David Taylor puts his racing gloves on to test drive this new '060 processor for the A1200.

The Amiga is still the leading computer for usability -- just consider the ease with which you can upgrade your computer's processor. Intel's Socket 7 or Slot 1? Pah. How about simply opening the trapdoor on the bottom of your machine and sliding in a new card?

Like all other accelerators this new Apollo from Eyetech can require a determined push to slot it home. But once you have made sure the connectors line up, just jiggle them until you feel them start to lock and then give it a good shove. Bingo! Your '020 processor is transformed into the fastest Motorola processor available.

However, there are some serious issues with this board. The first is a question of build quality. Apollo boards have always looked slightly cheap and cheerful but have proved competent and reliable, and this one is no exception. It also has a module slotted on the back that requires a sheet of plastic to be stuck to it (supplied) so that it doesn't short out. This module seems very loose, but as long as you don't swing your Amiga round your head, this won't be a problem.

MONEY MATTERS

The board comes in 50MHz and 66MHz clock speeds. Motorola do not manufacture 66MHz '060s, and the processor used in this accelerator is actually a standard '060 rated at 50MHz. Are the manufacturers up to their old tricks again, pushing the clock speed up? Is this, in fact, only a 50MHz '060? Interestingly, the Clock Frequency utility indicates that it's operating at 58MHz, so there does seem to be something going on.

Over-clocking a CPU is an operation where the processor is forced to work at a higher MHz than it claims to be able to handle. An '030, for example, can be forced to work at a higher clock rate without any noticeable difference except the generation of a bit more heat. It may however cause system crashes and this is where the problems start.

This is not to say that the board is dangerous or is going to burn your house down. But you should know before you buy it that the processor is being pushed beyond the limits set by the manufacturers.

In operation, it's hard to fault it. Some programs simply don't work with the '060 processor, although the only problem I had was with the Setpatch program, that the system uses at the beginning of the Startup-sequence - this was simply because the installer which installs the necessary '060 libraries isn't immediately obvious. Some older software is bound not to work on an '060, though almost all non-games software written in the last two years should be fine.

BURN OUT

For development to continue, however, we will have to be looking elsewhere, because this is the last in the 68000 series. It's a blinding board, and is wonderful to use, but it's still expensive when you consider that you are buying into something that only has a short-term future. Maybe it would be better to hang on for a PowerPC board -- but how long will we have to wait for them?