Amiga 3000 vs 4000

Sim085 · 23 September 2018, 09:21

I don't have an A3000 or A4000 so this is mostly an out of curiosity type of question.

To my knowledge an A3000 can be expanded as much as an A4000. For example if one wants one can expand the A3000 with a PPC card which will provide FastRAM as much as that card support. If one wants one can install an RTG card same as for the A4000. Indeed (correct me if I am wrong) given both A3000 and A4000 use ZorroIII it means cards meant for one machine can be used in the other.

Therefore my biggest question is what does the A4000 provide more than the A3000? Is it just AGA graphics?

ajk · 23 September 2018, 09:39

They are very similar in capability apart from AGA. And of course the A4000 desktop model has a 5.25" bay if you want to have a CD/DVD drive, something the A3000 desktop can only have externally (this is probably because in 1990 5.25" floppy drives were no longer a thing, and CD drives in computers were not yet a thing).

Hedeon · 23 September 2018, 10:18

FF and SCSI for the A3000. My CDRom player is in an external SCSI housing.

I think the 3000 has one Zorro slot less? Also has an on board cpu and fpu so runs without an accelerator card. The 4000 only a certain version has that.

Edit: Zorro is the same, Mediators have one PCI slot less

trixster · 23 September 2018, 10:49

You get one less isa slot on an A3000.

Mr.Flibble · 26 September 2018, 21:09

A3000 likes to slice flesh a bit more than the A4000, but everything else has been covered

Wrangler · 26 September 2018, 22:14

I think you've all overlooked the biggest difference! The A3000 is one sexy looking machine whereas the A4000 is... just... not.

nexus · 27 September 2018, 00:47

depends tbh im not a fan of the A3000D
only A3000 i have is A3000T
but i loved huge tower cases back in the day

A4000 isnt bad i like it better than A3000D
its simple yet still has some smooth design elements

think my biggest gripe with A3000D is the floppy drives
bigbox should have 5.25 drive bays
but to each their own

Gorf · 27 September 2018, 01:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by nexus

A4000 isnt bad i like it better than A3000D
its simple yet still has some smooth design elements

tastes can be very different in deed....
I think the A4000 has no design to speek of - just a boring PC box like uncountable others.
The A3000D on the other hand is the best looking Amiga

Quote:

think my biggest gripe with A3000D is the floppy drives
bigbox should have 5.25 drive bays
but to each their own

true - the A3000 should have been wider to support a 5.25 drive next to the floppy (optionally to a second 3.5 drive). But is was designed at a time when 5.25 floppies and HDs were obsolete and CD-ROM was not yet in the picture...

nexus · 27 September 2018, 01:27

i should admit im biased towards A4000 since i forever wanted 1 back then but never had till recently
but im coming around with A3000T that i like
had to save it from japan

patrik · 27 September 2018, 14:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gorf

tastes can be very different in deed....
I think the A4000 has no design to speek of - just a boring PC box like uncountable others.
The A3000D on the other hand is the best looking Amiga

true - the A3000 should have been wider to support a 5.25 drive next to the floppy (optionally to a second 3.5 drive). But is was designed at a time when 5.25 floppies and HDs were obsolete and CD-ROM was not yet in the picture...

And now CD-ROM is obsolete again.

If you require a CD-ROM, is it a problem to use an external SCSI enclosure for it? Apart from the convention that “it should be internal on a mid-90+ PC”?

spudje · 27 September 2018, 14:25

Also note that the A3000 has less room for a CPU upgrade. E.g. fitting in a Cyberstorm, depending on the model can be tight to very challenging.

Gorf · 27 September 2018, 15:09

Quote:

Originally Posted by patrik

And now CD-ROM is obsolete again.

If you require a CD-ROM, is it a problem to use an external SCSI enclosure for it? Apart from the convention that “it should be internal on a mid-90+ PC”?

No real problem. I ended up with a nice small SCSI tower next to the desktop with CD-ROM, CD-RW and ZIP, that I only switched on if needed.

Quote:

Originally Posted by spudje

Also note that the A3000 has less room for a CPU upgrade. E.g. fitting in a Cyberstorm, depending on the model can be tight to very challenging.

tight ... yes, challenging ... not really.

nexus · 27 September 2018, 17:29

i see it like this with the 5.25" bays
yes optical is dying but this is a old computer and optical is still relevant for it
also larger bays can hold other things too eg. scsi to memcard reader/old school bigfoot harddrives some may like to use maybe fan intake or removable hdd etc etc
i was pissed how hard a time it was to find a decent case today with 1 drive bay
i have a A4000T build that i also like to have a dvd drive in

these are retro computers and i do like doing retro things on them

i guess eventually we might get ODE

NorthWay · 28 September 2018, 00:24

I was gifted an A3000D, but it is no beauty queen in my eyes. Fiddly to work with too.
Not that the A4000D is turning heads, but I do prefer it. I wish it could be opened without unplugging the mouse.

(And to repeat myself - I wish for something like a larger A1000. It looks so much bigger in pictures IMO!)

TjLaZer · 28 September 2018, 03:36

I own both. Both are very similar. In fact the A4000 is based on the A3000+. Use the same cpu slot. A3000 has SCSI and built in FF. A4000 omits those and gets IDE and AGA. (Which has software FF screen modes). And as was mentioned 5.25” bay. Both are 32-bit and run the same speed, but AGA is better and faster too.

nexus · 28 September 2018, 08:18

ofc the towers of both are completely fine which i have but they arent small lol arent as cheap either

Paul_s · 29 September 2018, 16:16

The A3000 is better made and engineered/luxurious than the 4000.

If you don't mind the lack of AGA i'd go with the 3000.

Or if you want the ultimate try finding an A3000+ which is a 3000 with AGA (good luck with that).

Mrz · 29 September 2018, 19:25

The only advantage of the A3000 over the A4000 is the built in scandoubler
but you insert a Picasso 4 gfx card in the A4000 and destroy the A3000 totally

anyways the A4000 is far better, better case,support AGA , ide, have audio mixer for the cdrom etc

The most horrible computer I've seen is the A3000T

trixster · 29 September 2018, 19:30

If you insert a €400 graphics card in an A4000 it stomps all over a stock A3000....? Well done for working that out! If you stick a csppc / cvppc in a 3000 it will wipe the floor with an A3640 equipped 4000.... this game is easy.

Hedeon · 29 September 2018, 20:19

The a4000 case is so bad, I like even the A2000 case more. Put in a vampire with saga and it stomps over the a4000....cool easy game indeed

23 September 2018, 09:21	#1
Sim085 Registered User Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: N/A Posts: 962	Amiga 3000 vs 4000 I don't have an A3000 or A4000 so this is mostly an out of curiosity type of question. To my knowledge an A3000 can be expanded as much as an A4000. For example if one wants one can expand the A3000 with a PPC card which will provide FastRAM as much as that card support. If one wants one can install an RTG card same as for the A4000. Indeed (correct me if I am wrong) given both A3000 and A4000 use ZorroIII it means cards meant for one machine can be used in the other. Therefore my biggest question is what does the A4000 provide more than the A3000? Is it just AGA graphics?

23 September 2018, 10:18	#3
Hedeon Semi-Retired Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Leiden / The Netherlands Posts: 2,017	FF and SCSI for the A3000. My CDRom player is in an external SCSI housing. I think the 3000 has one Zorro slot less? Also has an on board cpu and fpu so runs without an accelerator card. The 4000 only a certain version has that. Edit: Zorro is the same, Mediators have one PCI slot less Last edited by Hedeon; 23 September 2018 at 10:25.

27 September 2018, 00:47	#7
nexus Registered User Join Date: Aug 2017 Location: USA Posts: 728	depends tbh im not a fan of the A3000D only A3000 i have is A3000T but i loved huge tower cases back in the day A4000 isnt bad i like it better than A3000D its simple yet still has some smooth design elements think my biggest gripe with A3000D is the floppy drives bigbox should have 5.25 drive bays but to each their own Last edited by nexus; 27 September 2018 at 00:54.

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23 September 2018, 09:39	#2
ajk Registered User Join Date: May 2010 Location: Helsinki, Finland Posts: 1,341	They are very similar in capability apart from AGA. And of course the A4000 desktop model has a 5.25" bay if you want to have a CD/DVD drive, something the A3000 desktop can only have externally (this is probably because in 1990 5.25" floppy drives were no longer a thing, and CD drives in computers were not yet a thing).

23 September 2018, 10:49	#4
trixster Guru Meditating Join Date: Jun 2014 Location: England Posts: 2,346	You get one less isa slot on an A3000.

26 September 2018, 21:09	#5
Mr.Flibble Registered User Join Date: Jun 2015 Location: UK Posts: 472	A3000 likes to slice flesh a bit more than the A4000, but everything else has been covered

26 September 2018, 22:14	#6
Wrangler Registered User Join Date: Sep 2015 Location: London, UK Posts: 414	I think you've all overlooked the biggest difference! The A3000 is one sexy looking machine whereas the A4000 is... just... not.

27 September 2018, 01:27	#9
nexus Registered User Join Date: Aug 2017 Location: USA Posts: 728	i should admit im biased towards A4000 since i forever wanted 1 back then but never had till recently but im coming around with A3000T that i like had to save it from japan

27 September 2018, 14:25	#11
spudje Registered User Join Date: Dec 2014 Location: Netherlands Posts: 1,406	Also note that the A3000 has less room for a CPU upgrade. E.g. fitting in a Cyberstorm, depending on the model can be tight to very challenging.

27 September 2018, 17:29	#13
nexus Registered User Join Date: Aug 2017 Location: USA Posts: 728	i see it like this with the 5.25" bays yes optical is dying but this is a old computer and optical is still relevant for it also larger bays can hold other things too eg. scsi to memcard reader/old school bigfoot harddrives some may like to use maybe fan intake or removable hdd etc etc i was pissed how hard a time it was to find a decent case today with 1 drive bay i have a A4000T build that i also like to have a dvd drive in these are retro computers and i do like doing retro things on them i guess eventually we might get ODE

28 September 2018, 00:24	#14
NorthWay Registered User Join Date: May 2013 Location: Grimstad / Norway Posts: 848	I was gifted an A3000D, but it is no beauty queen in my eyes. Fiddly to work with too. Not that the A4000D is turning heads, but I do prefer it. I wish it could be opened without unplugging the mouse. (And to repeat myself - I wish for something like a larger A1000. It looks so much bigger in pictures IMO!)

28 September 2018, 03:36	#15
TjLaZer Registered User Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Tacoma, WA USA Age: 52 Posts: 1,924	I own both. Both are very similar. In fact the A4000 is based on the A3000+. Use the same cpu slot. A3000 has SCSI and built in FF. A4000 omits those and gets IDE and AGA. (Which has software FF screen modes). And as was mentioned 5.25” bay. Both are 32-bit and run the same speed, but AGA is better and faster too.

28 September 2018, 08:18	#16
nexus Registered User Join Date: Aug 2017 Location: USA Posts: 728	ofc the towers of both are completely fine which i have but they arent small lol arent as cheap either

29 September 2018, 16:16	#17
Paul_s Registered User Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Amigaville Age: 46 Posts: 3,337	The A3000 is better made and engineered/luxurious than the 4000. If you don't mind the lack of AGA i'd go with the 3000. Or if you want the ultimate try finding an A3000+ which is a 3000 with AGA (good luck with that).

29 September 2018, 19:25	#18
Mrz Banned Join Date: Dec 2016 Location: I Posts: 338	The only advantage of the A3000 over the A4000 is the built in scandoubler but you insert a Picasso 4 gfx card in the A4000 and destroy the A3000 totally anyways the A4000 is far better, better case,support AGA , ide, have audio mixer for the cdrom etc The most horrible computer I've seen is the A3000T

29 September 2018, 19:30	#19
trixster Guru Meditating Join Date: Jun 2014 Location: England Posts: 2,346	If you insert a €400 graphics card in an A4000 it stomps all over a stock A3000....? Well done for working that out! If you stick a csppc / cvppc in a 3000 it will wipe the floor with an A3640 equipped 4000.... this game is easy.

29 September 2018, 20:19	#20
Hedeon Semi-Retired Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Leiden / The Netherlands Posts: 2,017	The a4000 case is so bad, I like even the A2000 case more. Put in a vampire with saga and it stomps over the a4000....cool easy game indeed

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