Amstrad CPC 40010 Gate Array replacement

[vRetro]

Hi,

I design and make a selection of ULA/Gate Array replacements (focused on the Sinclair range of computers up until now) and have recently turned my attention to the Amstrad CPC gate arrays. I appreciate the fantastic work that Gerald has done in reverse engineering the 40010 gate array and have managed to squeeze his design into the same form factor as the original (DIP40). There were a few tweaks needed to the RAS/CAS timings as the specific delays the original designers relied on due to the original hardware architecture were lost in the conversion to HDL. Apart from that, Gerald's design is intact and a testament to the robust methodology he used to replicate the original chip. 

The design for a 40007 replacement has also been completed and I'm just waiting for test results before making these available.

You can check out the details here: https://www.vretrodesign.com/products/vr40010-amstrad-cpc-gate-array-replacement

Happy to answer any questions,

Charlie

[SerErris]

I have actually tested the 40010 and it works totally flawless. I cannot see any difference in behaviour or color (on my CTM644 monitor). So this should really now have a replica available to keep your 6128s alive without the need to cannibalize another working one.

Also new CPCs will now be possible without cannibalizing old ones as well @Piotr I think that is interesting for your builds, as you can now create 100% new ones. 

40007 will be tested with a lot more expansions as soon as it arrives :-)

[SerErris]

@llopis 
you may want to redo your "all new CPC again" 

[Piotr]

I was beta tester. Replacement board is working with clones too. But, you know me .I prefer buy CPC and disassemble it for parts. And of course i sell rest on Ebay...  

[SerErris]

I was beta tester. Replacement board is working with clones too. But, you know me .I prefer buy CPC and disassemble it for parts. And of course i sell rest on Ebay...  

Yes, for sure - just to scrape the GateArray ;-)

[erikarn]

hi! this is pretty neat!

is the source available somewhere? I've thought about making some modifications to the base CPC ULA, and if you've already built the hw i'd love to also use it as a dev platform!


-a

[SerErris]

The source for the ULA is available for a long time already, for example in the CPC implementation on the MiSTer site.

I doubt that vRetro will make the design available. 

[jesusdelmas]

Hi,

I design and make a selection of ULA/Gate Array replacements (focused on the Sinclair range of computers up until now) and have recently turned my attention to the Amstrad CPC gate arrays. I appreciate the fantastic work that Gerald has done in reverse engineering the 40010 gate array and have managed to squeeze his design into the same form factor as the original (DIP40). There were a few tweaks needed to the RAS/CAS timings as the specific delays the original designers relied on due to the original hardware architecture were lost in the conversion to HDL. Apart from that, Gerald's design is intact and a testament to the robust methodology he used to replicate the original chip.

The design for a 40007 replacement has also been completed and I'm just waiting for test results before making these available.

You can check out the details here: https://www.vretrodesign.com/products/vr40010-amstrad-cpc-gate-array-replacement

Happy to answer any questions,

Charlie

Wowww thats very good news!! And do you know when the results for the 40007 will be available? After that we could revive any old cpc! 

[SerErris]

It is available right now:
https://www.vretrodesign.com/products/copy-of-vr40007-amstrad-cpc-gate-array-replacement

[abalore]

Nice project, but a bit expensive when you can buy the original a lot cheaper:

https://icompplus.com/en/integrated-circuits/amstrad/40007

https://icompplus.com/en/integrated-circuits/amstrad/40010

that's a quick search, I purchased 10x 40010 not long ago for 2 euro each.

[GUNHED]

25 Euros is expansive for 40010 imo.

[erikarn]

Well, the reason I ask was for tinkering with extending the original CPC ULA to do a few other fun things within a similar form factor. It's ok, I'll keep tinkering

Thanks! I'm glad there's a drop-in gate array nowdays!

[SerErris]

Nice project, but a bit expensive when you can buy the original a lot cheaper:

https://icompplus.com/en/integrated-circuits/amstrad/40007

https://icompplus.com/en/integrated-circuits/amstrad/40010

that's a quick search, I purchased 10x 40010 not long ago for 2 euro each.

Do you know if they are new old stock, or ripped from CPCs? In the later case for every GA a CPC has to die. Probably they are already dead, but that it is why the replacement exists. You can keep a CPC alive, even without any source of the original GA any longer.

Also the prices have gone up:
40007 is now 10€
40010 is now 25€

So not 2€ per piece any longer.

Still cheaper but the prices will go up.

[vRetro]

Hi,

As SerErris has commented, the VR40007 is now available as well as the VR40010 (see: https://www.vretrodesign.com/collections/for-amstrad-cpc-computers).

I'm always reticent to enter an argument about price, knowing what the real cost of designing, manufacturing, marketing, shipping and supporting these products over an extended time period adds up to, but as the question has been raised would welcome feedback on what the Community expects.

As a bit of background, I make several other Gate Array/Uncommitted Logic Array/VLSI replacements (around 9 so far in the nine years or so I have been doing this) and have specialized in making these devices (not related to CPC to be sure but the fundamentals are the same) available to the retro computing community. I ensure comprehensive testing of any product is carried out before moving to field trials and commit to long term support for anything I make.

There's a lot of work in making sure the design is fit for purpose before any production units appear. In this case the design was based on a fellow member's (Gerald) extraordinary work in reverse engineering the 40010 which made my job a lot easier. As part of functional testing of the HDL implementation, I purchased 5 x 40007 (another hidden development cost) from an EU chip supplier and found that only 2 actually worked properly - the others had various random issues indicating chips that had maybe been rejected during QC or maybe salvaged from faulty computers. Luckily the two that worked provided essential information on ram timings etc. that would be reflected in the final design to ensure maximum compatibility.

The products I sell are fully supported (just contact me by email - I'll usually respond within 24 hours even given the time differences between New Zealand and the rest of the world) and have warranties against manufacturing defects that include refund or replacement as required. This is not usually the case with IC vendors or other sources, especially for NOS or used/salvaged devices.

Happy to discuss further. Let me know your thoughts.

Charlie

[eto]

My opinion: Even if there is a source of NOS GateArrays, we still need a GateArray replacement. The stock will not last forever and it's unclear how many of those ICs really work.

If I understand correctly, the 25€ for the 40010 is without VAT. That will be on top anyway. Plus the risk of a non-working IC. Imho a FPGA replacement seems to be the better deal. 

[dragon]

Nice project, but a bit expensive when you can buy the original a lot cheaper:

https://icompplus.com/en/integrated-circuits/amstrad/40007

https://icompplus.com/en/integrated-circuits/amstrad/40010

that's a quick search, I purchased 10x 40010 not long ago for 2 euro each.

Do you know if they are new old stock, or ripped from CPCs? In the later case for every GA a CPC has to die. Probably they are already dead, but that it is why the replacement exists. You can keep a CPC alive, even without any source of the original GA any longer.

Also the prices have gone up:
40007 is now 10€
40010 is now 25€

So not 2€ per piece any longer.

Still cheaper but the prices will go up.

I live here, and i go  and pickup it in person because one user  from usa want one. So i pickup it and i send it to usa.

Are new old stock, and it have warrantay if don't work i not sure now, if was 6 moths or 1 year.

Thats remember me i need send him a pair of these,because they stuck here because was mounted in my cpc when was retained in the prototv repair service :S.

And they tell they are in leganes...but are only admistrative thing they are in Alcorcón polygone.... But when you are in the polygone you cross one street and in the  middle of the street you are in leganes, but leganes city are far  from alcorcón around 6km.