Commodore Amiga 3000

The Amiga 3000 introduced the 32-bit Zorro III bus, 68030 processing, built-in SCSI and the ECS chipset in a refined low-profile workstation. Amber display-enhancement hardware provided flicker-free productivity output.

It was one of Commodore’s most balanced professional systems and a major platform for graphics, video and Unix development.

Notable Features

• Amber deinterlaces compatible Amiga video modes for higher-quality monitor output.
• Early SuperKickstart systems load Kickstart from disk rather than relying solely on ROM.

Historical Significance

• It was one of Commodore’s most balanced professional systems and a major platform for graphics, video and Unix development.

Collector’s Notes

• Chipset and motherboard revision, Kickstart ROM, RAM expansion, accelerator cards and original keyboard or mouse should be documented.
• Memory, storage, displays and expansion hardware should be documented because configurations often changed during a system’s working life.

Specifications

Technical Information
Name	Commodore Amiga 3000
Manufacturer	Commodore
Launched	Monday, January 1, 1990
Discontinued	1992
Country	United States
CPU	Motorola 68030 at 16 or 25 MHz with 68882 FPU on many configurations
Units Sold
Form Factor	Low-profile workstation
Power	Internal or external mains supply according to model
Networking	Serial, parallel, MIDI and third-party Ethernet or networking options according to model
Operating System	AmigaOS 2.x or later
Expansion / I/O	Zorro III, video slot, CPU slot, SCSI, serial, parallel and standard Amiga ports
Keyboard	Detached keyboard
Storage	Built-in floppy and SCSI hard disk
Sound	Paula four-channel PCM stereo
Colours	Up to 32 colours normally, 64 in EHB and 4096 in HAM on OCS/ECS; AGA models support up to 256 indexed colours and HAM8 from 24-bit palettes
Graphics	Enhanced Chip Set with Amber display enhancer
Display	RGB, VGA-compatible productivity modes and flicker-fixed video
ROM	Kickstart ROM, early machines may use SuperKickstart
RAM	1MB or 2MB Chip RAM plus Fast RAM; expandable
CPU Speed	16 or 25 MHz