HP Vectra N2 4/66 - Graphics Adapter Benchmarks \ VOGONS

HP Vectra N2 4/66 - Graphics Adapter Benchmarks

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First post, by blurks

Posted on 2018-03-09, 17:13

blurks Offline

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Joined: 2017-01-14, 21:49

After months I finally had some spare time to do some quick benchmarking with my Vectra N2 4/66 and several of my boxed graphics cards. I was especially keen on the performance of the earlier cards from around 1990/1991, namely the Everex EV-678 and the Genoa GVGA 6400 Series - both featuring whopping 512 KB video RAM. While they failed to deliver satisfying results on the very demanding benchmark, which they were not designed for it was very interesting to see that the Mach32 could not even keep up with the Fahrenheit 1280° Plus (S3 801 chipset). Maybe I was foolishly expecting Mach64 performance while the Mach32 is far away from that performance level. Where available I was trying to load VESA extensions. I couldn't however find proper VESA extensions for the Orchid Fahrenheit but it still performed pretty solid and had no issues with VGA modes whatsoever. Both the Everex Viewpoint and the Orchid Fahrenheit came with driver disks and I assume the VESA extensions are stored on them but I am not currently in possession of a working 5,25" floppy drive. Not surprising however to see the onboard Cirrus Logic GD-5434 outperforming the competition as it is an early 1994 development and technologically advanced. So without much further ado, let's get into it...

HP Vectra N2 4/66 System Specs:

1- Intel 486 DX/2 66
2- 24 MB RAM
3- Cirrus Logic GD-5434 onboard graphics (1MB)
4- Quantum Maverick 540A HDD (514 MB)
5- Phoenix BIOS (10/21/1994)
6- Caldera Dr. DOS 7.03

Test candidates:

1Name                         | Chipset                | Memory
2-----------------------------+------------------------+---------
3Onboard graphics             | Cirrus Logic GD-5434   | 1 MB
4Orchid Fahrenheit 1280° Plus | S3 801                 | 1 MB
5ATI Graphics Ultra Pro       | ATI Mach32             | 2 MB
6ATI VGA Wonder XL24          | ATI 28800-6            | 1 MB
7Genoa 6400 Series            | Genoa GVGA             | 512 KB
8Everex Viewpoint EV-678      | Trident 8800CS         | 512 KB

Initially I was also planning to test a Video Seven V-RAM VGA graphics adapter. Sadly I wasn't able to fit the card in the case.
The terms VGA and SVGA used in this benchmarking session refer to the resolutions 320x200x8 and 640x480x8.

General system performance:

Benchmark results:

1                                         | CL GD-5434 | Orchid Fahrenheit 1280° Plus | ATI Graphics Ultra Pro (Mach32) | ATI VGA Wonder XL24  | Everex Viewpoint EV-678 | Genoa GVGA 6400
2                                         | (1 MB)     | (1 MB)                       | (2 MB)                          | (1 MB)               | (512 KB)                | (512 KB)
3                                         | VESA: yes  | VESA: no                     | VESA: ATI VVESA2                | VESA: ATI VVESA2 1.2 | VESA: no                | VESA: v1.17
4-----------------------------------------+------------+------------------------------+---------------------------------+----------------------+-------------------------+------------------
5DOOM2 Timedemo (FPS)                     | 19,48      | 13,05                        | 11,8                            | 11,32                | 5,98                    | 6,42
6Landmark System Speed Test 6.0 (char/ms) | 8402       | 4062,15                      | 3223,08                         | 3181,36              | 1467,22                 | 719,65
7Chris' 3D VGA Benchmark (FPS)            | 30,9       | 22,5                         | 20,2                            | 19,9                 | 11,7                    | 7,2
8Chris' 3D SVGA Benchmark (FPS)           | 8,7        | 5,3                          | 5,7                             | 5,7                  | -                       | 2,2
9PC Player VGA Benchmark (FPS)            | 9,9        | 8,9                          | 8,6                             | 8,5                  | 6,7                     | 5,2
10PC Player SVGA Benchmark (FPS)           | 4,1        | 3                            | 3,2                             | 3,2                  | -                       | 1,6

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Reply 1 of 1, by jhaeseker

Posted on 2021-07-01, 19:09

jhaeseker Offline

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Joined: 2021-07-01, 18:11

Very cool benchmarks. I'm amazed that systems this old were so advanced graphically. This was much more challenging back then.

I know this is only minorly related (and I posted this query elsewhere), but I'm trying to locate a BIOS update for my HP Vectra N2 4/66. I shoudl probably create a new post, but noticed that you had the same system.

Mine is currently running GF.04.03 (English) and is working fine, but there is a former colleague's name on the initial System Hardware Test screen (boot post) that I can't find any way to remove. I'm guessing that this name was entered when the PC was first set up (nearly 30 years ago) at an old employer of mine that no longer exists. I haven't found any way to remove/reset this name and, while it doesn't impact functionality, it is just an annoyance.

I've cleared the CMOS and removed the clock battery, but no luck. The jumper settings on the motherboard don't seem applicable either. My best guess is that flashing the BIOS might give me the opportunity to remove this name. I'm cleaning up my basement and I intend to offer this system (and others) online to collectors, so I'd like to make it as "clean" as possible.

Aside from replacing the clock battery and upgrading the RAM, it is all original and works fine. It is running Windows for Workgroups 3.11 with 12MB RAM, a 340MB HD and has an HP27247B NIC. The add-on NIC's RJ45 port wasn't working, but I got it to function via the AUI port and an HP 28685B EtherTwist Transceiver. (Still working on a viable browser for it - maybe IE 4 or IE 5). It is very cool to see this old hardware working and it brings back some memories. Even so, there is scant little out on the web related to this system - and HP no longer has any drivers this old on their website.

If you can direct me to a BIOS disc image for this Vectra N2 4/66 (D3149A), I would greatly appreciate it. In exchange, I could offer data xfer services from 5.25" floppy (for which I still have a working unit). Thanks in advance.

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