Cheap A$$ tower kit alternative for 1200??

[Doobrey]

Wow, nice case Editor.

Do they do them without those yucky perspex windows?

I`ve never understood why PC users bung plastic windows into cases..(maybe it`s more exciting to watch the CPU fan than it is using windows ;-) )
 Do PC users who have these windows also have windows cut into the bonnet of their car too ?
 Or maybe PC users are jealous that they can`t do half the hacks that the amiga can handle, and a bit of plastic is all they can come up with ?

Anyway, back to the original post, one comment I gotta say is to make sure the desktop case is wide enough..1200 mobos are long, stick an accelerator card in and they`re a couple of inches longer still.
 
Yonks ago, I hacked (literally) a PC tower case to take my old 1200, and had to mount the PSU sideways in the case to get enough room to take it!
 This was in an old AT case, 3 external 5 1/4 bays, and there was only 1/2 an inch between the end the Apollo 030 card and the top of the tower.

[Doobrey]

@MacMiga
  Sorry, my fault I did misread the original post.

Now I understand the question (I hope) I do have another point...
 IDE cables are only meant to be used internally. Not that there`s anything against hanging them outta the back and into an "expansion tower".
 For a start, they aren`t shielded, so you could get noise/interference into the data signals.
 Also, AFAIK the maximum recommended length of and IDE cable is about 30 cm. Using a buffered interface wont help extend the useable length, but it will save your CPU if something goes wrong.

 Your idea of sitting the 1200 ontop of the AT case is a good idea, cos that`ll minimize cable length.
Also, you get the ability to power the 1200 from the AT PSU and get rid of the stupid CBM power brick.
 Personally I`d use SCSI in this situation, since it`s faster and can take more devices.

So, yes, it`s a perfectly possible project. AFAIK there were even commercially available case conversions that just held the drives and supplied power.
 

[Doobrey]

WarPiper wrote:

Come on Doobrey, you cant be serious, you dont think it nice to mod up the dull boring case? give me a brake  .

Yeah, modding up cases is great, I`m in the process of sticking my A4000  into a monster PC server case.
 Doing a nice simple spray job on the case (metallic blue) and changing all the LED`s on the case, CD, Zip drive and floppy to use those funky blue LED`s and changing all the fans to be quiet as possible (damn A4000 sounds like a hairdryer at the moment !)

The point I meant was that I can`t see the point in the perspex windows that seems to be all the rage.

 Who was it that first said "Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder "? cos I suppose that applies to computer cases as much as it does to painting, sculptures etc  

[Doobrey]

@ The Editor

 Wow, those cases look like a great starting point.

I can just imagine blue light coming from behind the bottom louvres, and a bright VFD display where that silly little LCD one is on the top.
 Not sure about the big "X" panel, ..maybe put in a drive window like the 4000T had.
 Maybe even a big blue butterfly painted on the side

[Doobrey]

MacMiga wrote:
@Doobrey

Hows about using 80-conductor high density ATA cable. It is screened (every wire is seperated by a screen wire to reduce cross-talk between wires) and I imagine it would make longer distance possible with slower IDE buses, like that on the A1200.

I have heard of people using std 40pin IDC cabling upto 80cm in length without problems, I even heard of someone using a 1.5m cable (but it trashed the data on his **customers** new HD , just after he wiped their old one!! )

Cross talk is only part of the problem, using an 80wire ATA cable might help in this respect, but not in others.
 It won`t protect you from outside interference, so the data on your HD could still get trashed along the way.

 At the end of the day, the main factor in the length of cable you can use will be the quality of the buffered IDE interface.

 I`m not an electrical engineer(as testified when my A1200 went up in flames a few years back, but she still runs :-) ), but as I understand it, a cheap and nasty interface might not have the guts to drive the signals at the proper logic levels over a longer cable.