Amiga 4000D mobo hard to find?

[TheMagicM]

I may be buying a A4000D case/psu/kb/mouse for a good deal..now I need the stuff that makes it all work.. the motherboard.. lol.  How hard are they to come by and how much?  I'd probably also get a A3640 cpu and a gfx card.  I've always wanted the flagship Amiga but never really did get one.

[kd7ota]

As far as I knew, they shouldnt be too hard to come by.

I thought i have seen many of the boards on ebay.

But beware of the term 'Flagship Amiga' for someone might correct you with this Amiga 2000 computer.  :-D  :-P

[TheMagicM]

LOL.  the A2000 is just a A500 w/a few extra slots and a bulky case.. j/k

I've had a few A3000's and they are awesome but if I'm gonna spend some money, might as well get the machine I've always wanted..

[Ilwrath]

I've had a few A3000's and they are awesome but if I'm gonna spend some money, might as well get the machine I've always wanted..

For sure... the A4000 has always been my favorite, as well.  :-)

I don't know of a good place to get the gear anymore...

But if your accepting recommendations on WHAT to buy, I'd humbly suggest you should pass on the 3640 card.  They are way too expensive for the poor performance they deliver.  (The RAM accesses to the A4000 motherboard are WAY too slow! -- My A1200/030 @ 40mhz "felt" faster than my A4000 back when it ran the stock 3640.)  

Go for a CyberStorm or WarpEngine card that has the RAM on-board the card.  The performance difference is WELL worth it.  If you can't get the fast CPU card right away, just pick up one of the really cheap 68030 boards to use until then.  The CPU 030 itself isn't as fast as the 040, but the 3640 board is so hampered by the slow RAM accesses, I didn't notice a real speed difference between the two cards (except while rendering).  Take it from a user who's run all three.    If you really want it to be "the machine you've always wanted" go for the CyberStorm or WarpEngine.  :-)  

(Personally, I just regret that I only have a CS-MKII, and not a CS-PPC.)  If I could ever find a known good one at a reasonable price..........

[kd7ota]

@TheMagicM

I did have an Amiga 3000 at one point, but the battery itself kinda did some damage, but then ended up taking the A3000 apart for parts.

But if for some reason you sell one of them Amiga 3000 or any kinda of upgrades like some cpu card, then I may be interested..  :-D

[Holley]

They are way too expensive for the poor performance they deliver.

£20 is too expensive?  They work, thats something :-D

[TheMagicM]

well, I wouldnt mind getting a 060, but thats going to cost a arm and a leg... a Warpengine would be cool though.  I thought A3640 cause I've seen 'em go as cheap as $50 USD on ebay.  

kd7ota: I *had* a few A3000's..sold 'em all.. now I only have a collection of A500's, lots of software, add-on hardware etc.  

[TjLaZer]

@TheMagicM

Man, you just missed a deal on FleaBay!!  A 4000 mobo with 3640, daughter card for $100 buy it now. I almost got it but I didn't need it.  The 4000 MBs typically sell for $150 - $200 on the net, so they are expensive.  What you could do to save some cash is get one from Europe.  It will work 100% in the states, all you need to do is set the NTSC jumper and you are all set.  I built up a 4000 myself like you are, took me a few years to get all the parts! See my photo album for a pic of it.

The 4000 is my favorite Amiga!  I have four of them.

I agree the 3640 040 is sllooowww on the 4000.  But for the time being if you can get one for cheap go ahead, but you will want a card with local mem on it.  I have a GVP-m 4060 and I got it running at 66Mhz, it rocks.

Good luck!

[amigamad]

Be carefull a lot of a4000 boards are not much good i built one from parts and the motherboard is not perfect very stable though even with a blizzard 060 does not crash hardly ever .Just make sure the seller of the board you buy assures you its fautless and battery has not leaked get a good one and it should be reliable . :-)

[Cyberus]

Heh, this thread is timely.

I've just got in after driving across two counties (a 4.5 hour round trip, with a 45 min stop in a pub for a sly ale) to go and get another A4000, so I can get one working from parts.

The other thing is, I don't even need an A4000 really - its just the fixation - sitting reading Amiga mags in the early 90s when I was an impoverished teenager, and seeing the A4000 and its high price tag - "She will be mine!" :lol:
I think its the same thing - I always wanted to own the 'flagship' professional computer :-D You do not know what you are talking about, repeat ad nauseam ;-)

[Ilwrath]

well, I wouldnt mind getting a 060, but thats going to cost a arm and a leg... a Warpengine would be cool though. I thought A3640 cause I've seen 'em go as cheap as $50 USD on ebay.

If you find an actual working one on eBay for $50, and it isn't a scam, let me know.  The only ones I've seen at that price were listed as:
"untested", "pulled from a working system, but sold as-is"
or "looks ok."  Which we both know translates to "hopelessly broken junk."

I've found the US cost to be closer to $75-$100, which is just way too much, when the 68030 board is only $15-$20 or so, and the WarpEngine is in the $150-$200 range..

[X-ray]

@ llwrath

If you hear of a good deal on a PPC or two, let me know will you...after you got yours of course

[TheMagicM]

Cyberus: so what are you saying, you got one for me to buy for cheap?  :-P

TjLaZer: I looked at the auction just now.. what a STEAL!!!!!  At the time I wasnt really actively looking but man, that was one heck of a deal  I have quite a few AmigaWorld, and Amiga in general magazines.. funny how cheap you can pick up this stuff (sometimes).

[ACE]

I believe it possible to overclock the 3640 to 28Mhz in order to achieve better syncoroization with the Fast Mem on the A4000 M/B.  Not much of an improvement but still worth the work.
 
It is the bad sync between the 25Mhz and 28.56??Mhz that causes alot of the performance hit.

[BoingBoss]

Hi TheMagicM,

I've always wanted the flagship Amiga but never really did get one.

Does this mean that you always wanted an Amiga 2000 Series computer but you never got one?  All true Amiga lovers know that the Amiga 2000 is THE Flagship Amiga model.  The Amiga 4000 never achieved the success and popularity of the Amiga 2000, 500, and the Amiga 1200 Series.  And of these three, the Amiga 2000 Series was ranked number one because of the NewTek Video Toaster 2000.  The Amiga 2000 Series earned "Flagship Status" because it was designed and built in Germany and is the highest quality, best built of all the Amiga models.  Also, more expansion boards and hardware was produced for the Amiga 2000 Series then any other Amiga, including the Amiga 500 and 1200 Series.  Yes, the Amiga 2000 Series will always be The Flagship Amiga computer, the best of the best.   :-)

Oh, BTW.... TheMagicM, I do have an extra Amiga 2000 computer that I could sell you (I come across them all the time).  Then you will have one.  I personally own four of them and they are great machines.  I have NEVER had any problems out of them.   :-D

As far as the Amiga 4000 is concerned, DO NOT BUY ONE!!!!  The following is a list of the lowest quality, poorly designed Amiga models:  Amiga 600, Amiga 1200, Amiga 4000, and Amiga 4000T.  If you get one of these you WILL have lots of problems with them.  Also remember that the motherboards in these Amiga models are the lower quality "SMT", not the higher quality "thru-hole" motherboards.  So, if you ever have to repair the piece of crap, good luck.   :lol: