New user and new to the Amiga.

[Desh]

Greetings, I'm a new user from the U.S.  I have always been into older video game systems and hardware.  I held on to all of my original NES, Sega Genesis (MD) and N64 games and hardware I grew up with.  Around 2004 I started buying up old games I had only rented as a kid but never owned.  This spawned a collecting sickness I still have to this day.  I then started getting into repairing and modifying old hardware for modern displays and crisp video and audio outputs.  I've messed with everything from Atari 2600 to Turbografx/PCE to OG XBOX and arcade machines.  A few years ago a friend of mine and I purchased a large Commodore 64 lot.  This was super nostalgic for us since he had one growing up and I remember going to his house and playing hours of Bubble Bobble, Space Taxi and a weird Giana Sisters hack we called "computer Mario".  I couldn't leave my newly acquired C64 alone so I performed all of the typical maintenance, and cooling mods and installed a custom internally mounted SD2IEC to enjoy those games I played growing up as well as explore software and games I had never experienced before.  I am also a history nut so I absorbed every article and video I could regarding Commodore and the C64.  This is when I first learned about the Amiga systems. 

Fast forward a few years and I finally pulled the trigger on an Amiga 500.  I have tried to learn as much about the system as I can but joined here to learn more.  I have been trying to put together an upgrade plan/path that makes sense as I learn how to use this machine.  I mainly plan to use my Amiga for gaming but there seems to be a plethora of other software and programs that were way ahead of their time.  I can't wait to check it all out. 

I hope to lean on the Amiga veterans on this site to help me with suggestions and experience.  Attached is a picture of a spreadsheet I put together for an upgrade path for my machine.  This is based on what I've been able to learn so far.  I don't think I'll need any HDMI mods as I have a bunch of different RetroTink scalers I hope to use with a SCART cable I ordered.  I like the idea of the flexibility of PiStorm but my personal preference is to lean more towards actual 68K based accelerators.

Thanks for having me!

[TribbleSmasher]

Wow, your Amiga500 was very expensive, the RGBScart cable too, jeez.

I think you can skip on the 68010, it's not really helping with anything.

[Desh]

I wondered about drop-in CPU replacements.  I know overclocking the M68000 on a Genesis/MD does help the framerate and sprite flicker in certain CPU intensive games.  I was applying the same logic to this system.  I assumed likely not very noticeable in 95% of use cases.

This is where I'm hoping the community can help find better sources of where to buy things for this system.  I thought I found a pretty good deal on the A500 because it was listed as untested but came with a mouse, joystick, Amiga Basic and Introduction to Amiga booklets.  I Paid $224.50 but once you figure in tax and the $100 shipping it adds up quickly. Thankfully the machine is in good cosmetic and functional condition.  Comparative to what I've been seeing these things sell for I didn't think it was too bad.  The only damage I had to repair was leaking RTC battery damage on the expansion card. 

As for the SCART cable, I could have ordered components and built one myself but the high-quality 23-pin cable from Amiga store looks nice and all I have to do is plug it in.  I have no problem paying for quality items but 29.90 euro plus tax and shipping to the U.S. for that cable added up quickly. 

[paul1981]

Learn about the Amiga and what it can do in its present state, then slowly add the upgrades and see how they improve things! There's so much choice now isn't there - choice is good. See what you can get out of 1.2 before moving onto 3.2. It's better not to have gaps in your knowledge. I started with an A1200, but I went back to A500 years later and learned all about 1.3 etc.
I have an A500 with a Megabody IDE controller + real HDD (which works with 1.3) and 512K in the trapdoor (total 1MB Chip). It would be nice to add a Kickstart switcher for me in the future so I can get the best of both worlds - 1.3 and 3.2, but it's all boxed up at the moment due to space shortage. It takes you back to 1990, so it's like a time machine when that thing boots up.

I'd probably favour the IDE/8 MB FASTRAM/OS3.2 setup now, as I can't easily add REAL Fast RAM to my A500 with the Megabody, if at all (I don't favour the zorro slot as it eats space). I have one of those GARY adapter things to get slow RAM but... you get the picture. As you know, there are other processor upgrades for the A500, but personally I see it as a 68000 or 68010 machine and mine will be staying that way. Just what can the 68000 do at 7MHz, what can be achieved? That's the fun in it to me, the limitation (knowing I have a beefed-up A1200 of course).

[paul1981]

Another thing, watch out for thick pins on 68K socket expansion hardware. Once they're in it might screw up your 68K socket if you later remove them, so be prepared to have to solder a new socket in! My Megabody was fine in this regard as it has nice thin pins on it! It doesn't damage the 68K socket springs at all.
I actually purchased some 68K sockets and they have round holes in and not flat (flat for actual CPU). It's just something you should keep in mind when buying or fitting this type of upgrade.

[Boing-ball]

Learn about the Amiga and what it can do in its present state, then slowly add the upgrades and see how they improve things! There's so much choice now isn't there - choice is good. See what you can get out of 1.2 before moving onto 3.2. It's better not to have gaps in your knowledge. I started with an A1200, but I went back to A500 years later and learned all about 1.3 etc.
I have an A500 with a Megabody IDE controller + real HDD (which works with 1.3) and 512K in the trapdoor (total 1MB Chip). It would be nice to add a Kickstart switcher for me in the future so I can get the best of both worlds - 1.3 and 3.2, but it's all boxed up at the moment due to space shortage. It takes you back to 1990, so it's like a time machine when that thing boots up.

I'd probably favour the IDE/8 MB FASTRAM/OS3.2 setup now, as I can't easily add REAL Fast RAM to my A500 with the Megabody, if at all (I don't favour the zorro slot as it eats space). I have one of those GARY adapter things to get slow RAM but... you get the picture. As you know, there are other processor upgrades for the A500, but personally I see it as a 68000 or 68010 machine and mine will be staying that way. Just what can the 68000 do at 7MHz, what can be achieved? That's the fun in it to me, the limitation (knowing I have a beefed-up A1200 of course).

I started out with an A500, then the A1200 then the CDTV. To me the A1200 is the better home machine. It all depends if you want the Amiga that can do it all or go back to the roots of the 16Bit side with the A500 and A500+. The issue Inwould have if going to the A500 and A500+ is the upgrade path it would take to get a fast machine.
Now a days I’m getting more into the big box Amigas like the A4000. A lot of my useable fleet of working A1200 go to systems are now getting slowly replaced by the A4000. Accept my Vampire and PiStorm A1200 setups.

[redfox]

@Desh
Welcome to amiga.org ... Best wishes as you go on your Amiga adventure.
I hope you receive help with all your questions.
Many years ago, my wife and I purchased an Amiga A2000HD and it was our main computer for many years.  I upgraded this system from WB1.3 to WB3.1, added more RAM, a CD-ROM drive and flickerfixer card.  Then we joined the mainstream, adding computers running Microsoft software.  I installed QNX on one of our HP systems.  At the end of 2004, I purchased an AmigaOS4 system (Eyetech MicroAmigaOne).  Many software upgrades later, I am still using this system.  A few years ago, I purchased AmigaOS 3.2, Intending to upgrade our ancient A2000HD.  I decided to test the software in emulation before digging into that ancient computer.

Emulation works fine for me ...
AmigaOS 3.2.2 running on E-UAE running on the lastest version of AmigaOS4.

I also like AROS and MorphOS.

---
redfox

[paul1981]

@Boing-ball
I'd like a big-box Amiga too, but cripes are they expensive now. Even the A2000 is! I like C64 as well so even A500 seems quite fast to me, so speed isn't much of an issue personally. OS3.1.4 and later are nice little speed ups in Workbench for 68000 machines.

[Boing-ball]

@Boing-ball
I'd like a big-box Amiga too, but cripes are they expensive now. Even the A2000 is! I like C64 as well so even A500 seems quite fast to me, so speed isn't much of an issue personally. OS3.1.4 and later are nice little speed ups in Workbench for 68000 machines.

I don’t recollect any speed ups for 3.1.4. Unless you upgraded from 3.9 which was a real resource hogger.

The issue you will have is by the time you have upgraded a A500 to where you want it, you could have splashed out on a A2000. Have seen a few on EBay for around £650 mark.

[paul1981]

@Boing-ball
A stripped-down 3.9 is pretty decent, but yeah I do not favour bloat. In fact I won't tolerate it on any Amiga!
£650 though for an empty 2000, certainly 68000 if not empty, but I do like the 2000's looks.

[BozzerBigD]

@Boing-ball

I don’t recollect any speed ups for 3.1.4. Unless you upgraded from 3.9 which was a real resource hogger.

It's all relative! In a sane world where everyone felt a 030/50 was now a good and proper minimum spec, OS3.9 is fine! Why the hell we are still catering to the bog standard 68000 at 7MHz brigade in 2024, I'll never quite understand!

[Rob]

Ignore the trapdoor ram and go straight for a board with real fast RAM on it  I'd highly recommend the ACA500plus from Individual Computers because of the number of features present and should cover most of your initial needs.

The card has 8MB fast RAM and a MC68HC000 running at 14Mhz, which is overclockable to 21, 28 or 42Mhz, although IC do not guarantee that the CPU will work at speeds above 14Mhz. 

Kickstart 1.2, 1.3 and 3.1, and the complete install disks for OS3.1 are included on the card's 8MB flash ROM.  No need  for a ROM switcher and you can select to the A500 in a variety of different configurations. from the cards own menu screen. 

It has two CF cards, one of which is hot swap-able, so ideal for transferring files between different systems.  The card slots are pretty fast by Amiga standards too. 

The card offers some extra expandability too, with a connector for A1200 clockport style devices if you can find them, a connector for IC's own XSurf500 Ethernet card and A1200 style edge connector so if you need a faster CPU and more RAM you can plug an A1200 accelerator into the ACA500Plus.  Adding A1200 cards may require a beefier PSU.

https://icomp.de/shop-icomp/en/shop/product/ACA500plus.html

ACE2b might to worth looking at if you ever find yourself running out of chip RAM.  It's very expensive so I'd only recommend it if you find that you have real use case for it.

https://icomp.de/shop-icomp/en/shop/product/ace2.html