Amiga 4000

"A4000, the Holy Grail of Amiga Computing"

Released in October 1992 by Commodore, the Amiga 4000 is the last and most powerful Amiga computer ever built. Featuring a 32-bit architecture and AGA graphics (24-bit), A4000 offers access to the full library of Amiga software. The computer is highly upgradeable, including accelerators, memory, CD-Roms, graphic cards, audio cards, and even a 486DX card for running old IBM PC software.

• The Amiga 4000/40 was originally sold for $3,700 ($7,620 in today's money), later, the Amiga 4000/30 was sold for $2,400 ($4,900 in today's money)
• Only 35,000 desktop A4000 were ever sold
• There was also a tower model, only 3,000 towers (A4000T) were ever sold, it is estimated that Commodore sold 200 A4000T, and the rest were sold by Escrom

THE A4000 AT A GLANCE

• Compatible with old Amigas (OCS & ECS)
• 68030 at 25MHz or 68040 at 25MHz CPUs for the desktop A4000
• 68040/68060 CPUs for the tower variant (A4000T)
• 3.0/3.1 Amiga Operating System
• GUI and preemptive multitasking / no-protected memory
• AGA graphics (24-bit color / 16.8 million colors)
• 4 PCM sound channels (27 kHz)
• 2 MB Chip RAM, and up to 16 MB RAM on board, 128 MB RAM via the CPU, and more memory via Zorro III slots
• 512 KB Kickstart ROM
• 880K floppy disk drive (built-in)
• Highly expandable computer (5 × Zorro III slots, 4 × 16-bit ISA slots, 2 × AGA video slots)
• The SCSI of previous Amigas was replaced by the Parallel ATA

Amiga 4000 Desktop Models

There are two main desktops A4000 models:

• A4000/040 with a Motorola 68040 CPU at 25MH, released in October 1992
• A4000/030 with a Motorola 68EC030 at 25MH, released in April 1993

Amiga 4000 Tower

Released in 1994, the Amiga 4000 tower is featuring a 68040 or a 68060 CPU.

The Amiga 4000T was originally released by Commodore with a 25 MHz Motorola 68040 CPU. Later, in 1995, it was upgraded and re-released in greater numbers by Escom. The Escrom A4000T features a 50 MHz Motorola 68060 CPU. The Escrom Amiga 4000T was in production until 1997.

• Can have 16 MB of RAM on the motherboard, up to 128 MB of RAM on CPU boards, and more RAM on Zorro cards
• Offers 2 Video Slots, 5 Zorro III slots, and 4 ISA slots
• The A4000 tower is the only Amiga to have (built-in) on the motherboard both SCSI and IDE interfaces
• Can accommodate up to 6 drives

Colors & Graphic Modes

The A4000 features 24-bit graphics via the Commodore's Advanced Graphics Architecture (AGA) chipset. The computer offers the same graphic modes as the CD32 console and the A1200 computer.

• 24-bit (16.8 million colors), up to 256 on-screen colors
• 262,144 on-screen colors in HAM-8 mode
• Resolutions from: 320×200 to 1504x576 overscan (PAL)
• Improved hardware sprites and scrolling compared to OCS/ECS Amigas

Resolutions:

• 320×200 to 1280×400, 1504x484 overscan (NTSC)
• 320×256 to 1280×512, 1504x576 overscan (PAL)
• 640×480 (VGA)

Sound Capabilities

A4000 offers the same sound chipset as other Amigas.

• 2 stereo channels (4 × 8-bit PCM)
• 28 kHz DMA sampling rate, and up to 57 kHz
• The hardware channels have independent volumes (65 levels)
• Software controllable low-pass audio filter

I/O Ports

• 2 × Mouse/Gamepad 9-pin ports
• Keyboard (5-pin DIN)
• RGB monitor output (DB-23M)
• Audio out Left & Right (2 × RCA)
• Audio out (3.5mm headphone jack)
• Standard 25-pin RS-232 serial port (DB-25M)
• Centronics style parallel port (DB-25F)
• Fast SCSI-2 (D-High density DB-50F)

Expansions Slots

• 5 × Zorro III slots (100pin, 32-bit)
• 4 × 16-bit ISA slots (require bridgeboard)
• 2 × AGA video slots
• 1 × CPU expansion slot (200-pin)
• 4 × SIMM slots (72-pin)

Monitors

 A4000 can be connected to TVs, RGB monitors, 15-kHz VGA monitors, or even modern HDMI monitors with the right video upscaling hardware.

• Commodore monitors (1084, 1942, etc.)
• Other RGB monitors (Philips CM 8833, etc.)
• 15 kHz VGA monitors with an RGB to VGA adapter (monitors such as the BenQ) 
• TVs via SCART cable (RGB to SCART cable)
• Modern VGA/HDMI monitors via video upscaling hardware

Expansions & Upgrades

By adding an 8MB Fast RAM and an SD card hard drive you can use the Amiga WHDload software. WHDload enables access to thousands of Amiga games and apps.

• 68040/68060 accelerators for desktop models
• Graphic cards (Picasso IV, ZZ9000)
• Indivision AGA flicker fixer (improves VGA output)
• Audio cards (Prisma Megamix, ZZ9000AX, SoundBlaster, etc.)
• Network cards
• On-board IBM-PC-compatible hardware emulation (80286/80386 or 80486)
• The iconic Video Toaster
• Internal CD-ROM drive
• Internal Gotek drive
• Internal ZIP drive

■ Amiga 4000

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