Blizzard PPC + BVision in desktop A1200 Case

[JasperK]

Just wondering if anyone (Im sure SOMEONE out there has at some stage) has ever attempted to install both a Blizzard PPC card and a BVision card into an A1200 Desktop case.

I already own a VERY high spec Peg/Mos 1.4.5 system, in a huge aluminum Thermaltake Tower case..... but for this project I wish to keep everything within the confines of the original A1200 case.

I know I will need extra cooling, heatsinks, fans etc.... so I am looking for advice from anyone who may have attempted such a project in the past.

Any advice/information would be greatly appreciated.

Oh, BTW - It has 3.1 roms, and Im about to install a Subway USB card too, so I assume I will have to suppliment the A1200 MB with extra 5 and 12 volt supplies.....

The internal HD is a 2.5" 10 GB Fujitsu and the internal floppy drive is a HD unit.....oh and 2 x 64 MB sticks of ram are fitted to the Blizzard PPC.

I have several spare A500 PSUs to replace the (assumed) inadequate A1200 PSU.

Any thoughts?

[Brian]

You'll requier something beafier than an A500 PSU for that. I used a standatd 200W AT PSU and found I had to supply the motherboard with two powercords (the original and a molex did the trick).

I had the 040 model so I had to do something about the heat. Attached an extre heatsink on top of the PPC one and one on the 040. Then added a fan to the 040. By this point the card wouldn't fit unless A. I cut a hole in the table or B. I reised the machine some with extra long feets. I went with option B. If you own a 060 version then you should be able to do without the fan but I still sugest a double set of extra heatsinks... this should men smaller extensions of the feats. I cut holes in my CPU cover so the heatsinks could protrude out of the case, then I found out with all the extra mass on the CPU card the CPU cover couldn't hold the card in but got puched open so I had to add a peice of "halfsoft" plastic on the opposit side of the CPUslot connector that went over the card to support it.

For the BVision you need heatsinks on the chips and I suggest you add fans to the top cover over the BVision to draw air in and over the heatsinks. You should mask the airholes just to the sides of the fans or else they won't have very much effect.

The motherboard isn't made to support the amount of extra hardware we toss at it these days so more poweris needed... you can try just add extra power in on the floppy powerport but that might not be enough and you'll get better effect adding the extra power to where the BPPC fan powerplug sits... or do both.

[NicoPPC]

Hello !

Blizzard PPC & BlizzarVision had been design to fit into an 1200 Desktop case.
I've been using such set for a little while. I had no extra cooling.

The original Commodore PSU should be enough for this purpose. However, the Escom one won't be. There will likely be a power issue if you use HD, CDROM drive...

I was using a modified AT PSU. However, it's prolly possible to keep the original one, and to use external powered SCSI case for HD/CDROM unit.

I even had a Delfina 1200 into the case! However, I had a small cable to move the clock port slot ;-).
Then, I overclocked stuff (BPPC, BV ...) and added extra cooling. It was not a good idea really. I didn't feel real 'boost'.
The best way to get faster system is prolly to get the fastest memory and a MorphOS system to take advantage of the PowerPC.
I had a +15/20% speed up using MorphOS 0.4 + Amiga OS 3.x at Heretic II & co compared to plain AmigaOS 3.x.

Bye

Good luck !
Nico

[odin]

-edit-
Nevermind me...typing before actually reading posts....

[Karlos]

In short, I really don't reccomend it.

Mechanically it will all fit in a desktop. However phase5 made it perfectly clear that neither the BPPC or BVision should be used in anything other than a tower case.

As NicoPPC demonstrates, you can get away with it, but you are literally pushing the design into areas the manufacturer did not think sensible.

I have a BVision and I can tell you that you can burn yourself on the P2. It dissipates quite some heat at 83MHz and really should be fitted with a heatsink (info taken from TVP4020GFN hardware manual) in a normal PC environment (which has better aiflow than a A1200D), active cooling is reccomended at 90MHz.

Add to this the heat generated by the PPC, voltage regulators, 68K, memory and hard disk (if 3.5 inch) and you are way above what the A1200 case was designed to cope with.

[PaSha]

I did this.
Here are a few recommendations, though:
Extra cooling: Buy heatsink glue (arctic alumina GLUE) and glue a decent heatsink on the pm2 chip of the BV-PPC, and preferably any other IC's (PC gfx-card and DIMM RAM heatsink kits are nice here) and stick a small fan in the case above the BV-PPC, blowing air on it.
Also, stick some low-profile heatsink+fans on both the CPUs, there are 8mm ones available. Cut nice holes in the trapdoor cover for the heatsinks, and put it back on, as it provides support for the BlizzPPC. You may need to heighten the A1200s feet 2-3 mm to allow enough air under the case.

Harddrive: If IDE, use a 2.5" Harddrive. If SCSI, leave the Harddrive outside in a SCSI-tower, where you can also stick your CD-ROM drive and PSU.

Power: Add a custom connector (3-pin XLR is what I used) for +5v and +12v somehow on your A1200, and feed the floppy power port and the BlizzPPC with extra power.

It works, but it's very noisy due to all the fans.

Anyways,
good luck. And be patient when you do the modifications, and it will look nice too.

-Paul

[JasperK]

Thanks for all the info guys, will help immensely.

Another question though, if I use an AT/ATX PSU, lets say a 300watt unit....

What amperage on the 12v and 5v lines can each molex connector provide? Or are they all unregulated and can draw what they require up to the total capacity of the PSU?

Also, I take it the A1200 does not receive any clock tick signals etc from the PSU? Or strange (ie 3v etc) voltage lines.....just neutral, 12v+ and 5v+?

[Brian]

I dont know how much the cables support but in my case it wasn't enough so I had to have a second molex connector from the PSU connected to the machine aswell as the original powerplug when I used a 200W PSU.

The A1200 needs Gnd, +12v, -12v, +5v (have a look at this site for more info), no tick/clock signal or powergood or anything.

[HellCoder]

To tell you my story.
I've been using the BVision and Blizzard in the desktop for quite a while now and so far so good. Although I also did some tweaks to get it running.

1: Rewired the 5V line and attached it to the floppy connector of the computer. This because the whole lot uses lots of extra power and I read somewere that the copper lines on the motherboard might not be able to deal with this.

2: I'm not using the trapdoor and glue'd the PPC card to the frame to make it fit properly.

3: Added extra fans inside the desktop. But also made sure the air can actually get OUT of the case, othewise you're just blowing for the sake of blowing. Make sure there is airflow!

4: Made an extra hole at the back for the VGA connector to connect to. (I've got SCSI so couldn't use the hole there)

5: And ofcoz use a powerfull supply

Although I should say that I'm not using any 3D stuff alot. Can play wipeout though.

Regards,

[candyman]

Very interesting (old) thread.
Can you help me adding images of desktop A1200 with PPC + Bvision used for years with no problem at all?
For few days everything could work: different is to have an efficient cooled desktop that we can consider safe for daily use.
Thanks in advance.

p.s.: someone ever tried to put the PPC/Bvision outside in a dedicated case (ACA500 style)?

[stachu100]

Very interesting (old) thread.
Can you help me adding images of desktop A1200 with PPC + Bvision used for years with no problem at all?
For few days everything could work: different is to have an efficient cooled desktop that we can consider safe for daily use.

One of mine A1200D projects with picoPSU inside:
link

I was inspired by Mfilos project:
link

And Phipscube:
link

In  short: Not easy, but possible.
In long: You have to have good mechanical and electrical skills, money to buy everything and some software knowledge plus pleeeeeeeenty of free time.

Otherwise result will be exactly opposite - a LOT of frustration, time  and money wasted.
Please be warned.

[candyman]

Thank you very much for the advice: really appreciate it.

Your A1200 is simply awesome: the only thing missing (apart DVD drive, not really important for me) is an HxC display: not enough space for it?

It would be awesome a step-by-step guide like Phipscube's one.
Images are useful but not enough to understand some secrets

Unfortunately Mfilios's thread images are missing

Thanks again!

[Duce]

I had both in an A1200 desktop case when I still had my A1200.  Ran real warm, but tolerable enough with the trapdoor cover off.

Though my PPC card was just a 160 mhz PPC / '040 combo.

[Oldsmobile_Mike]

Unfortunately Mfilios's thread images are missing

I know it's fun to be able to embed pictures inside of posts, but I wish people would use the built-in forum tools for directly attaching pictures to posts as well, even if just for a copy, since off-site hosting is so unreliable.  

#Sigh #RantModeOff

[Rotzloeffel]

I had both in an A1200 desktop case when I still had my A1200.  Ran real warm, but tolerable enough with the trapdoor cover off.

Though my PPC card was just a 160 mhz PPC / '040 combo.

I also use a blizzard PPC and BVision with a subway USB solution in an A1200 Desktop Case.... my blizzard is an overclocked 060/66 and 333 Mhz PPC.... use aktive cooling and connect 5Volt from an externel Powersuply to the floppyport....