Help me trick out an A2000

[runequester]

so if I was to trick out my Amiga 2000 to use as a workstation sort of deal, including some basic web browsing etc, what sort of equipment should I be looking for?


I figure I'll need:
Accelerator/RAM card
RTG card
Network card
Something that'll let me hook up a hard drive and possibly CD ROM

Any suggestions for the above ? Both in terms of which are great and what is actually possible to find

Anything Im forgetting?

[bbond007]

so if I was to trick out my Amiga 2000 to use as a workstation sort of deal, including some basic web browsing etc, what sort of equipment should I be looking for?


I figure I'll need:
Accelerator/RAM card
RTG card
Network card
Something that'll let me hook up a hard drive and possibly CD ROM

Any suggestions for the above ? Both in terms of which are great and what is actually possible to find

Anything Im forgetting?

You could see if softhut still has the TekMagic A2000 060/50MHz and GVP Spectrum. For Networking and other options, maybe go with the Deneb usb controller with USB networking.

[radzik]

A must is 060 (Blizzard or TekMagic and others) or 040, any gfx card supported by CGX3/4 or Picasso'96, Deneb USB (you get usb, lan etc.). For HD (and CD/DVD) buy conventer IDE2SCSI2 and get IDE drivers. Of course ROM 3.1 + WB 3.1 or better 3.9.

[the_leander]

GVP 2060 GVP Spectrum.

The Spectrum is supported under RTG according to bboah.

[runequester]

GVP 2060 GVP Spectrum.

The Spectrum is supported under RTG according to bboah.

looks awesome but yikes, pretty pricey

[tone007]

I've used the Spectrum, it's a decent board and does do RTG nicely.  I'd almost say having an RTG board is more important than a crazy accelerator, I think you get more for your money.

[runequester]

Is there any sort of ethernet card for the amiga, or do I need to figure out something through the USB route ?

[tone007]

This is a bargain, I'd grab it but I have all I need.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Amiganet-Rev1-1-Ethernet-Card-Amiga-Computers-/150460534475?cmd=ViewItem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2308258ecb

Simple AUI to RJ45 transceiver and you're all set.

[doctorq]

TekMagic A2000 060/50MHz

I'd stay clear of the TekMagic if possible and get the Blizzard 2060. The TekMagic needs the three finger salute on software resets in order to boot and the SCSI controller can only boot from FFS partitions.

It is something you can live with, but can get annoying in the end. It did for me so I decided to ditch the A2000. The SCSI controller on the TekMagic is super fast though, so it's not all bad.

[ElPolloDiabl]

This is a bargain, I'd grab it but I have all I need.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Amiganet-Rev1-1-Ethernet-Card-Amiga-Computers-/150460534475?cmd=ViewItem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2308258ecb

Simple AUI to RJ45 transceiver and you're all set.

Look at that monster! Compare that to my PC's wireless card which is about the size of credit card.

[mbrantley]

I'd get the GVP 060 accelerator from Software Hut if still available. Instead of worrying with SCSI and hard drives, I'd get a Deneb and boot and operate the machine from USB memory stick. That's what I've done with my 2000 and 3000 because I got tired of old SCSI drives failing on me. Will do the same with my 4000 as soon as I get my motherboard problems sorted there.

The newly manufactured Spectrum RTG boards from Software Hut should also be considered. I just got one for my 3000. My 2000 has an old Toaster card and a Personal Animation Recorder board in it, so I may skip the RTG route on this old workhorse of a beast. Definitely look at the Indivision ECS board so you can use modern, flicker-free monitors. I got this because my old 1084 monitors were failing quicker than my old SCSI hard drives.

The Mini Megi Chip thingie from AmigaKit should also be worthwhile. I have an older solution that does the same thing (gives 2 megs of chip ram).

[runequester]

have you had any problems running with a usb stick as a hard drive or is it pretty straight forward ?
 
Also, if the machine is going to primarily run applications, and use RTG, will I get a lot of mileage out of the expanded chip memory ?

[bbond007]

I'd stay clear of the TekMagic if possible and get the Blizzard 2060. The TekMagic needs the three finger salute on software resets in order to boot and the SCSI controller can only boot from FFS partitions.

It is something you can live with, but can get annoying in the end. It did for me so I decided to ditch the A2000. The SCSI controller on the TekMagic is super fast though, so it's not all bad.

Good advice if you can find a 2060. I had some Friends in RMAU that hat the Tekmagic and they never complained. Plus if SoftHut actually has them...

I had a rev 4.2 A2000 with fatter agnus, PP&S 040/28/32MB RAM, CV64/3D, Hydra Ethernet, GVP 4008 SCSI with GURUROM and 4MB fast ram. That was a very nice 2000 system! The only real drawback was that the SCSI was on the Z2 bus. Too bad the 1084 decided to die and take out the 2000 in the process. I ended selling or giving away all the parts. What a nice system though!

[tone007]

Also, if the machine is going to primarily run applications, and use RTG, will I get a lot of mileage out of the expanded chip memory ?

Generally if you have enough fast ram, then you won't need to worry about chip ram so much when you're using RTG.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Amiga-Picasso-II-Video-Card-/250657513275

There's a great RTG card for the 2000 at a decent price.  Better than the Spectrum, I'd say.

[Zac67]

Look at that monster! Compare that to my PC's wireless card which is about the size of credit card.

Look at this and weep:

(Yes, it's 802.11n - and it's cheap.)