Jaguar Specification Thread

[Punisher5.0]

If you are having problems with your Jaguar CD unit follow this link for a very informative repair guide.

 

If your Jaguar doesn't work, make sure there is a cartridge in it because the system wont even power up without one.

 

CAUTION: Please read this before you ask a question about how powerful or how many “bits” the Jaguar is.

 

The Jaguar has five processors these are:

 

Tom: Tom is made up of three processors in one. These include the GPU, Object, and Blitter. The Object and Blitter are both co-processors for animation.

 

-GPU: 32-bit RISC processor that can access 64 bits of the system bus. It’s clock speed is 26.591Mhz. There's a slight difference in clock speed for different regions.

 

-Object: 64-bit RISC architecture with 64-bit wide registers. The Object processor is programmable and can do multiple functions such as: sprite engine, a pixel-mapped display, a character-mapped system.

 

-Blitter: 64-bit RISC architecture with 64-bit wide registers. The Blitter processor performs high-speed logical operations such as 3D rendering, screen clearing, and pixel shuffling.

 

Jerry: Jerry contains the Digital Signal Processor (DSP) which is a 32-bit processor with 32-bit wide registers. It’s clock speed is 26.591Mhz. Jerry also contains: the memory controller and some other small features like the UART. There's also a slight difference in clock speed for different regions.

 

Motorola 68000: 16-bit processor with 32-bit wide registers. It’s clock speed is 13.295MHz. The 68000 can do multiple functions such as boot strap the machine and read Joystick commands. It can also be shut off with a hault instruction after it boot straps the machine.

 

Communication between these processors are with a 64-bit data bus at a rate of 106.364 megabytes/second. Not all the processors have 64-bit wide access to the bus.

 

RAM: The Jaguar has 2MB’s of Main memory. Also, the GPU has 4kb’s of cache, and the DSP has 8kb’s of cache.

 

Max Cartridge size: 6 mega bytes. Although, the biggest cartridge used is 4MB.

 

Sound capabilities: 16-bit, CD quality stereo sound. Some games that really show what the Jaguar can do regarding sound effects/music are: Tempest 2000, BattleSphere, Defender, and Atari Karts.

 

Polygon performance: This widely depends on the graphics engine, and programmer. Francois Bertrand (one of the makers of Fight for Life) states that FFL has over 20,000 polygons a second. BattleSphere and Iron Soldier 1 and 2 are good examples of how many polygons the Jaguar can draw. ScatoLOGIC’s BattleSphere uses their own graphics engine called “Warp Polygon Engine”. This engine is much more efficient than Atari’s own graphics engine, in which allows the Jaguar to draw thousands of polygons and keep a steady high frame rate.

 

John Mathieson (one of the makers of the Jaguar) had this to say about the Jaguar “ Jaguar has the data shifting power of a 64-bit system, which is what matters for games, so can reasonably be considered a 64-bit system. But that doesn’t mean it has to be 64-bit throughout.”

 

There you have it folks. The Jaguar is a 64-bit video game system and the first one at that.

 

If this specification sheet doesn't answer all your questions then follow this link