Macintosh Iifx
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Macintosh IIfx Overview The Apple® Macintosh® IIfx is an In addition, the Macintosh IIfx For floppy disk storage, the extremely high-speed and elegantly contains a dedicated SCSI/DMA Macintosh IIfx uses the 1.4-megabyte engineered personal computer that (Small Computer System Interface/ Apple SuperDrive™ disk drive, which has been designed for people who Direct Memory Access) controller that allows users to read from and write need the ultimate in Macintosh improves SCSI performance. to 3.5-inch Macintosh floppy disks as responsiveness as well as new Users who need maximum system well as 3.5-inch disks used in a Macintosh capabilities. expandability will especially appreci- variety of other personal computers. To provide maximum Macintosh ate the versatility of the Macintosh The Macintosh IIfx can also be performance and responsiveness, the IIfx. First, system memory can be configured with up to 160 megabytes Macintosh IIfx incorporates a high- expanded from 4 to 8 megabytes for of internal hard disk storage, and it speed, 40-megahertz 68030 micropro- high-performance applications that will accommodate a second cessor, a 32K Static RAM Cache demand superior system responsive- SuperDrive. memory subsystem, and a 68882 ness. Best of all, the Macintosh IIfx is a floating-point coprocessor for high- Second, the Macintosh IIfx Macintosh, which means that it still speed processing of complex mathe- includes six NuBus™ expansion slots offers all of the benefits of earlier matical functions. that can accommodate a wide range Macintosh systems: access to more The Macintosh IIfx also incorpo- of Apple and third-party expansion than 3,000 of the most powerful, rates, for the first time, dedicated I/O cards, such as additional network graphics-based applications available; (input/output) processors. These interface and graphics cards. A new ease of learning and ease of use custom-designed ASICs (application- Processor Direct Slot (PDS) provides through a consistent, graphics-based specific integrated circuits) boost a direct interface for third-party interface; choice without confusion in system efficiency by managing low- hardware options. And six external hardware and software; the conven- level I/O tasks—for the Apple interface ports accommodate periph- ience of “plug and play” compatibil- Desktop Bus,™ floppy disk drives, and erals such as hard disks and printers, ity; and the assurance that all Macin- serial ports—that were previously LocalTalk™ network connections, and tosh components will work together carried out by the 68030 processor. Apple Desktop Bus devices. smoothly. Features Benefits Full 32-bit 68030 microprocessor, Offers increased levels of perform- running at 40 megahertz ance and system responsiveness over —Built-in Paged Memory Management other Macintosh II systems. Unit (PMMU) Supports multitasking operating systems such as A/UX®, Apple’s implementation of the AT&T UNIX® operating system. .................................................................................................................................. 68882 floating-point math coproces- Provides fast processing of com- sor, running at 40 megahertz plex mathematical functions while complying with IEEE 80-bit floating- point standards. .................................................................................................................................. Built-in zero-wait-state 32K Static Accelerates system performance. RAM Cache .................................................................................................................................. Two dedicated I/O processors Improves system efficiency by handling low-level tasks previously carried out by the 68030 micropro- cessor and associated with the floppy disk drive(s), Apple Desktop Bus, and serial ports. .................................................................................................................................. SCSI/DMA controller Increases performance of the SCSI bus. .................................................................................................................................. Built-in Processor Direct Slot (PDS) Provides a fast, 32-bit direct interface to the system bus for high- speed, third-party option cards. .................................................................................................................................. SuperDrive floppy disk drive Provides 75 percent more storage capacity than 800K disk drives. Allows convenient transfer of data files between Macintosh, OS/2, MS- DOS, and Apple II systems on the same 3.5-inch disk, using the Apple File Exchange utility. .................................................................................................................................. Support for up to 160 megabytes of Accommodates either a 5.25-inch internal hard disk storage half-height hard disk drive or a 3.5- inch hard disk drive in several capacities. .................................................................................................................................. Six NuBus expansion slots Makes it easy to create custom configurations to meet specific needs. (Cards are self-configuring—they require no DIP switches, and can be placed in any slot.) .................................................................................................................................. Six built-in ports: Provides support for popular —Two serial ports peripherals without using NuBus —Two Apple Desktop Bus ports expansion slots. —One SCSI port Provides access to LocalTalk —One sound port networks, which allow users to connect Macintosh IIfx systems to other computers and to LaserWriter® printers through the AppleTalk® network system. Supplies high-quality, four-voice digital sound that is compatible with all applications that use Macintosh sound. Features Benefits 4 megabytes of on-board RAM, Provides a simple growth path for expandable to 8 megabytes users as they need additional mem- ory. Allows multiple applications to be opened concurrently under the MultiFinder® operating system. Provides memory space for manipulation of large amounts of data, such as large spreadsheets, complex CAD drawings, scanned images, and sound files. .................................................................................................................................. Optional parity support Provides detection of DRAM (dynamic RAM) parity errors for increased data integrity. .................................................................................................................................. 512K of ROM on a SIMM (Single Enables future 32-bit versions of In-Line Memory Module), including: the Macintosh operating system to —32-bit addressing address up to 4 gigabytes of memory. —Hierarchical File System Organizes document storage and —32-bit Color QuickDraw™ allows easy access to files. Provides a consistent user interface throughout the Macintosh family and enables color systems to display up to 16 million colors simultaneously. .................................................................................................................................. Macintosh user interface, including Makes most applications intuitive mouse, icons, windows, and pull- and easy to learn. down menus Reduces training and support costs. Provides a consistent user interface across applications. .................................................................................................................................. MultiFinder operating system Allows multiple applications to be opened concurrently. Lets users easily cut and paste information between applications. Allows background tasks to be run while users interact with applications in the foreground. .................................................................................................................................. Software compatibility Lets users run virtually all Macin- tosh software. .................................................................................................................................. Variable-speed fan controller Provides quiet system operation. Product Details 68030 Processor zero-wait-state CPU per- Apple Scanner, to the Full 32-bit 68030 micro- formance. Macintosh IIfx. Up to processor runs at 40 seven SCSI peripherals, RAM megahertz. including an internal hard The 32-bit address bus RAM in the Macintosh disk, can be connected. provides up to 4 gigabytes IIfx can be increased to 8 The Macintosh IIfx SCSI of data space. megabytes. subsystem is managed by a 256-byte, on-chip address The Macintosh IIfx uses dedicated SCSI/DMA and instruction caches 80-nanosecond RAM. controller, which increases provide high levels of As denser, 4-megabit and system efficiency. performance. 16-megabit RAM chips The SCSI I/O subsystem Built-in PMMU supports become available, RAM can can provide data transfer virtual, shared, and pro- be increased to 32 and 128 rates in excess of 3 mega- tected memory in operating megabytes, respectively. bytes per second. systems that have been Input/Output Processors Network Support designed for it. Two dedicated I/O Burst mode RAM access The Macintosh IIfx processors manage low- provides full ROM support enables groups of instruc- level I/O tasks for the serial tions and data to be read in for all AppleTalk protocols, ports, floppy disk drive(s), and includes built-in serial fewer clock cycles than are and Apple Desktop Bus, required in normal access ports for LocalTalk