm not sure on other systems but I do remember having to use pairs of 30 pin simms in my PC to work.
I found as you moved beyond 1Mb simms you moved up to 72 pin anyway?
I used 72pin simms for the STFM. The STE uses 1MB x 30pin simms.
ReplyDeleteMaybe the MSTE or TT can use 4MB simms, never checked.
I don't use simms in STFM stuff anymore anyway, can buy SMT DRAM cheap enough these days.
Can you use 1 x 72 pin simm because of its bus width Vs 30 pin simms.
ReplyDeleteI had a 486 SX25 that had both 30 & 72 pin slots if the memory was in 30 pin you needed 2 if it was 72 pin you needed 1, I recall this had something to do with bus widths?
My STE's all had 4 x 256K simms. Anyhow I can see a use for these new simms in some kind of custom cpu board due to there size and power usage also they look cool :p
I use a single 72pin 4MB simm in a STFM. Most people have done that. Though of course 72pin isn't going to fit in the 30pin slots. It could be done with lots of hackery, but easier just to put proper simms in there ;)
ReplyDeleteSome TT ramcards can use 4mb 30 pin simms. And I believe an early 3rd party ram-expansion for F030 did aswell.
ReplyDeleteOther than that no Ataris have any use for 4mb 30 pin simms, and for new developments it makes much more sense to use 72 pin simms, SDRAM or just plain old dram chips.
If I didn't have a big bag of tested 1mb simms from my days as a PC engineer, I'd be buying these!
ReplyDeleteGive them all to me ;) Most simms seem to be hoarded in the USA :( Just gets to expensive to get stuff shipped over all the time. People can still find them if they want to to on various sites. Though I wanted to do my own anyway :)
ReplyDeleteMost people just stick "any old simm" and are happy it "works". Same people probably stick "any old ROM" in the machine as well and happy it "works". Then they have DMA problems or something and nobody can figure out why.
I just wanted to get off that bandwagon and just develop stuff which I am happy is at the quality level I want and doesn't have odd issues.
I mean buying used simms from iffy sources all over the net is just asking for trouble IMHO. I may be alone in that. But at the end of the day, my STE's are ultra stable and when doing booster work as well, I need stuff which is stable and works properly :)