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Amiga computer related discussion => General chat about Amiga topics => Topic started by: skilgannon on March 02, 2006, 12:26:28 PM

Title: Upgrading my a1200 into a case
Post by: skilgannon on March 02, 2006, 12:26:28 PM: Hi all,

I have a spare A1200 and a spare Thermaltake Xaser II case and a spare accellerator card for the 1200. Could someone be so kind as to let me know what the minimum is that I need to do to turn that into a towered A1200 that can use PCI network and video cards and OS3.9 please? Also - would I still be able to play WHDLoad games once I upgraded or would the 15hz monitor issue still exist for that?

Sorry about being so newbie but I have had Amiga's for the last 15 years and just fancied doing something different. My current A1200 is networked via a PCMCIA Ethenet Gold card and has a decent hard disk in it along with OS3.9. I would just like it to be a fair bit faster and be able to use my PC's monitor etc.

Cheers....
Title: Re: Upgrading my a1200 into a case
Post by: motorollin on March 02, 2006, 12:32:27 PM: If you want to add PCI cards you need a Mediator (http://amigakit.leamancomputing.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=35&products_id=329&osCsid=e259a466c87e7c0219f312c7dc64825f), which will allow you to use PCI Video, Network, Sound, USB, TV.....

I can recommend the D-Box Tower (http://amigakit.leamancomputing.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=307&osCsid=e259a466c87e7c0219f312c7dc64825f) to mount it all in as it fits perfectly.

Regarding video, WHDLoad games will still output through the Amiga's RGB output, not through the PCI graphics card.

--
moto
Title: Re: Upgrading my a1200 into a case
Post by: Comi on March 02, 2006, 12:42:09 PM: Good recommendation!
Title: Re: Upgrading my a1200 into a case
Post by: AndyFC on March 02, 2006, 03:22:01 PM: If you want to add PCI cards etc, you really should go for a pre-made tower, like the D-box.

If you make a custom one (like I have), there is little chance of PCI cards fitting well without further, difficult mods to the case.
Title: Re: Upgrading my a1200 into a case
Post by: amigagr on March 02, 2006, 06:04:06 PM: or you can wait for this baby dragon (http://www.elbox.com/news_04_12_17.html)
but it needs a lot of patience.
as for the 3.9 you don't need anything else except a cdrom drive attachted to your amiga 4 mb fast ram and the amigaos3.9 cd :-)

-edit-
i forgot a hard disk too :-)
Title: Re: Upgrading my a1200 into a case
Post by: AmigaMance on March 02, 2006, 07:45:39 PM: D-box is good, but 140 british pounds... ouch! I hope there is a cheaper but still good alternative because i'm looking for a tower too.
Title: Re: Upgrading my a1200 into a case
Post by: LawlessPPC on March 02, 2006, 09:27:49 PM: you dont just get a tower tho you get a keyboard interface as well which aint cheap. Lets be honest when you've got a DBox you can change your case to what ever takes you fancy just reuse the back plate in another tower
Title: Re: Upgrading my a1200 into a case
Post by: skilgannon on March 03, 2006, 12:38:09 PM: Thanks All - off to look at both the D-Box and the Dragon....
Title: Re: Upgrading my a1200 into a case
Post by: motorollin on March 03, 2006, 01:40:58 PM: Give your Amiga what it deserves: get a D-Box :-) I know it's expensive but it's worth it as everything fits so well.

--
moto
Title: Re: Upgrading my a1200 into a case
Post by: humppa on March 03, 2006, 02:05:36 PM: Quote
Thanks All - off to look at both the D-Box and the Dragon...

Don't wait for the Dragon. You will wait forever...
The D-Box is nice - but overpriced.
Title: Re: Upgrading my a1200 into a case
Post by: AmigaMance on March 03, 2006, 02:26:05 PM: Quote
you dont just get a tower tho you get a keyboard interface as well which aint cheap.

Lyra, one of the best keyboard adaptor which i already have, costs only 20 pounds. So, imho, 140-20=120 pounds for a shell and a PSU is still too much. Anyway, it's only my opinion...