Introduction
~~~~~~~~~~~~
This document was written with the contributions of many UseNet
Amiga users who sent in ideas, comments and tips regarding the hardware of
the Amiga 3000 computer.  If you have any changes or additions, please
email them to me here.  

Ed- Additions for this section are welcomed for inclusion to the Amiga
Technical Resource pages.  In which case, email me directly.
Anthony Hoffman. 

These technical notes are intended for both desktop and tower models of 
the A3000, but where no differences are noted, you should assume the 
same for both setups.

System Overview
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Amiga 3000 was designed as the third generation high
performance Amiga system by Commodore around 1988-89.  Unveiled in 1990
with much fanfare, (even a BYTE Magazine cover article) the A3000
incorporates a high performance Motorola 68030 CPU at 16 or 25 MHz, and
MC68881/16 or 882/25 floating point coprocessor into a full 32 bit system
architecture with 32 bit memory access.  In comparison to Intel systems,
the A3000's 68030 is about on par with a 80386.

The A3000 also debuted several new innovations, including the ECS
chipset with programmable resolutions, the ECS 8375 Agnus for 2MB of CHIP
memory, an integrated SCSI controller, onboard sockets for 16MB of FAST RAM
and Zorro III slots.  Furthermore, its Display Enhancer, a flicker fixing
system which scandoubles and deinterlaces 15 Khz signals allowed for steady
output at VGA frequencies.  All this was encased in a small, workstation
like desktop case.

Later, the A4000 models were produced, but they share a great deal
of similarity to the A3000 series-their system architecture is based on
the A3000 design.

Five main models of the A3000 were produced:

Amiga 3000/16 - 68030/16 CPU and 68881/16 FPU
Amiga 3000/25 - 68030/25 CPU and 68882/25 FPU
Amiga 3000UX  - 68030/25 CPU and 68882/25 FPU
-Amiga 3000/25 with 1.4 Softkick ROM and AMIX,
 CBM's SVR UNIX port, sometimes with A3070 tape drive,
 and A2410 TMS34010 hires graphics board.

Amiga 3000T - 68030/25 CPU and 68882/25 FPU
-Tower configuration with more slots.
Amiga 3000T40 - 68040/25 CPU and integral FPU
-Tower configuration, but with A3640 CPU board, some
 missing 68030 motherboard CPUs.

The Amiga 3000T, a floor standing tower configuration, basically
used the same technology as the A3000 desktop.  Major differences include
vastly improved expansion, such three externally accessible half height 5
inch drive bays, and four PC AT slots.  The A3000T40, which interestingly
has a different case colouring than the beige of the A3000 line to match
the A4000 line, was the first system to use the A3640 040/25 CPU module,
which was not shipped in the A3000 desktop because of heat considerations.