What size Hard Drive for A1200???

[kiniki]

I want to get a Hard Drive for my A1200 but I am trying to work out what size I should get.

I know that usually its a case of the bigger the better, but I would like to get just enough.

Would 2gb be enough, 4?

Is higher overkill?

Basically I want to put any games I buy on there and thats about it.

Any advice?

[Thomas]

It depends on what you want to store on the HDD. If you want to collect mp3s or video clips, it is easy to fill 4GB quickly. But for storing text files, 4GB will be enough for decades.

What you should consider is that the Amiga cannot handle HDDs bigger than 4GB without software patches. So if you don't want any hassle, you should stay smaller than 4GB (4.3 billion bytes). Also a HDD needs some memory for buffers. The bigger the HDD (and the more partitions) the more buffers you need. If you don't have a memory expansion, you should surely stay below 4GB.

Bye,
Thomas

[kiniki]

I guess its a slightly subjective question..

Maybe its better to ask what other people have in their 1200's?

[kiniki]

Thomas wrote:

It depends on what you want to store on the HDD. If you want to collect mp3s or video clips, it is easy to fill 4GB quickly. But for storing text files, 4GB will be enough for decades.

What you should consider is that the Amiga cannot handle HDDs bigger than 4GB without software patches. So if you don't want any hassle, you should stay smaller than 4GB (4.3 billion bytes). Also a HDD needs some memory for buffers. The bigger the HDD (and the more partitions) the more buffers you need. If you don't have a memory expansion, you should surely stay below 4GB.

Bye,
Thomas

Thanks for that Thomas.

I literally will use it with WHDload for the games I have. I am rapidly collecting a vast amount of games off ebay and would like to have them on a hard drive to save swapping disks.

Would 3gb be enough?? Its just I am not sure how big the average game is... Although I would guess 3gb would fit a load of Amiga games?

[LawlessPPC]

if you use alternative filesystems like PFS, SFS or Fastfilesystem from os3.5 onwards the size doesnt matter. Just make sure the OS is in the first 4GB partition

[amigakit]

For gaming 2GB hard disk will probably be adequate for you needs but a 4GB hard drive will certainly give you more room especially if you install SCUMMVM games later on!

If you go for more than 4Gb you will need Kickstart 3.1 ROMs, the SCSI device patches, the NSD patches and an updated FileSystem such as the free SFS.

[mihcael]

If you go for more than 4Gb you will need Kickstart 3.1 ROMs, the SCSI device patches, the NSD patches and an updated FileSystem such as the free SFS.

4GB+ will work fine with 3.0 roms, you just need the updated filesystem!
I had 8.4GB in my 1200 using AmiFS. Eventually filled it up too!

[amigakit]

The 3.0 ROMs have a limited SCSI device.  To use the LoadV43Module (the SCSI device patch) you need Kickstart 3.1 ROMs

Alternatively if you have 3.0 ROMs you can use the third party commercial IDEFIX package which will also get around the limitations.

[karel]

I have 40gig /9
1.5 gig workbench,2.5gig work
work2 .work3 > 4+gig

[Doppie1200]

4G here. But I can see problems coming when you have an 060 and are going to use PC ports on your amiga. The SCUMMVM games mentioned earlier or DOOM WADs. I have DOOMII and WOLF3D WADs taking up quite some space. Eventually it is possible to fill anything. But 4G is very adequate for whdgaming. It can store more than you will be able to play in your free time.

[adolescent]

I have a 20GB in my main A1200 now.  But, if I would have been able to find an 8GB new for a reasonable price I would have taken that.  In my other A1200 (standard) I have a 4GB.