Amiga.org
Amiga computer related discussion => Amiga Marketplace => Topic started by: WeiXing3D on May 31, 2012, 05:26:26 PM
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I will be receiving an A3000 that I bought from a local acquittance (68030 030 CPU and 68882 FPU @25mhz, rev 9 motherboard, 2mb chip ram, 2mb fast ram, Kickstart 3.1 rom, Workbench 3.9 installed in HDD and additional 8 mb Static Column ram).
I want to beef it up by adding a modem (wi-fi, if at all possible) and a bigger HDD. Any recommendations? and where to find them? Thanks.
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What Size SCSI HDD are you currently using, I might be able to find you a larger SCSI Drive, I'm sure I have a few 500MB SCSI I Drives. Larger SCSI HDDs (2GB +) are usually UW and require an adapter.
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First congrats on the machine, best Amiga ever IMHO.
You can opt to use a small SATA drive in a SCSI carrier such as the Acard ARS2000. I wrote a review on it a while back here.
If you can find one, a CyberVision64 provides a really super nice high res Workbench but then you probably also want a better CPU for "the snappy" better performance. There is no limit ;-)
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Deneb USB if you can find one.
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I will be receiving an A3000 that I bought from a local acquittance (68030 030 CPU and 68882 FPU @25mhz, rev 9 motherboard, 2mb chip ram, 2mb fast ram, Kickstart 3.1 rom, Workbench 3.9 installed in HDD and additional 8 mb Static Column ram).
I want to beef it up by adding a modem (wi-fi, if at all possible) and a bigger HDD. Any recommendations? and where to find them? Thanks.
Cool!
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Deneb USB if you can find one.
And where can a person find one? ;-) I've wanted one for over a year!
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What Size SCSI HDD are you currently using, I might be able to find you a larger SCSI Drive, I'm sure I have a few 500MB SCSI I Drives. Larger SCSI HDDs (2GB +) are usually UW and require an adapter.
I will get back to you with an answer about the HDD inside the unit once I pick it up. I just closed the deal today.
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Not sure what you intend to do with your A3000 but I can certainly throw in my two cents regarding recommendations. I run this machine myself.
1) fill up to 16mb ram on motherboard if possible.
2) additional ram available via some fast slot based accelerators or the new Zoram product. It is all a question of money.
3) Good deal on you already having the 3.1 kickstarts.
4) Modem? not sure. recommend standard ethernet upgrade. X-surf is a zorro based ethernet card and also includes 2 clockports (a nifty side feature)
5) I see former post about Deneb USB. This is the best Zorro based USB solution hands down. You will really like having USB ability on an Amiga. I run a clockport based Subway USB setup. Not as slick as Deneb but it does work just fine.
6) As far as hard drive, you can probably find plenty of larger SCSI drives out there for little to no $. There are modern possibilities as well. One such possibility is mentioned above (ACard adapter). I believe they have SCSI to either ATA or SATA conversion models. Now you can buy a brand new drive. There is also an Elbox Fast ATA Zorro card. I have an older model. It works fine...just takes Amiga a little longer to boot up the first time (loading drivers, starting the CDFS, etc...) After that it is great. I see they have a new version of this card that has multiple drive capability; ATA, SATA, Compact Flash). Wish I had that one.
7) I elected to go with an RTG video card. It is a GVP Spectrum 24/28. While not the best card there is, it works great. Indivision ECS is another possibility if you want to stay in ECS based video.
8) Accelerators are harder and more expensive to come by. I use a A3640 v3.1 which is a fairly generic 68040-25mhz and has FPU. It was cheap and does run faster than the original 68030 did.
Enjoy that A3000. Not many people have these machines or even like them because they are not AGA based. AGA does not matter to me, the A3000 is a very expandable big box Amiga and a real decent machine overall. Have fun with it.
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1. Get a accelerator for example Cyberstorm MKII or MKIII or why not the PPC version :)
2. Get a GFX card
3. Get a Acard SCSI to IDE/Sata and buy yourself a 2.5" HDD, your amiga will run way cooler and will no longer sound like a jetfighter.
4. Deneb USB
There is no point in going for zorro ram if you get 128mb on the accelerator, not even a point on filling the zip slots on the motherboard. The amiga will not use the zip ram anyway becouse the ram on the accelerator is faster.
Even the SCSI read/write on the MKIII is faster then the zorro ram so thats why there is no point in going that way.
The config im using in my 3000T is the following
Cyberstorm PPC 060 50mhz/233mhz 128MB
Prometheus
Voodoo 3
Deneb
Delfina
Now max that baby out :)
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You have a snowball's chance in hell of finding one, but a Deneb will cure many problems!
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Pardon my ignorance, but it's been 20 years since I last had a chance to enjoy my times with my loyal A500 before I sold it, is this the
DENEB USB 2.0 CONTROLLER you are all talking about?:
http://amigakit.leamancomputing.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=795
Are there any other alternatives to add a modem and USB connectivity to my "new" A3000?
Not sure what you intend to do with your A3000 but I can certainly throw in my two cents regarding recommendations. I run this machine myself.
1) fill up to 16mb ram on motherboard if possible.
2) additional ram available via some fast slot based accelerators or the new Zoram product. It is all a question of money.
3) Good deal on you already having the 3.1 kickstarts.
4) Modem? not sure. recommend standard ethernet upgrade. X-surf is a zorro based ethernet card and also includes 2 clockports (a nifty side feature)
5) I see former post about Deneb USB. This is the best Zorro based USB solution hands down. You will really like having USB ability on an Amiga. I run a clockport based Subway USB setup. Not as slick as Deneb but it does work just fine.
6) As far as hard drive, you can probably find plenty of larger SCSI drives out there for little to no $. There are modern possibilities as well. One such possibility is mentioned above (ACard adapter). I believe they have SCSI to either ATA or SATA conversion models. Now you can buy a brand new drive. There is also an Elbox Fast ATA Zorro card. I have an older model. It works fine...just takes Amiga a little longer to boot up the first time (loading drivers, starting the CDFS, etc...) After that it is great. I see they have a new version of this card that has multiple drive capability; ATA, SATA, Compact Flash). Wish I had that one.
7) I elected to go with an RTG video card. It is a GVP Spectrum 24/28. While not the best card there is, it works great. Indivision ECS is another possibility if you want to stay in ECS based video.
8) Accelerators are harder and more expensive to come by. I use a A3640 v3.1 which is a fairly generic 68040-25mhz and has FPU. It was cheap and does run faster than the original 68030 did.
Enjoy that A3000. Not many people have these machines or even like them because they are not AGA based. AGA does not matter to me, the A3000 is a very expandable big box Amiga and a real decent machine overall. Have fun with it.
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Yes that's the one. It's been sold out for a while and no new cards will be produced anymore. It's hard to find one second-hand, I've seen them being traded on eBay for > $300...
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Its really easy to throw silly money at amiga's these days, but if you really want to throw money at it, yeah get the graphics card, but then you'll want a fast cpu, more RAM etc. ( Or just boot up WinUAE and pocket the money: RTG on WinUAE generally works very very well )
IMO just add some ram (but I've found as low as 4 MB gets a lot done on an amiga), a bigger hard drive is nice, and just enjoy the ECS chipset. Having a VGA output is nice too
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Pardon my ignorance, but it's been 20 years since I last had a chance to enjoy my times with my loyal A500 before I sold it, is this the
DENEB USB 2.0 CONTROLLER you are all talking about?:
http://amigakit.leamancomputing.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=795
Are there any other alternatives to add a modem and USB connectivity to my "new" A3000?
You can add a PCI bussboard which will give you access to USB.
You could also add something with a clockport (like X-Surf) and add a subway to that, but subways are getting hard to find as well and will be slower than a denab.
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You can add a PCI bussboard which will give you access to USB.
You could also add something with a clockport (like X-Surf) and add a subway to that, but subways are getting hard to find as well and will be slower than a denab.
Thank you for reply. I forgot to mention that the model I'm receiving is a 3000 desktop model. I found several options (pricey by the way) of PCI bus boards with USB port but for the 3000T model. Can I still use that one?
Like I explained this is my first 3000 (I had a 500 last century:lol:), so I need some coaching and easier to digest guidance:confused:
All in all, what I want is to be able to connect my 3000 to a printer using a USB connection and add internet connectivity. Of course, I need things that I can still find and buy with relative ease. Any help will be welcomed.
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PCI busboard, as mentioned above. Maybe consider an Indivision OCS, but then the 3000 has a built in flicker fixer and VGA-out so maybe not. ZorRAM is a nice way to get lots of RAM, quick. Substitute your noisy old HD with a flash card.
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Although I have Amigas with the CF Card solution, I for one like my A3000 to sound like an Amiga with a SCSI hard drive and its jet fighter noise. :) Cooling may be an issue but I added a slot cooler in mine above my RTG card and it works great. I also put in a 73gb SCSI drive and it works great, it huges and was reasonably priced.
Saving the Deneb, PPC, and PIV for the A4000t, hehe. :)
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PCI busboard, as mentioned above. Maybe consider an Indivision OCS, but then the 3000 has a built in flicker fixer and VGA-out so maybe not. ZorRAM is a nice way to get lots of RAM, quick. Substitute your noisy old HD with a flash card.
This is my computer config:
- 68030 030 CPU and 68882 FPU @25mhz
- rev 9 motherboard
- 2mb chip ram
- 2mb fast ram
- Kickstart 3.1 rom
- Workbench 3.9 installed in HDD
- 16 mb Static Column ram
Could you please tell me then what PCI bus card to consider, what modem and flash card, so that I can look them up and buy? Thanks
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get fastram, kick 3.1 and buy a network and a Indovosion/GFX Card.
If you have a Network Card you dont need a Modem or USB.
For best Compatibility get a HcX Floppyemulator and your Floppydisks are not longer needet.
For a PCI Bus System you need a 060CPu.
With standart 030 you have no fun with this !
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Although You can buy a Mediator 3000D PCI Interface from Elbox it would require that the A3000 be placed in a Mirage 3000 Tower which is no longer available. With the Mediator the Spider Card could be used for USB Devices.
I don't believe the GREX PCI Adapter is available any longer.
If your 5.25" slot is free then you could add the SCSI Card Reader from Mechware.
Another Option is to Move your SCSI HDD's into an external box so you have upgrade room.
I've still got the SCSI External Box I used for when I had an A1000 with Comspec SA1000 but it would be costly to ship due to weight.
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get fastram, kick 3.1 and buy a network and a Indovosion/GFX Card.
If you have a Network Card you dont need a Modem or USB.
For best Compatibility get a HcX Floppyemulator and your Floppydisks are not longer needet.
For a PCI Bus System you need a 060CPu.
With standart 030 you have no fun with this !
I checked on line and it seems that the Lotharex HcX SD Floppy Emulator is not compatible with the A3000. Is this correct?
Any recommendations for network card and USB card?
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ebay - adapter -
http://www.ebay.com/itm/SCA-80-Pin-Female-to-Ultra-SCSI-I-II-III-UW-HD-50-68-Pin-Female-Male-Adapter-/150800588464?pt=UK_Computing_ComputerComponents_InterfaceCards&hash=item231c6a5eb0
kijiji (local classified)- i found cheapo scsi 36 gig hard drive
HEHE also found my A3K for $50 there too!
mechware - scsi chip - always nice to be updated.
http://a4000t.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=65_98&products_id=210&zenid=b3d07ecbd2b9274f45827db2ca1d24f7
Amigakit - ram -
http://amigakit.leamancomputing.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=958
Amigakit - indivision ecs - My vga is wonky and this is better anyhow!
http://amigakit.leamancomputing.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=918
www.Amibay.com (http://www.Amibay.com) for more cheapo parts.
get a scsi box or make one out of a old tower for cdrom and extra hard drives.
Whdload is awesome on this! And get a classic workbench and install it!
I also got a PC TO AMIGA PARALLEL LINK CABLE
Works great.
http://amigakit.leamancomputing.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=247
lost
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I checked on line and it seems that the Lotharex HcX SD Floppy Emulator is not compatible with the A3000. Is this correct?
Any recommendations for network card and USB card?
Network Card: X-Surf or Ariadne
Look here, the Floppyemulator works Great with a A3000D :D
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get fastram, kick 3.1 and buy a network and a Indovosion/GFX Card.
If you have a Network Card you dont need a Modem or USB.
For best Compatibility get a HcX Floppyemulator and your Floppydisks are not longer needet.
For a PCI Bus System you need a 060CPu.
With standart 030 you have no fun with this !
Please forgive my ignorance, what is the Indivision/GFX card?
I looked into the HcX Floppy emulator and I will definitely get one of those when I receive and have my "new" old computer in my hands. Thanks for your input.
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Network Card: X-Surf or Ariadne
Look here, the Floppyemulator works Great with a A3000D :D
Thank you for your input. What makes more sense: adding a USB controller card and use USB modems (with or w/o) wi-fi connectivity) of buy both separately a network card and a USB controller card?
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EDIT: Sold.
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I will be receiving an A3000 that I bought from a local acquittance (68030 030 CPU and 68882 FPU @25mhz, rev 9 motherboard, 2mb chip ram, 2mb fast ram, Kickstart 3.1 rom, Workbench 3.9 installed in HDD and additional 8 mb Static Column ram).
I want to beef it up by adding a modem (wi-fi, if at all possible) and a bigger HDD. Any recommendations? and where to find them? Thanks.
Congrats, it is IMHO, the 3000 is the best Amiga ever made.
First thing is if it has an battery mounted on the motherboard, remove it and install a new one preferably off the MB.
I would recommend for upgrading the WD SCSI chip. The latest is the Rev 8, and you will be just fine with that. You can pick up a compatible one for about 20USD. Find a nice sized SCSI HD, they are everywhere. Many come out of older servers. You may need to purchase an adapter to convert the HD to SCSI II Internal. The last item is to use PFS 3 off of Aminet to format the drive. I have a Quantum Atlas 10k in on of my 3k's and it works great. If your into silent computing, you can find an SSD, you can go with the Mercury Legacy from OWD and use an IDE TO SCSI adapter.
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Please forgive my ignorance, what is the Indivision/GFX card?
It is a scandoubler/flicker-fixer that mounts directly on to the motherboard (does not occupy a slot) that promotes the Amiga's native video output to resolutions and refresh rates supported by VGA monitors. Additionally, a framebuffer was included in the design and as such it has begun to take on the characteristics of a video card as well. The designer and creator, Jens Schoenfeld, could probably answer your questions better than I have. He's a semi-regular poster at http://eab.abime.net/
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Here are a few tips:
Take inventory of your chips on your motherboard. Find out the Buster, DMAC, Ramsey, and SCSI. You still can find Buster version 11's and I would recommend you upgrade if you don't have it. The DMAC 04 and Ramsey 07 are near impossible to find and upgrade. If you plan to upgrade to a Commodore 3640, be careful since some DMAC 02's had trouble with that card.
IMHO, you will need 16 total fast memory if you plan to surf the web. If you want to upgrade the zip memory, make sure to see what kind of chips you already have. If you have 80ns static column chips, try to match them when you buy new memory. If you mix page and static you will have fun playing with them to get them to work.
If you plan on really using this system and don't mind putting money into it:
1. There are only 2 (hopefully 3 someday with the ultimate ppc) accelerators that you can use that have local memory and a faster scsi controller. The Warp Engine 3040 or the Cyberstorm MKIII. You can get away with the mercury 040 or the GVP if you don't care about faster Disk IO. These cards will really make a huge difference in performance and usability of the 3k. I do have a Commodore 3040 in a 3000 now and it works fine, but it is only 4x the speed a stock 3k. There are more options for other cards, but you will have to hack the 3000D case to get them to fit and work properly.
2. Add a video card. These are easier to come by. jammarob has a GVP spectrum which is a nice card. It has a path through with is very handy. You won't need the indivision ECS with the video card, get a video card and be done with it. IMHO the Amiga video has 3 tiers of video cards (speaking only for zorro cards). The Picasso IV, Cybervision 64 (or 3d), and the Retina BLT Z3. These 3 cards have the fastest chips and offer the best performance. The second tier: GVP Spectrum and Picasso II are really fine cards both provide pass through and have decent chips on them. The 3rd tier : The Retina ZII and the Merlin, they are ok but wouldn't be as nice as the others.
If you are going to hold off on the accelerator for now, hook the 68882 directly to the 50MHz crystal (see aminet for instructions), this will boost the math and give a cheap speedup.
If you have green corrosion from a leaky battery from the past, I would recommend clean the MB. May as well reseat the chips while your at it.
As far as where to purchase Amiga stuff: ebay or amibay are your best bets...
Have Fun!
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So reading the 50mhz hack then for the fpu and i wonder if it really worth it? Just for a machine to play games? And in reality would the life of it be shortened more?
I just wonder about this and i quote form the doc.
[FONT="]My theory on FPUs was that the following: It's too
expensive for them to have different assembly lines producing different grades
of FPUs so they just produce the top grade, then label them different to keep
the price high for the "top" grades. WELL - I've since talked to Dax of
Creative Computers @ Lawndale (Amiga Tech) He statess that my theory is close
but not exact. The TRUE story for FPUs is that Motorolla has one assembly
line for all FPUs (like I had thought) , and they always TRY to make 100 mhz
FPUs. But only about 10% of the FPUs produced actually pass at 100mhz. These
10% are then labeled 50mhz. Then the rest of the FPUs that didn't pass are
tested at 80 mhz. Those that pass are labeled 40 mhz. Then the same for 66
mhz, 50mhz and 40mhz. So in other words, the 25mhz FPU in your a3000 has
already passed a test at 50mhz!![/FONT]
[FONT="]un quote[/FONT]
[FONT="]
[/FONT]
[FONT="]If this is true has one done this?[/FONT]
[FONT="]lost[/FONT]
[FONT="]
[/FONT]
[FONT="]ps sorry not trying to hijack the thread but add to it![/FONT]
[FONT="]
[/FONT]
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I want to thank everybody for the overwhelming and great responses to this my first post. Like I said at the beginning, I just bought my system and I will receive later this week. Once I lay my hands on it, I will create a new post and tell you what I have installed, formally introduce myself with a little background so that you can assess the level of babysitting I will require, when asking for assistance. My priority is of course to get the system running, then find a way to exchange files with my Windows laptop (perhaps by adding the SD HxC floppy emulator first), then add Internet connectivity, add juice (I think I will have enough memory already).
So I will let you know how things go. Many thanks.
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So reading the 50mhz hack then for the fpu and i wonder if it really worth it? Just for a machine to play games? And in reality would the life of it be shortened more?
I just wonder about this and i quote form the doc.
[FONT="]My theory on FPUs was that the following: It's too
expensive for them to have different assembly lines producing different grades
of FPUs so they just produce the top grade, then label them different to keep
the price high for the "top" grades. WELL - I've since talked to Dax of
Creative Computers @ Lawndale (Amiga Tech) He statess that my theory is close
but not exact. The TRUE story for FPUs is that Motorolla has one assembly
line for all FPUs (like I had thought) , and they always TRY to make 100 mhz
FPUs. But only about 10% of the FPUs produced actually pass at 100mhz. These
10% are then labeled 50mhz. Then the rest of the FPUs that didn't pass are
tested at 80 mhz. Those that pass are labeled 40 mhz. Then the same for 66
mhz, 50mhz and 40mhz. So in other words, the 25mhz FPU in your a3000 has
already passed a test at 50mhz!![/FONT]
[FONT="]un quote[/FONT]
[FONT="]
[/FONT]
[FONT="]If this is true has one done this?[/FONT]
[FONT="]lost[/FONT]
[FONT="]
[/FONT]
[FONT="]ps sorry not trying to hijack the thread but add to it![/FONT]
[FONT="]
[/FONT]
I hacked my 3000D about 20 years ago and it still works...
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Congratulations on your purchase!
The A3000 is truly a great Amiga system to beef up. Besides from the expandability, it is probably the best
looking too. Box design was made by Herb Mosteller (I think he did C128 case too).
I bought mine almost 20 years ago, back then I had "only" 4 + 2 M ram, a 100M HD and a C= 1930-II VGA monitor. Not a bad setup by standard then, and I had it like this for several years. Very reliable.
I must say that if I had to pick one Amiga system Ive been using over the years, the A3000 is the one that kept me coming back. A4000T may be more technically advanced, but it lost just a tiny bit of that soul.
A couple of years ago I decided I had too much dosh laying around and started to expand the A3000. I wanted to see how far it could be pushed really...
So this is the current state of it:
- CyberStormPPC 060/66 604e/367 128M. Upgraded by Stachu.
- CyberVisionPPC.
- Indivision ECS.
- Deneb USB. Wish we could see these available at retailers again.
- FZ357A HD floppy.
- VLab Motion
- Toccata sound card.
- 73GB HD.
The system is running very stable with this setup, although heat is building up inside the box, so the next project will definetly be to fit the FastATA controller and replace the HD with a SSD. I have also been thinking about replacing the PSU, but somehow things would not be the same without the "jet- engine" sound. Thats the sound of A3000 personality :)
Would be lovely to add an A3070 as well, but it seems there are fewer available than the holy grail.
Wish you all the best with your A3000!
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Congratulations on your purchase!
The A3000 is truly a great Amiga system to beef up. Besides from the expandability, it is probably the best
looking too. Box design was made by Herb Mosteller (I think he did C128 case too).
I bought mine almost 20 years ago, back then I had "only" 4 + 2 M ram, a 100M HD and a C= 1930-II VGA monitor. Not a bad setup by standard then, and I had it like this for several years. Very reliable.
I must say that if I had to pick one Amiga system Ive been using over the years, the A3000 is the one that kept me coming back. A4000T may be more technically advanced, but it lost just a tiny bit of that soul.
A couple of years ago I decided I had too much dosh laying around and started to expand the A3000. I wanted to see how far it could be pushed really...
So this is the current state of it:
- CyberStormPPC 060/66 604e/367 128M. Upgraded by Stachu.
- CyberVisionPPC.
- Indivision ECS.
- Deneb USB. Wish we could see these available at retailers again.
- FZ357A HD floppy.
- VLab Motion
- Toccata sound card.
- 73GB HD.
The system is running very stable with this setup, although heat is building up inside the box, so the next project will definetly be to fit the FastATA controller and replace the HD with a SSD. I have also been thinking about replacing the PSU, but somehow things would not be the same without the "jet- engine" sound. Thats the sound of A3000 personality :)
Would be lovely to add an A3070 as well, but it seems there are fewer available than the holy grail.
Wish you all the best with your A3000!
Might have a 3070 somewhere in storage, if I can find it I will let you know...
Nice system you made for yourself, nice job!
Should upload pics to the gallery. Think the best route for an SSD is the OWC Mercury Legacy IDE. Haven't found a better solution in my travels yet.
How is the indivision ECS? My 3k's have video cards right now, so I don't need one, just wondered how well they worked...