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Amiga computer related discussion => General chat about Amiga topics => Topic started by: adz on August 29, 2004, 11:54:21 PM

Title: New member of the family!!!
Post by: adz on August 29, 2004, 11:54:21 PM
Just bought myself an A3000 and boy am I wrapped!!! Needs a little work in the expansion department, but other than that its schmick :-D, and above all else, it seems to be settling in nicely with its other Amiga siblings, so its smiles all round :-) :-) :-)
Title: Re: New member of the family!!!
Post by: EzdineG on August 30, 2004, 12:17:44 AM
Sounds great!  I've always been fond of the 3000, so much so that I have 3 of them myself. :-)  

I'm at 16, 8 and 2 MB RAM and have been unable to find Zipp's anywhere.  I almost went $400 on a DKB ZIII memory expansion on eBay recently, before reality set in.  :-o

-Adrian
 
Title: Re: New member of the family!!!
Post by: adz on August 30, 2004, 12:24:41 AM
This baby only has 4MB RAM of fast RAM :-( I'm gonna try and track down some Zipps for it, but I have heard they can be quite pricy. The guy I bought it off, said that he had come across a board that fitted over the Zipp sockets that allowed you to use 72-pin SIMMs, but I fear that too would be quite pricy, might have to do a little research. Until then, I am going to enjoy it for what it is :-D
Title: Re: New member of the family!!!
Post by: Holley on August 30, 2004, 01:08:55 AM
Congrats, the A3000 is great fun, especially with a few add-ons.

Best thing to look for would be an accellerator with memory sockets on - way faster than motherboard ram, plus the processor speedup, too.

I've got 16Mb of Zips and an A3640, I'd trade those for a Cyberstorm 2 :-D
Title: Re: New member of the family!!!
Post by: adz on August 30, 2004, 01:16:37 AM
@Holley

Thanks :-D

Quote

I've got 16Mb of Zips and an A3640, I'd trade those for a Cyberstorm 2 :-D


Funny you should say that, I had a Cyberstorm II in my hands yesterday (not mine of course), but I doubt the guy who owns it will be willing to part with it.
Title: Re: New member of the family!!!
Post by: Argus on August 30, 2004, 03:32:17 AM
The name of the Zipp to SIMM board is AmiFast3000.  They used to be made by Provident Technologies in Rhode Island.  It was a one-man shop I believe, the guy's name is Keith.  Anyway, I bought one of his AmiFast-II boards for a C=A2386 Bridgeboard.  Still works great.
Title: Re: New member of the family!!!
Post by: adz on August 30, 2004, 03:41:00 AM
Quote

Argus wrote:
The name of the Zipp to SIMM board is AmiFast3000.  They used to be made by Provident Technologies in Rhode Island.  It was a one-man shop I believe, the guy's name is Keith.  Anyway, I bought one of his AmiFast-II boards for a C=A2386 Bridgeboard.  Still works great.


Thanks for that. Do you know if he is still making them? Cause I really would like to get my hands on one. However, I am in two minds as to whether I should go down the AmiFast 3000 path or try and get a faster CPU board with fast ram on it. Decisions, decisions!!!
Title: Re: New member of the family!!!
Post by: EzdineG on August 31, 2004, 06:47:03 PM
Any contact info for him would be appreciated.  I have 2 386 bridgeboards and a couple 3000's that would love to see those.
Title: Re: New member of the family!!!
Post by: Herewegoagain on September 03, 2004, 01:16:31 PM
Quote

adz wrote:

Thanks for that. Do you know if he is still making them? Cause I really would like to get my hands on one. However, I am in two minds as to whether I should go down the AmiFast 3000 path or try and get a faster CPU board with fast ram on it. Decisions, decisions!!!


I bought one for my A3000 some years ago.  At that time, I purchased from the guy who made them, but if I remember correctly, he sold the rights to the design to a company who produced, or was to produce any additional boards.  I don't know what became of it after that.

Check this link: http://amiga.resource.cx/exp/search.pl?dir=ram#amifast (http://amiga.resource.cx/exp/search.pl?dir=ram#amifast)

Pics are here (http://amiga.resource.cx/photos/photo.pl?id=amifast)

Big warning!  If you do find one, be sure that your A3000 doesn't use the "Rom Tower" or it will not fit.  The AmiFast extends over the Rom socket area.  My A3000 had the towered Roms and I had to make a home-made ribbon cable to displace the tower elsewhere in the case, so the Amifast would fit (See pic).

(http://www.ncscaug.us/Rom%20Tower.JPG)

Title: Re: New member of the family!!!
Post by: SilvrDrgn on September 03, 2004, 01:42:40 PM
Quote

adz wrote:
This baby only has 4MB RAM of fast RAM :-( I'm gonna try and track down some Zipps for it, but I have heard they can be quite pricy. The guy I bought it off, said that he had come across a board that fitted over the Zipp sockets that allowed you to use 72-pin SIMMs, but I fear that too would be quite pricy, might have to do a little research. Until then, I am going to enjoy it for what it is :-D

adz,
Welcome to Amiga.org and the Amiga "family"!  I sent a message to an Amiga dealer friend of mine (Raymond Computer in St. Paul, Minnesota, USA) asking if he has any A3000 ZIPs on hand.  I'll let you know when he responds.
Title: Re: New member of the family!!!
Post by: adz on September 03, 2004, 03:01:24 PM
@Herewegoagain

Sadly I do have a "ROM Tower" and I don't think I would have the patience for all that custom cabling, me thinks I'll stick to the ZIP's (if I can find 'em) and hopfully I can eventually find an accelerator with fast mem that won't get in the way of the drive bays. Thanks for the advice :-)
Title: Re: New member of the family!!!
Post by: adz on September 03, 2004, 03:06:39 PM
Quote

SilvrDrgn wrote:

adz,
Welcome to Amiga.org and the Amiga "family"!  I sent a message to an Amiga dealer friend of mine (Raymond Computer in St. Paul, Minnesota, USA) asking if he has any A3000 ZIPs on hand.  I'll let you know when he responds.


Thanks for the warm welcome!!! So far the A3000 seems to be settling in right beside its other Amiga siblings (a pair'o'A1000's, an A500, an A2000HD and my beloved A1200). Many thanks for having a go at tracking down some ZIP's for me, much appreciated, I look forward to hearing from you. Thanks again :-)
Title: Re: New member of the family!!!
Post by: SilvrDrgn on September 04, 2004, 02:23:48 AM
Quote

adz wrote:
Thanks for the warm welcome!!! So far the A3000 seems to be settling in right beside its other Amiga siblings (a pair'o'A1000's, an A500, an A2000HD and my beloved A1200). Many thanks for having a go at tracking down some ZIP's for me, much appreciated, I look forward to hearing from you. Thanks again :-)


Check your private messages.
Title: Re: New member of the family!!!
Post by: TjLaZer on September 04, 2004, 02:41:48 AM
If you have a ROM tower simply get the special ROM Tower 3.1 ROMs.  They plug into the spot the ROM Tower was.  Contact Software Slut, she might have some still.  http://www.softhut.com
Title: Re: New member of the family!!!
Post by: Argus on September 04, 2004, 03:24:59 AM
Sorry, the AmiFast company was in Indiana, not Rhode Island (I just found my invoice and installation instructions).
The company that made the AmiFast boards is ProvTech, R.R.4, Box 72, Washington, Indiana  47501; Tel #812-254-1721; email provtech@hotmail.com

this is old information from 1998 so I doubt they're still around, but thought you would like to know.