The Sinclair QL Forum

ql_freak wrote: Sat Jan 25, 2025 12:04 am
Is the price nowadays really a problem!

Yes it is. A full 68RC060 from a halfway reliable source can be had from 400€ upwards (and they are rare as hen's teeth). ECs and LCs are <<100€ and in significantly higher supply.

As there are a lot of fake and re-labled (EC [no MMU, no FPU] or LC [no MMU] to RC [all in]) or non-working CPUs in the market - messing with 68060s is really a comfortable method of making dirty money, you might probably have to buy 2 or 3 to really receive a genuine, working one. Prices have gone up significantly because the RCs are in high demand from Amiga owners.

Had you bought a decent box of 68RC060/50 some 15-20 years ago, you'd have had the chance to make some nice pocket money.

Derek_Stewart wrote: Fri Jan 24, 2025 7:09 pm 128Mb ram (note, SMSQ/E only supports 64Mb)

I don't think that SMSQ/E ever supported 64 MB on the Q60. The hardware had incomplete address decoding, so only chunks of (a little less than) 32 MB were continuous. Linux had to use the MMU for 64, 80 or 128 MB.

tofro wrote: Sat Jan 25, 2025 12:32 am Had you bought a decent box of 68RC060/50 some 15-20 years ago, you'd have had the chance to make some nice pocket money.

No idea why the full-blown 68060 is often called RC. The RC suffix is common to all variants, e.g. MC68EC060RC66, MC68LC060RC66 or MC68060RC66.

I still have a MC68060RC66 bought new, which I will never sell as long I can afford food and a roof over my head.

The FPU never got much attention in the QL scene. As far as I know, there was just the OS support by George Gwilt, but almost no actual application.

ql_freak wrote: Sat Jan 25, 2025 12:04 am Thanks for your excellent hardware!

Thanks for the kind words. This year is the 25th anniversary of the Q60 public release.
The hardware design (except the 128 MB RAM upgrade) was already completed in December of 1997.

Peter wrote: Sat Jan 25, 2025 12:36 am

Derek_Stewart wrote: Fri Jan 24, 2025 7:09 pm 128Mb ram (note, SMSQ/E only supports 64Mb)

I don't think that SMSQ/E ever supported 64 MB on the Q60. The hardware had incomplete address decoding, so only chunks of (a little less than) 32 MB were continuous. Linux had to use the MMU for 64, 80 or 128 MB.

I have a note that SMSQ/E v3.06 onwards, Q60, with a special hardware modification, supported 64Mb.

Derek_Stewart wrote: Sat Jan 25, 2025 7:14 amI have a note that SMSQ/E v3.06 onwards, Q60, with a special hardware modification, supported 64Mb.

Oha, well, I wonder if you really need 64MB, that would be as big as the WIN I'm currently using. .

Derek_Stewart wrote: Sat Jan 25, 2025 7:14 am I have a note that SMSQ/E v3.06 onwards, Q60, with a special hardware modification, supported 64Mb.

What note? The SMSQ/E version history does not mention it.

Hi

It seems I maybe incorrect with regards to the Q60 available memory.

Only 32Mb of continuous memory is available to SMSQ/E.

I am interested in getting a Q60.

Peter wrote: Sat Jan 25, 2025 1:12 am The FPU never got much attention in the QL scene. As far as I know, there was just the OS support by George Gwilt, but almost no actual application.

And is yet another potential cause of (mostly unnecessary) slowdown, as the FPU registers need to be saved and restored on every task switch.