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Amiga computer related discussion => Amiga Hardware Issues and discussion => Topic started by: MPVarner on November 10, 2003, 09:29:58 AM
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I have an A3000 that I"m looking to update. Currently it has 2.04 and whatever roms came with it. 2meg chip 11 fast. I'd like to add a cdrom, network card and maybe a video card. Possably some more memery depending on cost.
I've also considered buying the 1200 tower as it may be less expensive to upgrade. I'm looking for bang for the buck stuff.
Any specifics (as in what model and namebrand of network card ) I would get would be great as I'm not very familiar with what's out there.
Thanks in advance for any infos.
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Ok, first of all get a set of 3.1 roms. Vesalia has them, maybe kdh too. That will kick the machine into todays standards, and will enable you to run OS3.9.
While there, you can consider getting an X-Surf2 network card. Works great here, no problems at all.
From there on, try searching ebay for a CV64 or similar graphics card.
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If you're thinking of getting an A1200 tower, than I'd advise you to do what Mr Zammler said, AND buy the A1200 :-)
Another option is towering the A3000 and getting a mediator - unfortunately I'm about to start work and cannot go into more detail.
see amiga-hardware.com (http://amiga-hardware.com) to see what is available
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I think that if you want to use your A3000, then a PCI bus board would be good. THen you can add a modern GFX card, modern Sound card and a cheap network card. All of which would be cheaper and faster than native Amiga Hardware.
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As already mentioned, getting 3.1 KS ROMs is a definate. (It's needed for 3.9). 3.9 comes with a TCP/IP stack as well etc so if you want to get on the internet with it you have the software needed.
Also, the motherboard can take upto 16Megs fast, you might want to see if you can pick up some second hand cheap memory.
You also have a 31kHz monitor port on an A3000 so you can use cheap PC monitors with native modes and also if you get a GFX card it will work fine with one of them as well.
If you don't want to buy an IDE controller, get some old SCSI I/II devices like CD-ROM drives/HDs (Ebay is good).
Accellerators and more RAM are a pain and can be expensive though. You just need to keep an eye out for good deals.
A3000 = ECS, A1200 = AGA, so if you want to play AGA games etc, the 3000 is no good.
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If you're realy looking for "bang for the buck" struff then you should not buy a card here and a card there but instead try to find good deals on a complete secondhand system with the cards that you want.
Often you will get the cards much cheaper than buying them one by one and you will have a system extra that you can use or sell to make the deal even more preferable.
Ofcause it's not easy to find good deals on sweet systems without having a bunch of other ppl finding the same thing but once in a while one will get lucky if you have patience. Having many Amiga contacts and using a big search area will help you in you're quest for the most "bang for the buck". :-D
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Thanks for all the info. I have looked at getting the tower pci setup for the A3000, but, it seems that I could get the A1200 tower for a whole lot cheaper. I'm sure there must be some drawbacks that I'm not aware of.
I don't have an Amiga monitor anymore so I may have to stick with the A3000.
I was looking at the place that was listed for the roms. They seemed to have decent prices compared to Softhut, (the only place I know in US that I can get roms and stuff for but I'm sure the shipping would make up for the savings.
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Is this A3000 an 68030 x 16 or 68030 x 25. Some older 2.04 units were shipped with 16 Mhz. You never stated this. An older 68030 x 16 is more limited in upgrade (not suited for 3.5 or 3.9).
Alas, you withheld your location area, so I am unable to offer parts without that information.
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Mediator is the best way to go! I have one in my A3000 in a Mirage Tower case and love it! Elbox is doing a special now and will ship all items for free if you buy from them direct. For the price of a CV64 and an X-surf you can get the tower and the mediator just about. Check them out at www.elbox.com for more information.
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I suggest, if you're not extremely rich, to try that Xsurf after you installed those 3.1 Roms. The big adcvantage of that network card is the extra IDE port on it, so you don't need to buy an extra IDE controller. Okay, you can not boot from that one but you can still boot from your internal scsi harddisc and use for example a cheap ultrafast cdrom that is connected to that IDE controller on the network card ...
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I'm located in CA, US.
I'm not sure what the processor is in the A3000. I think it is the 25 because I shows 68882 fpu but I am just guessing.
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About a year ago I came back to my A3k after
leaving it set for about 4 years.
I did some upgrading .. my machine was an
030-25 which it sounds like you have the same.
I added a WarpEngine 040- 40mhz with onboard
ram 64 megs.( much cheaper than zips)
3.1 Rom chips as they said are a must.
I added a CyberVision64 gfx accellerator.
I also have an external 2 drive scsi box with
CD Rom and 2nd hard drive.
The other things mentioned by the other people
are good if you have the money but I found the
Mediator card expencive so I chose to go the
way I did and I'm very happy with my A3k.
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Can't you emulate Workbench 3.1 on 2.04 ROMS?
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From what I've read I can run os 3.9 on the hardware I have minus the roms. I wondering for most basic stuff will the 030/25 be enought? I'd really like to get the roms, os and network card for now if that will get me up and running. What kind of stuff would I need and accel and more memory for? I mean like will most stuff run on what I have or will most not run on what I er... will have. (which will be the hardware listed plus 3.1 roms, os 3.9 and a network card)
edit
oh, and I'd like to be able to run higher res then the stock a3000 so I'm guessing that means video card too.
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I guess if money is tight ...
Them the one best upgrade (imho) would
be a GFX card. But if you go that route make
sure you get a Zorro III card, not a Z2 card.
You can pick up a good card on EBay for usually
around $150.00 or less. IMHO that would be the
best single upgrade you can make.
If you want to install an accelerator then the
3.1 Roms are a must since all the good one
(I think) require 3.1 Roms.
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Although the 3000T is the best Amiga IMHO, an A3000 is not half bad. After the 3.1 rom/OS3.9the best combo to get would be a Cyberstorm PPC/Cybervision combination which will give you a reasonably kickass system for OS 4.0 which is right around the corner (real soon now :-D ) It has a provision for an Ultra-wide SCSI drive and would give you excelent graphics as well. The best place to find one of these used at a decent price is ebay.de, use altavista babelfish for German to English translations. I bought the Cs PPC from one guy in Germany and the C-vision from another guy there. The translations I used in emails probably made me soun kind of retarded to them, but at least the point got across. I actually found the easiest way to pay for them was to go to Thomas Cook and get actual Euro currency and mail it well wrapped in opaque paper as World banking arrangements suck. Either I would have to pay big bucks for wiring the money to their accounts or they would have to pay big bucks to deposit bank drafts, even if they were in Euro??!! No problems in the transactions occurred and they came well wrapped via normal post.
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A stock A3000 with OS3.9 is great machine and very compatible with most software. A graphics card will give you many modern abilities (good looking internet, playing most video clips) but, some games stop working. Adding a 68060 or PPC will cost more compat. but open the possibility of MP3s, TVPaint and faster everything (030 is no dog though). An 030 with a MasPlayer is supposed to be pretty good for MP3s.
It all depends on what you enjoy doing!
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I forgot to mentiuon to check the battery on the motherboard, they can leak and damage the traces. :-(
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There have been many great suggestions. Before you jump into an expensive upgrade, you must verify some chips. You absolutely must have a Buster 11, Ramsey 7, and DMAC 04 for an 040 or 060 card.
While your inside, verify the processor speed. Also you should check the SCSI (WD33C93A) controller chip revision. An 08 is preferred.
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Thanks for all the help. Could somebody please tell me how to verify I have these chips? Can I do it via software or do I need to take the machine apart? If I do have to tear it apart is there some sort of website that will give me the info I need to id the chips?
Another thing I'm not quite clear on is why I would need an accelerator. I'd like to run higher resolutions, surf the web things like that. I would also like to keep some compatibility with older games if possable. What requires the additional speed?
My plan was to save money buy doing minimal upgrades to the A3000 so that I would be able to afford the new motherboard/cpu to go with OS4.
I do have an x86 box that I use for work and such. I just prefer to use the Amiga when I can.
I have been watching the auctions on ebay as well and it does appear that the cost of another machine would be ballpark of the cost of upgrading this one. I am on kind of a limited budget atm so I really want to make sure I can streatch the money to get as much as I can for it.
Thanks again for all the infos :)
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You absolutely must have a Buster 11, Ramsey 7, and DMAC 04 for an 040 or 060 card.
You dont need a Buster 11 for a 040 card. (My cyberstorm here works fine). Plus, the cyberstorm works fine with the original Ramsey and DMAC.
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MrZammler wrote:
You absolutely must have a Buster 11, Ramsey 7, and DMAC 04 for an 040 or 060 card.
You dont need a Buster 11 for a 040 card. (My cyberstorm here works fine). Plus, the cyberstorm works fine with the original Ramsey and DMAC.
I have a buster 9 in my A4000 with 060. Does this mean my machine will stop working now?-)
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No. I used PicassoIV, CV3D and CVPPC at the same time in my A4000/CSPPCw/o any problems. They come when you install ZIII SCSI host adapter.
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Amiga4k wrote:
You absolutely must have a Buster 11, Ramsey 7, and DMAC 4 for an 040 or 060 card.
You don't NEED updated Ramsey and DMAC chips to run an 040. I've run a Mercury 040/35MHz for years with the older rev (Ramsey 4/DMAC 2) chips. I would find information on the particular accellerator to make sure, as the Ramsey/DMAC upgrades are not inexpensive.
The only card I can remember having problems was the A3640.
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Some 040's work with the older chip set, some do not. The 3640 rev3.1 and 3.2 need the newer chip set. The Apollo 060 (a problematic card, in m y opinion) requires the new chip set. I have heard that Cyberstorm 060's require the Buster 11, as a minimum.
The 040's run hotter than on 060's.
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MPVarner wrote:
Thanks for all the help. Could somebody please tell me how to verify I have these chips? Can I do it via software or do I need to take the machine apart?
Try SysInfo, or someting similar.
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I have heard that Cyberstorm 060's require the Buster 11, as a minimum.
Not true at all. I've ran a CS MK III and a PPC in my A3000 for years with only a Buster 7 chip, with no problems. I only put a rev 11 in because I got it for free. The Ramsey and DMAC are both original in mine even still. You wont find a DMAC for a fair price, but you can use the newest Ramsey with the older DMAC even though they say you cant. I've seen several A3000 users do it with no problems again.
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So what exactly would I need the accelerator for? Would it work ok to surf the web and play the older games if I were get a video card and a network card and upgrade the roms/os?
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Doesn't sound like you 'must' have one. One of the few areas that OS3.9 is improved by an accel. is the new icon format, which, on an 030 makes the system seem only a little doggy. Sticking with the original or 1 of the enhanced icon schemes puts the pep back in though. (OS3.9's icon format isn't unuseable with an 030, it's just not lightning fast) A faster file system (not FFS) helps in this reguard as well. There are many threads here concerning this.
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So would I be better off upgrading the a3000 or just getting an A1 and waiting for os4.0 since I'm guessing you can't run 3.9 on it.
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Hi MPVarner,
Wellcome "home" to AmigaOrg. You may want to go the slow route like I did. Started out w/A2000HD 030/40 1 meg chip, 16Meg fast, not bad. First, a graphics card. Second, high speed serial/parallel card, "net and printing". etc.
it took years to get this machine full and I'm still working on it, Slowly. have new USB card on the way.
Check profile to see current setup.
Chris