Shreddoc wrote on 2022-05-07, 01:05:

Totes. I know A3D has merit. I'm just outlining my position on it, as someone who […]
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Shponglefan wrote on 2022-05-07, 01:00:

Shreddoc wrote on 2022-05-07, 00:50:

If 3dfx is a niche, then A3d is .. I don't know .. a tiny crack?? Certainly for those of us who spend very little time playing games from those few A3d-relevant years.

I'd give A3D a bit more credit than that, especially given some of the games that supported it (Half-Life, Jedi Knight, UT99, Deus Ex, Thief...).

It's not like it's an Adlib Gold or something. 😜

Totes. I know A3D has merit. I'm just outlining my position on it, as someone who

• doesn't play many PC games from those exact years
• doesn't appreciate FPS games to the extent that 3d sound matters
• never uses headphones.

I've got a technical appreciation for what they achieved, but practical reality is I'll probably never use it. There'll be quite a few people for whom similar applies, I'd say.

It's top-of-class for what it is, no doubts there.

Exactly, although I do play many games that support it; but I don't use EAX much either.

why so many people talking down other's purchases lately? you don't need to have "the best" stuff to have fun with retro hardware, this hobby is for enjoyment, and I'm always happy to see what other people got, may it be that ultra rare unicorn or just a cheap thing they found and wanna have fun with, this isn't supposed to be a contest :p

imi wrote on 2022-05-07, 02:51:

why so many people talking down other's purchases lately? you don't need to have "the best" stuff to have fun with retro hardware, this hobby is for enjoyment, and I'm always happy to see what other people got, may it be that ultra rare unicorn or just a cheap thing they found and wanna have fun with, this isn't supposed to be a contest :p

I have to agree especially that I own socket 470 SiS chipset mobo's people hate - GPU's with slower VRAM than the system DDR is the reason they think their mobo's suck.
Actual fact i've seen recommendations of gpu's that the target system's ram is too fast for. Set your system.ini for your memory size on win 98se and your agp arpeture behaves better but your still running on a handbrake if your system ram is faster than your GPU no matter what system.
The true gamer tunes whilst the noob crashes 🤣

Don't forget that both a Creative and an Aureal card can be issued at the same time. I happen to have a machine with an Audigy 2 ZS for EAX, Aureal Vortex 2 for A3D, Yamaha DB50XG wavetable for General MIDI, and a Sound Blaster 16 for genuine Yamaha OPL3.

Cuttoon wrote on 2022-05-06, 23:45:

Yeah, well, there are somewhat silly old brands like "ELSA" (granny baked me a VGA card!) but "Xilence" just screams "marketing […]
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TheMobRules wrote on 2022-05-06, 22:21:

Besides, a funny brand name does not necessarily mean bad quality, there's stuff like "Sparkle" (decent) or "Zippy" (very good) where dubious naming has no relation to build quality.

Yeah, well, there are somewhat silly old brands like "ELSA" (granny baked me a VGA card!) but "Xilence" just screams "marketing BS".
Took me a moment to appreciate that "Zippy" is a very serious brand, as it is the same (merged with?) as Emacs and I do own this freakish behemoth:
download/file.php?id=133615&mode=view
Now, that's a solid PSU! 😁

There's Ultra PSUs as well. Not absolutely the brightest but I remember some of them were highly regarded as good.

Ultra was TigerDirect's house brand and a lot of their electronics products were of good quality. I'm sure that a lot of it was just white label products, but they spent the time and money to make sure they what they sold was competitive.

That Xilence looks a pretty early model of the brand so likely either a Sirtec or other Chinese OEM unit. The Xilence brand was bought out by Be Quiet! apparently

Saw this Boxed Midiman MM-401 boxed for a cheap price so decided to pick it up.

I wonder if it's 100% compatible?

PcBytes wrote on 2022-05-07, 05:39:

Cuttoon wrote on 2022-05-06, 23:45:

Yeah, well, there are somewhat silly old brands like "ELSA" (granny baked me a VGA card!) but "Xilence" just screams "marketing […]
Show full quote

TheMobRules wrote on 2022-05-06, 22:21:

Besides, a funny brand name does not necessarily mean bad quality, there's stuff like "Sparkle" (decent) or "Zippy" (very good) where dubious naming has no relation to build quality.

Yeah, well, there are somewhat silly old brands like "ELSA" (granny baked me a VGA card!) but "Xilence" just screams "marketing BS".
Took me a moment to appreciate that "Zippy" is a very serious brand, as it is the same (merged with?) as Emacs and I do own this freakish behemoth:
download/file.php?id=133615&mode=view
Now, that's a solid PSU! 😁

There's Ultra PSUs as well. Not absolutely the brightest but I remember some of them were highly regarded as good.

I've owned an Ultra X-Connect 500 watt PSU since they were released and that thing has yet to let me down. I use it in my son's socket A system along with a Ultra heatsink for the CPU. Their products were good quality and relatively affordable I was sad when the brand got shuttered.

imi wrote on 2022-05-07, 02:51:

why so many people talking down other's purchases lately? you don't need to have "the best" stuff to have fun with retro hardware, this hobby is for enjoyment, and I'm always happy to see what other people got, may it be that ultra rare unicorn or just a cheap thing they found and wanna have fun with, this isn't supposed to be a contest :p

I totally and 100% agree with this! 🙂
I wanted to add more to this but tbh but I can't think of anything to add, the essence sais it all 😋

imi wrote on 2022-05-07, 02:51:

why so many people talking down other's purchases lately? you don't need to have "the best" stuff to have fun with retro hardware, this hobby is for enjoyment, and I'm always happy to see what other people got, may it be that ultra rare unicorn or just a cheap thing they found and wanna have fun with, this isn't supposed to be a contest :p

I put some of it down to this forum being very international (which I love) and some people's English might come across as if they're having a moan at what you bought when they just mean "oh yeah I used to have one of those - was a bit disappointing compared to other things on the market - but still it's fun to play with it"

Also, sometimes there's a slight back story to things - I bought a crap AST desktop a while back and a couple really rubbish other things over the years just because they meant something to me - the AST was my first PC I used in a work situation where I got paid for example.

I love seeing what people pick up. Some of it I just don't get why they'd do it, but deep down I'm a retro hoarder so I know I'd probably have done the same if it was in front of me 😁

One man's rubbish is another man's treasure 😀

Doornkaat wrote on 2022-05-06, 10:00:

Radical Vision wrote on 2022-05-06, 09:49:

psychofox wrote on 2022-05-06, 05:57:

Bought this nice little Voodoo Banshee. Since it has been sold as an unknown graphics card unknown condition, got it cheap. Luck […]
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Bought this nice little Voodoo Banshee. Since it has been sold as an unknown graphics card unknown condition, got it cheap. Luckily works like charm, nice sharp picture these cards have ! Anyone knows the manufacturer of this card?

Plus deck 2c. Strange device for converting audio casettes to mp3. I actually have not very much audio cassettes left, but since it is so cool looking device, i had to buy it 😀 Hope it has drivers for W9x.

It literally have Super sticker on it.. Is some cheap crap brand i saw them making ISA audio cards and other S3 cards and stuff.. Dont know what exactly you like in this card aside from the chipset of 3Dfx the PCB and everything scream CHEAP... Prefer Gigabyte Blue PCB Banshee or Creative 3D Blaster Banshee ot ELSA some quality brand not cheap crap.

What exactly do you reckon is bad about this card that makes it inferior to others?
The sticker on the EEPROM?

How about everything aside from the 3Dfx chip itself ? I have the same card and believe me it is just cheap crap... Sure the card is small, but i prefer bigger cards they just look better over the small ones. Also i think most collectos have enough parts to know, what quality means. For example most S3 Virge/ Trio cards are from cheap brands like this Super they feel like crap too. BUT does Diamond, Number 9, Hercules branded S3 feel like crap, well NO cuz even the PCB and the parts on the card look better. How about different colors there is Blue and black PCB Banshee and they look ALOT better then this i hate that color. And the super "brand" is cheap every single card i saw from that "brand" is just cheap and feel bad.

But dont tell me that you think Diamond Banshee will feel just as cheap as this super, as there is clear that Diamon makes one of the highest quality cards. For example do you think (lets say slot 1 boards or socket 7) PC chips, Elite Group, Shuttle are the same quality like ASUS, Gigabyte or AOpen ?!?!?
Parts like this Super feel even in my hand cheap.... Tell me do you see these 2 cards to look even as cheap as this Super ? First sign of cheap is when the manufacturer cuts the PCB by alot, means he did use even bigger garbage caps, but sadly the rest of the parts as well like mosfets, the heatsink and fan on this card is just a joke i bet it will not even cool properly..

psychofox wrote on 2022-05-06, 10:57:

Radical Vision wrote on 2022-05-06, 09:49:

It literally have Super sticker on it.. Is some cheap crap brand i saw them making ISA audio cards and other S3 cards and stuff.. Dont know what exactly you like in this card aside from the chipset of 3Dfx the PCB and everything scream CHEAP... Prefer Gigabyte Blue PCB Banshee or Creative 3D Blaster Banshee ot ELSA some quality brand not cheap crap.

Hey, the price i paid was cheap, the card works, picture is crisp, cooler is silent. And most importantly for me, it is Voodoo. What else you want from graphics card? I am building an Pentium II period PC right now, it fits there like a glove 😁

I just sell mine is nothing special, and i dont like the card. Prefer to have instead blue PCB Voodoo, Black, Diamond, Creative. IF this card was PCI YES i was going to say it have some value, but it is AGP so fk it..
Sell the card and buy a Diamond one they are way better.

bjwil1991 wrote on 2022-05-07, 08:50:

I wonder if it's 100% compatible?

nope... I had one at some point and it failed in some games (WC comes to mind)
still it is better than no "intelligent" mpu since many many other games will work just fine 😀

SteveC wrote on 2022-05-07, 10:03:

I put some of it down to this forum being very international (which I love) and some people's English might come across as if th […]
Show full quote

imi wrote on 2022-05-07, 02:51:

why so many people talking down other's purchases lately? you don't need to have "the best" stuff to have fun with retro hardware, this hobby is for enjoyment, and I'm always happy to see what other people got, may it be that ultra rare unicorn or just a cheap thing they found and wanna have fun with, this isn't supposed to be a contest :p

I put some of it down to this forum being very international (which I love) and some people's English might come across as if they're having a moan at what you bought when they just mean "oh yeah I used to have one of those - was a bit disappointing compared to other things on the market - but still it's fun to play with it"

Also, sometimes there's a slight back story to things - I bought a crap AST desktop a while back and a couple really rubbish other things over the years just because they meant something to me - the AST was my first PC I used in a work situation where I got paid for example.

I love seeing what people pick up. Some of it I just don't get why they'd do it, but deep down I'm a retro hoarder so I know I'd probably have done the same if it was in front of me 😁

One man's rubbish is another man's treasure 😀

"One man's rubbish is another man's treasure 😀"
Very well said m8, many say these old PC parts are just garbage, meanwhile me and all other HW collectors think specific parts are gold (not like these nasty scrappers) and are worthy of being saved from the garbage or someone that is whatever to him if he will destroy them. Well guess everyone is a hoarder after all, as we use to fill the whole house, wardrobes, under the bed, in the basement whatever you can think of we store parts (ofc valuable ones like exotics and high end motherboards and CPUs, not working scrap) with the time going on, the space is smaller and smaller... I dont have space for CRTs sadly... ANd i wish to have big house and 2 fuc***g rooms to take out all my computers and set them up with proper monitors for their era and be happy... Still at least i am doing God`s work (the HW god ofc) by saving the good stuff from morons that think they are garbage.. How TF can an AWE64 Gold, Voodoo card, IBM Model M or socket 8 PC be garbage ?!?!?

Radical Vision wrote on 2022-05-07, 10:30:

SteveC wrote on 2022-05-07, 10:03:

I put some of it down to this forum being very international (which I love) and some people's English might come across as if th […]
Show full quote

imi wrote on 2022-05-07, 02:51:

why so many people talking down other's purchases lately? you don't need to have "the best" stuff to have fun with retro hardware, this hobby is for enjoyment, and I'm always happy to see what other people got, may it be that ultra rare unicorn or just a cheap thing they found and wanna have fun with, this isn't supposed to be a contest :p

I put some of it down to this forum being very international (which I love) and some people's English might come across as if they're having a moan at what you bought when they just mean "oh yeah I used to have one of those - was a bit disappointing compared to other things on the market - but still it's fun to play with it"

Also, sometimes there's a slight back story to things - I bought a crap AST desktop a while back and a couple really rubbish other things over the years just because they meant something to me - the AST was my first PC I used in a work situation where I got paid for example.

I love seeing what people pick up. Some of it I just don't get why they'd do it, but deep down I'm a retro hoarder so I know I'd probably have done the same if it was in front of me 😁

One man's rubbish is another man's treasure 😀

"One man's rubbish is another man's treasure 😀"
Very well said m8, many say these old PC parts are just garbage, meanwhile me and all other HW collectors think specific parts are gold (not like these nasty scrappers) and are worthy of being saved from the garbage or someone that is whatever to him if he will destroy them. Well guess everyone is a hoarder after all, as we use to fill the whole house, wardrobes, under the bed, in the basement whatever you can think of we store parts (ofc valuable ones like exotics and high end motherboards and CPUs, not working scrap) with the time going on, the space is smaller and smaller... I dont have space for CRTs sadly... ANd i wish to have big house and 2 fuc***g rooms to take out all my computers and set them up with proper monitors for their era and be happy... Still at least i am doing God`s work (the HW god ofc) by saving the good stuff from morons that think they are garbage.. How TF can an AWE64 Gold, Voodoo card, IBM Model M or socket 8 PC be garbage ?!?!?

Not working scrap?! Erm... 😁

Radical Vision wrote on 2022-05-07, 10:18:

Doornkaat wrote on 2022-05-06, 10:00:

Radical Vision wrote on 2022-05-06, 09:49:

It literally have Super sticker on it.. Is some cheap crap brand i saw them making ISA audio cards and other S3 cards and stuff.. Dont know what exactly you like in this card aside from the chipset of 3Dfx the PCB and everything scream CHEAP... Prefer Gigabyte Blue PCB Banshee or Creative 3D Blaster Banshee ot ELSA some quality brand not cheap crap.

What exactly do you reckon is bad about this card that makes it inferior to others?
The sticker on the EEPROM?

How about everything aside from the 3Dfx chip itself ? I have the same card and believe me it is just cheap crap...

Funny how you first say that everything aside from the 3Dfx chip is basically pure crap and then sum up things like you personally just hating that PCB color and how you just like bigger cards and that this card just feels bad or something, things that have absolutely nothing to do with the actual quality of the part 🤣.

Sure the card is small, but i prefer bigger cards they just look better over the small ones. Also i think most collectos have en […]
Show full quote

Sure the card is small, but i prefer bigger cards they just look better over the small ones. Also i think most collectos have enough parts to know, what quality means. For example most S3 Virge/ Trio cards are from cheap brands like this Super they feel like crap too. BUT does Diamond, Number 9, Hercules branded S3 feel like crap, well NO cuz even the PCB and the parts on the card look better. How about different colors there is Blue and black PCB Banshee and they look ALOT better then this i hate that color. And the super "brand" is cheap every single card i saw from that "brand" is just cheap and feel bad.

But dont tell me that you think Diamond Banshee will feel just as cheap as this super, as there is clear that Diamon makes one of the highest quality cards. For example do you think (lets say slot 1 boards or socket 7) PC chips, Elite Group, Shuttle are the same quality like ASUS, Gigabyte or AOpen ?!?!?
Parts like this Super feel even in my hand cheap.... Tell me do you see these 2 cards to look even as cheap as this Super ? First sign of cheap is when the manufacturer cuts the PCB by alot, means he did use even bigger garbage caps, but sadly the rest of the parts as well like mosfets, the heatsink and fan on this card is just a joke i bet it will not even cool properly..

3Dfx Voodoo Banshee Black front.jpg
3Dfx Voodoo Banshee front.jpg
20200512_174249.jpg
20200512_174223.jpg

^explanation of why this card is objectively trash or something^

Radical Vision wrote on 2022-05-07, 10:18:

psychofox wrote on 2022-05-06, 10:57:

Radical Vision wrote on 2022-05-06, 09:49:

It literally have Super sticker on it.. Is some cheap crap brand i saw them making ISA audio cards and other S3 cards and stuff.. Dont know what exactly you like in this card aside from the chipset of 3Dfx the PCB and everything scream CHEAP... Prefer Gigabyte Blue PCB Banshee or Creative 3D Blaster Banshee ot ELSA some quality brand not cheap crap.

Hey, the price i paid was cheap, the card works, picture is crisp, cooler is silent. And most importantly for me, it is Voodoo. What else you want from graphics card? I am building an Pentium II period PC right now, it fits there like a glove 😁

I just sell mine is nothing special, and i dont like the card. Prefer to have instead blue PCB Voodoo, Black, Diamond, Creative. IF this card was PCI YES i was going to say it have some value, but it is AGP so fk it..
Sell the card and buy a Diamond one they are way better.

And this is just full elitist bs right there.
Wouldn't it be great if you could just accept when someone else is happy about something that just doesn't fit into your own street just because you don't like the size and PCB color of that (in your personal and totally subjective opinion) dick..err I mean graphics card?

SteveC wrote on 2022-05-07, 10:45:

Radical Vision wrote on 2022-05-07, 10:30:

SteveC wrote on 2022-05-07, 10:03:

I put some of it down to this forum being very international (which I love) and some people's English might come across as if th […]
Show full quote

I put some of it down to this forum being very international (which I love) and some people's English might come across as if they're having a moan at what you bought when they just mean "oh yeah I used to have one of those - was a bit disappointing compared to other things on the market - but still it's fun to play with it"

Also, sometimes there's a slight back story to things - I bought a crap AST desktop a while back and a couple really rubbish other things over the years just because they meant something to me - the AST was my first PC I used in a work situation where I got paid for example.

I love seeing what people pick up. Some of it I just don't get why they'd do it, but deep down I'm a retro hoarder so I know I'd probably have done the same if it was in front of me 😁

One man's rubbish is another man's treasure 😀

"One man's rubbish is another man's treasure 😀"
Very well said m8, many say these old PC parts are just garbage, meanwhile me and all other HW collectors think specific parts are gold (not like these nasty scrappers) and are worthy of being saved from the garbage or someone that is whatever to him if he will destroy them. Well guess everyone is a hoarder after all, as we use to fill the whole house, wardrobes, under the bed, in the basement whatever you can think of we store parts (ofc valuable ones like exotics and high end motherboards and CPUs, not working scrap) with the time going on, the space is smaller and smaller... I dont have space for CRTs sadly... ANd i wish to have big house and 2 fuc***g rooms to take out all my computers and set them up with proper monitors for their era and be happy... Still at least i am doing God`s work (the HW god ofc) by saving the good stuff from morons that think they are garbage.. How TF can an AWE64 Gold, Voodoo card, IBM Model M or socket 8 PC be garbage ?!?!?

Not working scrap?! Erm... 😁

Well i call working scrap stuff like most ASSrock boards, ECS boards, PChips, Super part, all 478 board aside from the exotic ones (sush as MSI Platinum, ABIT ect), low parts Celerons, Sempron, cards like TNT 2 M64 (jesus i hate this card) GEforce II MX200/400, GEforce 4 MX, GEforce FX5200, Radeon 9200, about most ATi Rage cards and others. These are part that are working but they are just scrap to me, die to them being just low end, not high end or something special. Ofc i dont trow working parts to scrappers, i just sell them to ppl that are not like me collection only the best, and with to money buy cool stuff.

BTW to be PC HW hoarder is hard for most men, die to them having a wife or gf, many did divorse, as they cant collect parts die to their wifes trowing stuff on the garbage, and not accepting the hobby of the men. Got cool parts from ppl that did have no choice but to trow the parts on the garbage or sell them, die to their wifes being females, they will never understand us..

Radical Vision wrote on 2022-05-07, 10:55:

SteveC wrote on 2022-05-07, 10:45:

Radical Vision wrote on 2022-05-07, 10:30:

"One man's rubbish is another man's treasure 😀"
Very well said m8, many say these old PC parts are just garbage, meanwhile me and all other HW collectors think specific parts are gold (not like these nasty scrappers) and are worthy of being saved from the garbage or someone that is whatever to him if he will destroy them. Well guess everyone is a hoarder after all, as we use to fill the whole house, wardrobes, under the bed, in the basement whatever you can think of we store parts (ofc valuable ones like exotics and high end motherboards and CPUs, not working scrap) with the time going on, the space is smaller and smaller... I dont have space for CRTs sadly... ANd i wish to have big house and 2 fuc***g rooms to take out all my computers and set them up with proper monitors for their era and be happy... Still at least i am doing God`s work (the HW god ofc) by saving the good stuff from morons that think they are garbage.. How TF can an AWE64 Gold, Voodoo card, IBM Model M or socket 8 PC be garbage ?!?!?

Not working scrap?! Erm... 😁

Well i call working scrap stuff like most ASSrock boards, ECS boards, PChips, Super part, all 478 board aside from the exotic ones (sush as MSI Platinum, ABIT ect), low parts Celerons, Sempron, cards like TNT 2 M64 (jesus i hate this card) GEforce II MX200/400, GEforce 4 MX, GEforce FX5200, Radeon 9200, about most ATi Rage cards and others. These are part that are working but they are just scrap to me, die to them being just low end, not high end or something special. Ofc i dont trow working parts to scrappers, i just sell them to ppl that are not like me collection only the best, and with to money buy cool stuff.

BTW to be PC HW hoarder is hard for most men, die to them having a wife or gf, many did divorse, as they cant collect parts die to their wifes trowing stuff on the garbage, and not accepting the hobby of the men. Got cool parts from ppl that did have no choice but to trow the parts on the garbage or sell them, die to their wifes being females, they will never understand us..

That last paragraph made me actually laugh because it's so true - I've now got myself a shed to hide me and my junk in - no women allowed! 😀

Radical Vision wrote on 2022-05-07, 10:18:

How about everything aside from the 3Dfx chip itself ? I have the same card and believe me it is just cheap crap... Sure the ca […]
Show full quote

Doornkaat wrote on 2022-05-06, 10:00:

Radical Vision wrote on 2022-05-06, 09:49:

It literally have Super sticker on it.. Is some cheap crap brand i saw them making ISA audio cards and other S3 cards and stuff.. Dont know what exactly you like in this card aside from the chipset of 3Dfx the PCB and everything scream CHEAP... Prefer Gigabyte Blue PCB Banshee or Creative 3D Blaster Banshee ot ELSA some quality brand not cheap crap.

What exactly do you reckon is bad about this card that makes it inferior to others?
The sticker on the EEPROM?

How about everything aside from the 3Dfx chip itself ? I have the same card and believe me it is just cheap crap... Sure the card is small, but i prefer bigger cards they just look better over the small ones. Also i think most collectos have enough parts to know, what quality means. For example most S3 Virge/ Trio cards are from cheap brands like this Super they feel like crap too. BUT does Diamond, Number 9, Hercules branded S3 feel like crap, well NO cuz even the PCB and the parts on the card look better. How about different colors there is Blue and black PCB Banshee and they look ALOT better then this i hate that color. And the super "brand" is cheap every single card i saw from that "brand" is just cheap and feel bad.

But dont tell me that you think Diamond Banshee will feel just as cheap as this super, as there is clear that Diamon makes one of the highest quality cards. For example do you think (lets say slot 1 boards or socket 7) PC chips, Elite Group, Shuttle are the same quality like ASUS, Gigabyte or AOpen ?!?!?
Parts like this Super feel even in my hand cheap.... Tell me do you see these 2 cards to look even as cheap as this Super ? First sign of cheap is when the manufacturer cuts the PCB by alot, means he did use even bigger garbage caps, but sadly the rest of the parts as well like mosfets, the heatsink and fan on this card is just a joke i bet it will not even cool properly..

3Dfx Voodoo Banshee Black front.jpg
3Dfx Voodoo Banshee front.jpg
20200512_174249.jpg
20200512_174223.jpg

psychofox wrote on 2022-05-06, 10:57:

Radical Vision wrote on 2022-05-06, 09:49:

It literally have Super sticker on it.. Is some cheap crap brand i saw them making ISA audio cards and other S3 cards and stuff.. Dont know what exactly you like in this card aside from the chipset of 3Dfx the PCB and everything scream CHEAP... Prefer Gigabyte Blue PCB Banshee or Creative 3D Blaster Banshee ot ELSA some quality brand not cheap crap.

Hey, the price i paid was cheap, the card works, picture is crisp, cooler is silent. And most importantly for me, it is Voodoo. What else you want from graphics card? I am building an Pentium II period PC right now, it fits there like a glove 😁

I just sell mine is nothing special, and i dont like the card. Prefer to have instead blue PCB Voodoo, Black, Diamond, Creative. IF this card was PCI YES i was going to say it have some value, but it is AGP so fk it..
Sell the card and buy a Diamond one they are way better.

Sorry, but there is no objective argument to be found here.
You prefer the look and feel of other cards, ok, but that's just personal preference, right?
I for one like the small footprint of that card and how it is a welcome variation on the many cards that more or less clone the reference PCB. It may even be suitable for a low profile build. That's a plus in my book. Yes, the Gigabyte Banshee has one of the prettiest PCBs but that doesn't make it a better card or this card crap. Btw. coming up with a new design adds cost to the production. I assume(!) the smaller PCB also necessitates two more layers which would mean the PCB itself is more expensive to manufacture than the reference PCB.
I the choice of through hole capacitors may also be due to the samller PCB: SMD pads are larger on the layer they're on than through holes for functionally equivalent caps at the capacitances that are necessary here. This may give better options for trace routing. Either way assembly had to be done by hand so this smaller PCB is most likely not a cost cutting measure.
Next the card has active cooling, a feature that some of the cards you seem to hold in higher regard do not have.
Also the card you posted has some of the fastest VRAM I've seen on a Banshee if I'm right in assuming the 'AQ-7' print indicates a 7ns rating.