Pull the A1200 to a limit?

[PMC]

I love these posts!

First off, you'll need a new PSU.  Either try www.powerc.com (in the UK) or you could possibly build your own PSU from a AT type PC power unit.  Wiring instructions are available on the Aminet but come with no guarantees  :-D

The stock PSU is pretty weedy and goes pop if asked to supply too much juice.  There's no point in getting accelerators etc is the PSU won't run them!

Next you'll need an accelerator board.  The best bet is a 68060 board with a single simm socket as this won't need extra cooling and will still fit in the case.  Make sure it comes with a MMU and FPU.  Try also to get hold of one that supports a 64 Meg SIMM - i.e. Blizzard.  I think Power Computing also do a Viper accelerator that supports a 64 Meg SIMM.

You can fit PPC accelerators that go up to 240Mhz, but these require special cooling that the stock A1200's case cannot accomodate.   Some users complain of reliability issues with certain PPC cards.....  If you want to lost the case and remount into a tower then you've got access to PCI and drivers for the 3DFX Voodoo range, 10/100 Ethernet, Soundblaster 128 and TV cards.  

Next up is the IDE buffer or Power Flyer which you'll need to support more than one IDE drive.  If you go for the Power Flyer then take the opportunity of sourcing 3.1 ROMS if not already fitted (kickstart 40.xx)  as the PowerFlyer sits on your ROM headers.

Still want more?  There's a huge range of things out there, from soundcards to SCSI all waiting for someone with money and patience!

[PMC]

If you go for a used Power Tower from the Amibench as I did, then they come with a special adaptor to rewire the AT PSU to the A1200's power socket.  Unless you're handy with a hacksaw and sheet metal I'd spend a little extra and go for a proper A1200 tower as hacking your own can be a real ordeal - the A1200's motherboard is substantially longer than an AT/ATX units so clearing the PSU can be a problem.  Plus there is the issue of correctly aligning the backplane ports should you ever go PCI/Zorro in the future.....  

I ripped a PSU from a dead Compaq AT desktop and it happily runs my A1200, complete with 2x 3.5" hard drives, 2x CD-ROMs, Mediator, Soundblaster 128, 10/100 Network Card and lastly my trusty Appolo 040 accelerator and two 32Mb SIMMs.

If you're wanting accelerators then most 68030/68060 units will fit in the desktop case (the trapdoor slot underneath).  Certain Blizzard 68040's aren't recommended due to the size of the cooling fan, and any accelerator with more than one SIMM socket isn't going to fit.  You'll need a tower.

The best 68k accelerators are the blizzard units, as they can accept up to 128Mb of RAM with two SIMM bays.  Blizzards are well designed and reliable (so I'm told).  Next is the good old Apollo cards (which I have), and these are cheaper than blizzard units.  Again, you can get 68030/40/60 processors.  The 68060 is the one to have as it is by far the fastest.  The 68040 runs hot and consumes a fair bit of juice while the 68030 is really far too slow these days.  These cards can be retained if you fit a Mediator eventually as it connects to both the accelerator and the A1200.

Good luck!

[PMC]

AKAIR there's something on a A1200HW guide that explains how to knock together an AT PSU converter to fit an A1200.

Try searching for that.  

If all else fails then an A500 PSU will do the job for a while, but even mine blew eventually when powering my A1200/3.5"HDD/68040/40!

[PMC]

The stock A1200 PSU outputs a puny 3 Amps.  If you flip the PSU over you'll see the power output.

The A500's on the other hand can deliver 4.3 Amps.  It's not ideal but it's definately an improvement.   Oh, and it weighs the same as a brick!