A1200 expansion help needed

[johna156]

Hello everybody !!!
First of all I would like to apologize for double-posting this topic but I'm not sure where I should have posted it in the beginning , so I posted it both here and in the expansion etc topics. Now , back to my questions:
10 years ago, I used to own an Amiga 500. Now I decided to go back to those good ol' days, so I bought from e-bay an excellent Amiga 1200 (with 3.0 roms) and after cleaning it and generally restoring it to a "like new" condition , I decided to expand it a little bit.
Problem is , that 10 years ago when I had the A500, I only used it for games and I don't know anything about anything else !!!
I want to buy and install a HD ,partition it , install the workbench 3.0 (which I have but I'mm not sure it works , haven't checked it yet) , install some ol' favorite games  and then perhaps use sth to connect it to my EIZO T550 17" monitor (where my PC is also connected).
What I need from you guys is :
Tell me what I need to buy for the above mentioned (which 2.5" HD? which cable for it etc)?
Because I have no experience with the Amiga OS it would be great to have a step-by-step instructions note or sth.
Also , I read in another FAQs that I also need a "Commodore install disk". What is this and where can I find it?
Finally , if you have any suggestions for all the things I need to buy (HD,Cables,Vga box or whatever I need to connect my Amiga to the PC monitor without flickering etc) PLEASE let me know (please don't tell me to search the Ebay , I'm already doing that, but I would like to buy new hardware if this is possible)!!!!
That's all and sorry for the long post....
Thanks everybody !!!

P.S. "It's Aliiive !!! It's Aliiive !!!"

[whabang]

If you are going to use a 2.5 HD, then make sure that it isn't larger than 4 gigs. If you want larger disks then you should use OS 3.5 or 3.9.

Use a standard 2.5 IDE-cable. There is a connector on the motherboard.

It is possible to use a converter to connect a PC-monitor, but it is unlikely that you would be able to use that set-up for gaming.
Best buy would be a scan-doubler.

I'd suggest that you get an accelerator, or at least a RAM-expansion, aswell.

Good luck!

[borat]

How much are accelerators for A1200s usually? something to make it able to play Doom for example?

[johna156]

Thanks very much for the response!
I must say that I won't be running any 3d games , just the old classics (James Pond,Super frog,Moonstone,Sensible soccer,Frontier Elite 2, this kind of games!) so I don't think I need any more memory or acceleration card.
So , I need to buy an ide 2,5" HD with it's 44 pins cable and a scandoubler for the monitor.
What is a scandoubler? Any links?
Oh , what about the software I need to install the HD? what is this Commodore instalation disk I read about?
If someone can give me step by step instructions on how to install the HD and the OS please do so !!!
Thanks averybody for your help!

[PMC]

borat wrote:
How much are accelerators for A1200s usually? something to make it able to play Doom for example?

If you check out www.eyetech.co.uk they should list the prices of a couple of 68040 accelerators.  The 28Mhz version is £89.99 I believe, but you'll need memory.  The maximum memory a single SIMM Apollo will take is 32Mb, so try and find a 32Mb EDO SIMM on Ebay, Amibench etc.

The 28Mhz 68040 is very overclockable (can be run beyond it's design speed) in my experience - provided that cooling is adequate.  You'll need to get the power supply upgraded too as the '040 drinks a LOT of juice and with a hard drive as well you'll push the stock power supply way beyond it's limits.  Even using an old A500 power supply won't solve the problem.

If you try Vesalia (www.vesalia.de) you might be able to get your hands on a 68060 accelerator, which should be 2 - 3 times faster than the top 68040.  The '060 drinks less juice and requires less cooling BUT is relatively expensive.  This is the fastest CPU you'll get for "native" applications that run up to OS3.9

The 28Mhz '040 will more than be up to the task of Doom, but it will struggle with Quake.  If you're just looking to play old games then a 68040 with 16Mb RAM should be more than you'll ever need.  You'll get great results with Frontier on this ;-)

Re: Scandoubler.

The RGB output on your A1200 runs at a frequency of 15Khz.  Most monitors won't detect a signal below 31Khz, so the Scandoubler doubles the frequency so your SVGA monitor can display the Amiga's video output.  A Scandoubler and Flicker Fixer allows the rock steady display of interlaced modes too, which is handy if you use Lightwave.

As for installing on the HDD, you should have six disks containing Workbench, Extras, Locale, Fonts, Storage and Install respectively.  If you don't have, or cannot get hold of these then installing your hard disk isn't going to be easy...

[whabang]

Johna@
Oh, belive me! Frontier runs much faster when it has access to fast-ram.
BTW, Elbox sell cheap 030-accelerators. One of theese should be more than enough (it's probably cheaper than a RAM-expansion anyway! :-D).

[MAD]

Hoya!

@PMC

True, an 040 is enough to play Doom but believe me, I have an 060, an 060@50+AGA is NOT enough to play Quake!

As for the accelerator, well, if you want extra comfort in retro-gaming, an 030 with 16 meg should make anyone's day! ;-)

Be funky

M A D

[PMC]

MAD wrote:
Hoya!

@PMC

True, an 040 is enough to play Doom but believe me, I have an 060, an 060@50+AGA is NOT enough to play Quake!

As for the accelerator, well, if you want extra comfort in retro-gaming, an 030 with 16 meg should make anyone's day! ;-)

Be funky

M A D

LOL!  I've played Quake on a 40Mhz '040 with a Voodoo, on the smallest screen I could comfortably use and it's BARELY playable.  

'030s are very cheap these days - you could pick up a second hand bargain easily with a 16 meg SIMM and you have a suitably retro machine that runs a respectable version of Frontier.

[borat]

Quake is a terrible game anyway :p