Hictop Aluminum and E3D

So I finally jumped in, we have been looking at 3D printing at work for awhile but I just havnt got the boss to fully commit. My Son who is 9 really wanted to go to robotics camp this summer and we just couldn't make it fit cause of the dates. So I decided to buy an inexpensive DIY kit and make 3D printing our summer project. I took the time assembling it using squares and straight edges, calipers etc... lol (I'm an over thinker) But I have to say it turned out pretty good, the print quality seems great for what it is and it has fueled my passion for upgrades. We already built a lot of the upgrade support components, spool holders, etc, but this leaky hot end lead me to taking the plunge and purchasing an E3D v.6 with Titan prusa kit. Well it showed up today and I'm like Wow! now what... lol It came with no literature of anykind but it did have a delicious bag of candy, Thanks E3D. LOL The HICTOP came with a MKS Base v1.4, my research indicates it is essentially a ramps 1.4 combined with Adriano all in one board. I emailed E3D for guidance and they said treat it like a ramps 1.4 He also said something about their new amplifier was included, not the previously used PT100. So now I am completely lost, the plugs are different than what I have on the board and it seems the amplifier has its own 2 pin plug. From what I had read on the PT100 it plugs into a 3 prong 5v then u need to enable that in the firmware. I have gone into Marlin and I'm pretty confident I can work that out with youtube at my side but I gotta ask, am I in over my head or is their some info somewhere I am missing that can make this doable for a total newb? Thanks in advance

You're not over your head. Several times I thought I was, but as soon as you start digging into and using forums and YouTube, you can get anything to work.

As far as e3d, all of the manuals, documents, and instructions are on their website. It's hard to find, but I think it's on a page called 'documents'. There is even a schematic of the amplifier for people who want to build it from scratch. I don't have that amplifier, but I did see the instructions for connecting it on the website.

I have only been printing for almost a year now, and have been frustrated at times to the point of wanting to through it away. So keep at it. Once you get it running well and spitt'n out nice prints, you'll be glad you did.

Hope something I said helps. Good luck.

One more thing. And this is just my opinion. If anyone disagrees, please speak up, because I may be missing something.

From what I can tell, that amplifier is used so that you can use a more accurate thermocouple, that can't be directly connected to the RAMPS board. My cheap $300 prusa works perfectly fine with the standard/stock thermistor that came with it. So why would I go th the trouble of changing the firmware, and installing extra parts, if I don't need to?

Like I said, I may be missing something. There may be a great benefit to using a more accurate set up that I don't know about. But I would be surprised if there is a noticeable difference between parts printed with the stock thermistor, and one with the amplifier.