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!

[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.