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Amiga Corporation

Company Pedigree

 Ascendant Companies Descendent Companies
Company Comments Company Comments
Atari Jay G. Miner left Atari in 1982 to co-found Amiga. Commodore Business Machines, Inc. In 1984, Commodore out bid Atari and  bought Amiga, Inc.

Company Overview

Amiga was was originally a startup called Hi-Torro and was founded by Jay Miner (Atari), Dave Morse (Mattel) and RJ Mical (Williams Electronics) in 1982. The startup’s vision was to create the next generation gaming console. When the gaming market collapsed in 1983, they regrouped and reworked their chipset in a computer concept code named Lorraine. In the process they developed the most an advanced microcomputer with robust graphics and audio. The Lorraine prototype was the direct model for the future Amiga 1000. In search of funding, Amiga reached out to Atari and Commodore. In the end Commodore won the bidding battle and Amiga became a subsidiary of Commodore Business Machines with Commodore Semiconductor Group (MOS Technology) as its chip making foundry.

Major Achievements

Development of the Amiga chipset

Chip Identification

All Amiga chips bear MOS, CBM, or CSG logos and copyrights.

Amiga Chips

Nickname Identification Description Comments
Akiko Akiko Rev A  CPN: 391563-01 I/O Controller Found in the CD32. Packaged in a 156-lead Quad SMD.
Alice 8374 – Alice  CPN: 391010-01 Replaced Agnus Found in the A4000. Packaged in 84-Contact PLCC
Amber 51-Amber  CPN: 390538-03 Video control (flicker) Found in the A3000. Packaged in 84-Contact PLCC.
Agnus 8370 (NTSC)  CPN: 318070-01 Worked with Denise for video scan control. 512KB of memory Part of the original chipset. Found in A500, A2000. Packaged in 84-Contact PLCC.
8361 (NTSC)  CPN: 252125-01 Part of the original chipsetFound in A1000, A2000-A. Packaged in 84-Contact PLCC.
8371 (PAL)  CPN: 318071-01 Part of the original chipset. Found in A500, A2000. Packaged in 84-Contact PLCC.
8367R0 (PAL) Part of the original chipsetFound in A1000, A2000-A. Packaged in 84-Contact PLCC.
8372A (Fat Agnus)  CPN: 318069-01 Worked with Denise for video scan control. 1024KB of memory Found in the A2500. Packaged in 84-Contact PLCC.
8375 (Fat Agnus)CPN: 390544-01

  CPN: 318069-10 (A600)

Found in the A300, A500+ and A600. Packaged in 84-Contact PLCC.
8372B (Super Agnus)  CPN: 318069-03 Worked with Denise for video scan control. 2048KB of memory Found in the A3000. Packaged in 84-Contact PLCC.
Beauty CPN:  391246-01 ECS chips unique the the CDTV-CR (CDTV-II) Found in the CDTV-CR (did not reach production)
Budgie CPN: 391425-01 Bus Controller Found in the A1200, Packaged as a 128 Quad SMD.
Buster 5721 Bus Interface Found in the A2000 and A2500. Packaged as a 40-lead DIP.
45-Super Buster  CPN: 390539-11 Found in the A4000. Packaged in 84-Contact PLCC.
CIA 8520  CPN: 391078-01/03 Complex Interface Adapter – parallel, serial, and keyboard communications Found in the A3000. Packaged as 40-lead DIP.
Denise 8362R5 (Denise) Worked with Agnus for video control. Came in NTSC and PAL versions Part of the original chipset. Found in the A500, A1000, A2000 Packaged as a 48-lead DIP.
8362R6 (Denise)  CPN: 252126-01 Part of the original chipset. Found in the A500, A1000, A2000 Packaged as a 48-lead DIP.
8362R8 (Denise)  CPN: 252126-02 Found in the A500, A2000, and CDTV. Packaged as a 48-lead DIP
8373R4 (Super Denise)CPN: 390433-01

  CPN: 391081-10 (A600)

Found in the A300, A600, A500+ and A3000. Packaged as a 48-lead DIP
DMAC DMAC  CPN: 390537-02 DMA controller for SCSI Found in the A3000. Packaged as a 84-contact PLCC.
Gary 5719R2 (Gary)  CPN: 318072-01 Gary was an I/O type processor. He coordinated access to bus, the floppy drive, and the IDE port. In his spare time he did address decoding and also handled some self-diagnostic functions. Part of the original chipset. Found in the A500 and A2000. Packaged as a 48-lead DIP
41-Fat Gary (Fat Gary)  CPN: 390540-02 Gary was an I/O type processor. He coordinated access to bus, the floppy drive, and the IDE port. In his spare time he did address decoding and also handled some self-diagnostic functions. Found in the A3000 and A4000.  Packaged as a 84-contact PLCC.
Gayle AA-Gayle-R5  CPN: 391424-02 Replaced the Gary chip Found in the A1200. Packaged in 84-Contact PLCC
45-Gayle  CPN: 391155-01 Found in the A300 and A600. Packaged in 84-Contact PLCC.
Grace CPN:  391245-02 ECS chips unique the the CDTV-CR (CDTV-II) Found in the CDTV-CR (did not reach production)
Lisa Lisa 1204R0  CPN: 391227-01 Replaced the Denise chip Found in the A1200, A4000, and CD32. Packaged in 84-Contact PLCC
Paula 8364  CPN: 252127-01 Handled peripheral interfaces, audio, UART, interrupt Lines, and bus arbitration Part of the original chipset. Packaged in a 48-lead DIP
8364R7  CPN: 252127-02 Packaged in a 48-lead DIP
8364R7  CPN: 391077-01 Found in the A300, A600, A1200 and A2500. Packaged in 52-Contact PLCC.
Ramsey 51-Ramsey  CPN: 390541-04 RAM controller Found in the A3000. Packaged in 84-Contact PLCC
Vidiot Not made by CSG. Outsourced to hybrid makers like Analog Devices. 12-bit hybrid monitor driver interfaced with Denise Found in the A300, A500, A500+, A600,  A1000,  A2000 and A3000.

CPN = Commodore Part Number

Related Sites

Kuff’s Commodore Online Museum