I don't 'find' or get 'donated' hardware much anymore, but a friend who was getting out of collecting retro stuff actually dumped a load of cards on me. One of which is kind of interesting:

Anyone know what this card is? It looks like ATi's All In Wonder cards BUT this is before they actually produced those cards. AFAIK the earliest of those cards was based on the Rage II. This is a model that predates the original ATi All In Wonder.. It shares the entire design language. I can not find who made this card. The only model number on it is M230 which is the Philips TV tuner used. I'm open to information..

appiah4 wrote on 2024-05-24, 07:21:

I don't 'find' or get 'donated' hardware much anymore, but a friend who was getting out of collecting retro stuff actually dumped a load of cards on me. One of which is kind of interesting:

ATI Mach64 VT2 Philips M230.jpg

Anyone know what this card is? It looks like ATi's All In Wonder cards BUT this is before they actually produced those cards. AFAIK the earliest of those cards was based on the Rage II. This is a model that predates the original ATi All In Wonder.. It shares the entire design language. I can not find who made this card. The only model number on it is M230 which is the Philips TV tuner used. I'm open to information..

Interesting card! I would say it is probably a variant of an ATi Video Xpression:
https://vgamuseum.info/index.php/component/k2 … 3-ati-mach64-vt

Using the VT2 chip obviously:
https://vgamuseum.info/index.php/component/k2 … -ati-mach64-vt2

... aside from that, I have no idea! It is made in Taiwan, and the PCB is yellow so it could be an ASUS card. Perhaps the BIOS would reveal something. If nothing is displayed at startup you can try dumping it with NSSI in DOS and just opening the file as text (or in a hex editor). I've found some interesting info about cards this way. 😀

ATI did make an All-in-wonder back in the mach64 days starting with the GX.

The ATI part numbers looked like EXMxxx, not Mxxx

EXM320 was a thing: https://fcc.report/FCC-ID/EXM230/ & the date is about right for that.
I never found a picture of a EXM320 and I never added it to my list: https://www.vogonswiki.com/index.php/ATI#Mach_64
So it looks like there's a gap worth researching.

The PCB & Part number looks like it could be an ASUS card, but ASUS would have splashed their logo clearly on the product.

The early Rage and the late Mach64 VT chips were pin compatible, so it's possible that this was an OEM version of the All-in-wonder with a VT chip dropped in to cut costs.

Definitely a mystery.

I would send a PM to yjfy or post in this thread:
History of ATi Graphics cards Vol. 1

EDIT: Ah, he has one!
http://www.yjfy.com/museum/list.htm
http://www.yjfy.com/images/oldhard/video/M230.jpg

I'm not sure if he knows any more about it however.

Ozzuneoj wrote on 2024-05-24, 18:53:

Definitely a mystery. […]
Show full quote

Definitely a mystery.

I would send a PM to yjfy or post in this thread:
History of ATi Graphics cards Vol. 1

EDIT: Ah, he has one!
http://www.yjfy.com/museum/list.htm
http://www.yjfy.com/images/oldhard/video/M230.jpg

I'm not sure if he knows any more about it however.

Good find. He calls it a "Jianbang M230"

https://www-yjfy-com.translate.goog/museum/vi … &_x_tr_sch=http

It is, as far asI can tell, a Tekram CaptureTV M230.

How this design ended up becoming ATI AIW is a mystery I am very curious about. ATI bought Tekram? They bought this deaign?

appiah4 wrote on 2024-05-26, 05:32:

It is, as far asI can tell, a Tekram CaptureTV M230.

How this design ended up becoming ATI AIW is a mystery I am very curious about. ATI bought Tekram? They bought this deaign?

Ah! Nice!

I also found the connection between the names Jianbang and Tekram but couldn't find anything definitive to connect Tekram to the M230. Amazing that searching for "Tekram CaptureTV M230" comes up with clear pictures of this thing.

So, mystery solved... but like you said, now the mystery is how this thing lead to the start of the All In Wonder line.

EDIT: Found this...
https://pctuning-cz.translate.goog/article/hi … &_x_tr_pto=wapp

History of companies producing 3D chips - part III.: ATi Technologies […]
Show full quote

History of companies producing 3D chips - part III.: ATi Technologies

ATi Rage IIc AGP

The Rage IIc is the last clone of the Rage II series and its benefit was support for AGP. It is primarily known as the heart of the well-known All-in-Wonder AGP card, a combination of graphics and TV card with TV-out output (ImpacTV chip, resolution up to 800*600, one of the first decent TV-out encoders). The somewhat less widespread All-in-Wonder PCI (originally built around the Rage II+DVD, later on the PCI version of the Rage IIc) was ATi's first All-in-Wonder.

There is an even older generation of "All-in-Wonders". They are based on ATi Mach 64VT/VT2 and come from Tekram: Capture TV M230 and VideoCap CV-264VT2.
Tekram Capture TV M230 - at first glance indistinguishable from the ATi All-in-Wonder series

Ozzuneoj wrote on 2024-05-26, 17:46:

Ah! Nice! […]
Show full quote

appiah4 wrote on 2024-05-26, 05:32:

It is, as far asI can tell, a Tekram CaptureTV M230.

How this design ended up becoming ATI AIW is a mystery I am very curious about. ATI bought Tekram? They bought this deaign?

Ah! Nice!

I also found the connection between the names Jianbang and Tekram but couldn't find anything definitive to connect Tekram to the M230. Amazing that searching for "Tekram CaptureTV M230" comes up with clear pictures of this thing.

So, mystery solved... but like you said, now the mystery is how this thing lead to the start of the All In Wonder line.

EDIT: Found this...
https://pctuning-cz.translate.goog/article/hi … &_x_tr_pto=wapp

History of companies producing 3D chips - part III.: ATi Technologies […]
Show full quote

History of companies producing 3D chips - part III.: ATi Technologies

ATi Rage IIc AGP

The Rage IIc is the last clone of the Rage II series and its benefit was support for AGP. It is primarily known as the heart of the well-known All-in-Wonder AGP card, a combination of graphics and TV card with TV-out output (ImpacTV chip, resolution up to 800*600, one of the first decent TV-out encoders). The somewhat less widespread All-in-Wonder PCI (originally built around the Rage II+DVD, later on the PCI version of the Rage IIc) was ATi's first All-in-Wonder.

There is an even older generation of "All-in-Wonders". They are based on ATi Mach 64VT/VT2 and come from Tekram: Capture TV M230 and VideoCap CV-264VT2.
Tekram Capture TV M230 - at first glance indistinguishable from the ATi All-in-Wonder series

Great detective work. Vogons have collaboratively unearthed the origins of ATi AIW series, and I now own a copy of the first specimen 😁

appiah4 wrote on 2024-05-27, 07:01:

Ozzuneoj wrote on 2024-05-26, 17:46:

Ah! Nice! […]
Show full quote

appiah4 wrote on 2024-05-26, 05:32:

It is, as far asI can tell, a Tekram CaptureTV M230.

How this design ended up becoming ATI AIW is a mystery I am very curious about. ATI bought Tekram? They bought this deaign?

Ah! Nice!

I also found the connection between the names Jianbang and Tekram but couldn't find anything definitive to connect Tekram to the M230. Amazing that searching for "Tekram CaptureTV M230" comes up with clear pictures of this thing.

So, mystery solved... but like you said, now the mystery is how this thing lead to the start of the All In Wonder line.

EDIT: Found this...
https://pctuning-cz.translate.goog/article/hi … &_x_tr_pto=wapp

History of companies producing 3D chips - part III.: ATi Technologies […]
Show full quote

History of companies producing 3D chips - part III.: ATi Technologies

ATi Rage IIc AGP

The Rage IIc is the last clone of the Rage II series and its benefit was support for AGP. It is primarily known as the heart of the well-known All-in-Wonder AGP card, a combination of graphics and TV card with TV-out output (ImpacTV chip, resolution up to 800*600, one of the first decent TV-out encoders). The somewhat less widespread All-in-Wonder PCI (originally built around the Rage II+DVD, later on the PCI version of the Rage IIc) was ATi's first All-in-Wonder.

There is an even older generation of "All-in-Wonders". They are based on ATi Mach 64VT/VT2 and come from Tekram: Capture TV M230 and VideoCap CV-264VT2.
Tekram Capture TV M230 - at first glance indistinguishable from the ATi All-in-Wonder series

Great detective work. Vogons have collaboratively unearthed the origins of ATi AIW series, and I now own a copy of the first specimen 😁

This has become my favorite part of this hobby. Playing games with the old hardware is cool, but discovering strange things, identifying them and then tracking down as much information as possible and posting it online is a lot of fun. The icing on the cake, of course, is finding obscure stuff that doesn't seem to have much use and then finding the software\settings required to make it work or make it more useful.

On that note, it looks like there are some drivers for this card floating around various shady-looking driver download sites. Thankfully, it looks like the drivers are actually legit. I downloaded one from "driverscollection.com" and attached it to this post. I'd be curious if it gets all of the features working on your card. I scanned the zip for viruses and it seems safe. It does contain ATi related drivers.

Dec Digital AlphaServer 1000

took the board, cpu board, floppy, cd, streamer, power supply.

Greetings,

I rescued an old PC from my local Solid Waste Transfer Station's eWaste bin
It's a Proteva brand Windows 98 PC with a FIC KA-6130 motherboard, Slot 1 Pentium II 350 MHz, 128 MB RAM, Intel 740 GPU, 4GB Seagate HD, Modem, and NIC
I just got an ATI Rage 128 today to replace the Intel GPU Still looking for more information on the PC and components I've just been checking out the PC to see how it runs and what is installed
Tonight I'll be doing a complete disassemble to clean everything, it has a light smoke smell, where I can see what the NIC and Modem are plus the two CD drives

Here are some photos
https://photos.app.goo.gl/7CbTfKjgyapyhftA8

dm- wrote on 2024-05-29, 06:28:

Dec Digital AlphaServer 1000

took the board, cpu board, floppy, cd, streamer, power supply.

whats the point then, other than scrapping it for base components?

Ozzuneoj wrote on 2024-05-27, 15:07:

This has become my favorite part of this hobby. Playing games with the old hardware is cool, but discovering strange things, identifying them and then tracking down as much information as possible and posting it online is a lot of fun. The icing on the cake, of course, is finding obscure stuff that doesn't seem to have much use and then finding the software\settings required to make it work or make it more useful.

On that note, it looks like there are some drivers for this card floating around various shady-looking driver download sites. Thankfully, it looks like the drivers are actually legit. I downloaded one from "driverscollection.com" and attached it to this post. I'd be curious if it gets all of the features working on your card. I scanned the zip for viruses and it seems safe. It does contain ATi related drivers.

There's no reference to this board on TH99 or theretroweb.com.

I put some notes here: https://www.vogonswiki.com/index.php/ATI#Mach_64

I'll get the driver uploaded to vogondrivers later today.

dm- wrote on 2024-05-29, 06:28:

photo_2024-05-27_07-47-03.jpg

that's quite a range of electronics there!

Urswerks wrote on 2024-05-29, 10:38:

Greetings, […]
Show full quote

Greetings,

I rescued an old PC from my local Solid Waste Transfer Station's eWaste bin
It's a Proteva brand Windows 98 PC with a FIC KA-6130 motherboard, Slot 1 Pentium II 350 MHz, 128 MB RAM, Intel 740 GPU, 4GB Seagate HD, Modem, and NIC
I just got an ATI Rage 128 today to replace the Intel GPU Still looking for more information on the PC and components I've just been checking out the PC to see how it runs and what is installed
Tonight I'll be doing a complete disassemble to clean everything, it has a light smoke smell, where I can see what the NIC and Modem are plus the two CD drives

Here are some photos
https://photos.app.goo.gl/7CbTfKjgyapyhftA8

great find! motherboard data is here : https://theretroweb.com/motherboards/s/fic-ka-6130

would be a nice set up for all things 1990's, there's an ISA slot too

The Dell XPS 730x computer was definitely made for people that wanted to get the heaviest computer that money could buy. That's one heavy metal case. 60 lbs? You could fit most mid tower cases inside of this beast.

Unfortunately the video card and hard drives were gone.

douglar wrote on 2024-06-02, 21:30:

The Dell XPS 730x computer was definitely made for people that wanted to get the heaviest computer that money could buy. That's […]
Show full quote

The Dell XPS 730x computer was definitely made for people that wanted to get the heaviest computer that money could buy. That's one heavy metal case. 60 lbs? You could fit most mid tower cases inside of this beast.

Photo Jun 02 2024, 1 35 48 PM.jpg
Photo Jun 02 2024, 1 35 28 PM.jpg

Unfortunately the video card and hard drives were gone.

I would recommend finding and installing the modified Alienware A11? Bios for the 730x (I will see if I have the relevant Reddit thread saved still) it solves a lot of issues. The A00 bios is absolutely awful.

ODwilly wrote on 2024-06-02, 22:02:

douglar wrote on 2024-06-02, 21:30:

The Dell XPS 730x computer was definitely made for people that wanted to get the heaviest computer that money could buy. That's […]
Show full quote

The Dell XPS 730x computer was definitely made for people that wanted to get the heaviest computer that money could buy. That's one heavy metal case. 60 lbs? You could fit most mid tower cases inside of this beast.

Photo Jun 02 2024, 1 35 48 PM.jpg
Photo Jun 02 2024, 1 35 28 PM.jpg

Unfortunately the video card and hard drives were gone.

I would recommend finding and installing the modified Alienware A11? Bios for the 730x (I will see if I have the relevant Reddit thread saved still) it solves a lot of issues. The A00 bios is absolutely awful.

It has the A10 BIOS already installed, is A11 worth it? Sounds like a jet engine before the fans back off during boot. It still has the i7-920 and 12GB ram, but the gpu was gone. I was looking for a GTX 280, but the prices were high and they have a bad rep for longevity. There was a much better deal on a Quadro K5000, so I went with that. Graphics cards improved a lot between 2008 and 2014 https://gagadget.com/en/graphics-cards/geforc … s-quadro-k5000/

The computer shipped with Vista but I feel like I should go with a mega-XP build instead. Spinning disk or ssd?

douglar wrote on 2024-06-04, 21:36:

ODwilly wrote on 2024-06-02, 22:02:

douglar wrote on 2024-06-02, 21:30:

The Dell XPS 730x computer was definitely made for people that wanted to get the heaviest computer that money could buy. That's […]
Show full quote

The Dell XPS 730x computer was definitely made for people that wanted to get the heaviest computer that money could buy. That's one heavy metal case. 60 lbs? You could fit most mid tower cases inside of this beast.

Photo Jun 02 2024, 1 35 48 PM.jpg
Photo Jun 02 2024, 1 35 28 PM.jpg

Unfortunately the video card and hard drives were gone.

I would recommend finding and installing the modified Alienware A11? Bios for the 730x (I will see if I have the relevant Reddit thread saved still) it solves a lot of issues. The A00 bios is absolutely awful.

It has the A10 BIOS already installed, is A11 worth it? Sounds like a jet engine before the fans back off during boot. It still has the i7-920 and 12GB ram, but the gpu was gone. I was looking for a GTX 280, but the prices were high and they have a bad rep for longevity. There was a much better deal on a Quadro K5000, so I went with that. Graphics cards improved a lot between 2008 and 2014 https://gagadget.com/en/graphics-cards/geforc … s-quadro-k5000/

The computer shipped with Vista but I feel like I should go with a mega-XP build instead. Spinning disk or ssd?

Definitely SSD.

That would be a great setup!

douglar wrote on 2024-06-04, 21:36:

ODwilly wrote on 2024-06-02, 22:02:

douglar wrote on 2024-06-02, 21:30:

The Dell XPS 730x computer was definitely made for people that wanted to get the heaviest computer that money could buy. That's […]
Show full quote

The Dell XPS 730x computer was definitely made for people that wanted to get the heaviest computer that money could buy. That's one heavy metal case. 60 lbs? You could fit most mid tower cases inside of this beast.

Photo Jun 02 2024, 1 35 48 PM.jpg
Photo Jun 02 2024, 1 35 28 PM.jpg

Unfortunately the video card and hard drives were gone.

I would recommend finding and installing the modified Alienware A11? Bios for the 730x (I will see if I have the relevant Reddit thread saved still) it solves a lot of issues. The A00 bios is absolutely awful.

It has the A10 BIOS already installed, is A11 worth it? Sounds like a jet engine before the fans back off during boot. It still has the i7-920 and 12GB ram, but the gpu was gone. I was looking for a GTX 280, but the prices were high and they have a bad rep for longevity. There was a much better deal on a Quadro K5000, so I went with that. Graphics cards improved a lot between 2008 and 2014 https://gagadget.com/en/graphics-cards/geforc … s-quadro-k5000/

The computer shipped with Vista but I feel like I should go with a mega-XP build instead. Spinning disk or ssd?

https://www.reddit.com/r/730x/comments/8q434u … omo_edp=enabled hopefully this link works. This thread goes into the pros and cons thoroughly. In the end I ended up getting an X5670, 24gb of ddr3 1600mhz, and a RX 480 4gb running Windows 10 on 4x500gb RAID 0 SSD's. Over clocking is a chore, but the overall experience was great. As a retro-box I bet it will be amazing.

Spindle.... I am developing a suspicion that unless you keep the bits permanently dizzy and confused, they don't do what you tell them half so well. .... yah okay, that's probably paranoid... use an SSD.... just make sure you set up sleep mode so they're not awake and planning things when your back is turned.