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First post, by MrYossarian

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Hello there,

I was thinking of doing a little archive as a personal project of mine, and also for compatiblity reasons with hardware, mainly in 86Box for some software too.

Pretty difficulty considering that most data from back in the days, especially in the 80s and early 90s are pretty much not archived. If anyone knows the actual date of some of the cards or want to add new cards in the list, please, let me know:

Intel 8086 5-10 MHz: 1978-06-08. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Intel_processors)
Intel 8088 4.77-8 MHz: 1979-06-01. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Intel_processors)
Intel 80286: 1982-02-02. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Intel_processors)
Intel i386DX 16 MHz: 1985-10-17. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Intel_processors)
Intel i386DX 20 MHz: 1987-02-16. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Intel_processors)
Intel i386DX 25 MHz: 1988-04-04. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Intel_processors)
Intel i386SX 16 MHz: 1988-06-16. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Intel_processors)
Intel i386SX 20-25 MHz: 1989-01-25. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Intel_processors)
Intel i386DX 33 MHz: 1989-04-10. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Intel_processors)
Intel i486DX 25 MHz: 1989-04-10. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Intel_processors)
Intel i486DX 33 MHz: 1990-05-07. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Intel_processors)
Intel i486SX 16 MHz: 1991-04-22. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Intel_processors)
Intel i486DX 50 MHz: 1991-06-24. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Intel_processors)
Intel i486SX 20-25 MHz: 1991-09-16. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Intel_processors)
Intel i486DX2 40-66 MHz: 1992-03-03. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Intel_processors)
Intel i486SX 33 MHz: 1992-09-21. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Intel_processors)
Intel i386SX 33 MHz: 1992-10-26. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Intel_processors)
Intel Pentium 60-66 MHz: 1993-03-22. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Intel_processors)
Intel Pentium 75 MHz: 1994-10-10. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Intel_processors)
Intel Pentium 90-100 MHz: 1994-03-07. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Intel_processors)
Intel Pentium 120 MHz: 1995-03-27. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Intel_processors)
Intel Pentium 133 MHz: 1995-06-12. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Intel_processors)
Intel Pentium Pro: 1995-11-01. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Intel_processors)
Intel Pentium 150-166 MHz: 1996-01-04. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Intel_processors)
Intel Pentium 200 MHz: 1996-06-10. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Intel_processors)
Intel Mobile Pentium MMX 133 MHz: 1997? Not entirely sure. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Intel_processors)
Intel Pentium MMX 166-200 MHz: 1997-01-08. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Intel_processors)
Intel Pentium II 233-300 MHz: 1997-05-07. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Intel_processors)
Intel Pentium MMX 233 MHz: 1997-06-02. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Intel_processors)
Intel Mobile Pentium MMX 166-266 MHz: 1998-01-12. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Intel_processors)
Intel Pentium II 333 MHz: 1998-01-26. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Intel_processors)
Intel Pentium II 350-400 MHz: 1998-04-15. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Intel_processors)
Intel Celeron 266 MHz: 1998-04-15. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Intel_processors)
Intel Celeron (Covington) 300 MHz: 1998-06-09. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Intel_processors)
Intel Pentium II 450 MHz: 1998-08-24. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Intel_processors)
Intel Celeron (Mendocino) 300-333 MHz: 1998-08-24. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Intel_processors)
Intel Mobile Pentium MMX 200-233 MHz: 1998-09-08. Date seems to be wrong in the wiki (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Intel_processors)
Intel Mobile Pentium MMX 300 MHz: 1999-01-07. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Intel_processors)
Intel Celeron 466 MHz: 1999? Date is unclear. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Intel_processors)
Intel Celeron 366-400 MHz: 1999-01-04. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Intel_processors)
Intel Celeron 433 MHz: 1999-03-22. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Intel_processors)
Intel Celeron 500 MHz: 1999-08-02. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Intel_processors)
Intel Celeron 533 MHz: 2000-01-04. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Intel_processors)

Central Processing Units

3Com EtherLink (3C500): October 1982. Day unknown. (Thanks to rasz_pl)
3Com EtherLink (3C501): 1986. Month and day unknown. (Thanks to rasz_pl) (https://www.os2museum.com/wp/emulating-etherlink/)
3Com EtherLink Plus (3C505): 1986. Month and day unknown. (Thanks to rasz_pl) (https://archive.org/details/bitsavers_3Com3c5 … deMay86_3677170)
3Com EtherLink/MC (3C523): 1987. Month and day unknown. (Thanks to rasz_pl) (https://www.ardent-tool.com/NIC/3c523.html)
3Com EtherLink II (3C503): 1987. Month and day unknown. (Thanks to rasz_pl)
Excelan Exos 205T: 1987. Month and day unknown. (Thanks to rasz_pl) (https://techmonitor.ai/technology/excelan_int … ork_connections)
Western Digital WD EtherCard ISA: 1987. Month and day unknown. (Thanks to rasz_pl) (https://books.google.com/books?id=MR0EAAAAMBA … epage&q&f=false)
Western Digital WD EtherCard MCA: 1987. Month and day unknown. (Thanks to rasz_pl) (https://www.ardent-tool.com/NIC/SMC_8003.html)
Novell NE1000: 1987. Month and day unknown. Released right after the WD cards according to rasz_pl (https://books.google.com/books?id=MR0EAAAAMBA … epage&q&f=false)
Novell NE2000: 1988. Month and day unknown. (Thanks to rasz_pl) (https://books.google.pl/books?id=GRIEAAAAMBAJ … =ne2000&f=false)
Western Digital WD8013EBT: 1990. Month and day unknown. (Thanks to BitWrangler)
AMD LANCE (Am1500 based): 1991. Month and day unknown. Based on date of earliest files (Thanks to rasz_pl) (https://www.driverguide.com/driver/detail.php?driverid=36017)
Western Digital WD8003E: 1991. Month and day unknown
3Com EtherLink 16 (3C507): At least 1992. Month and day unsure. (Thanks to rasz_pl) (https://hobbes.nmsu.edu/?detail=%2Fpub%2Fos2% … _1992-06-19.zip)
3Com EtherLink 16 TP (3C507): Same as above.
AMD Lance (AM2500 based): 1992. Month and day unknown. (Thanks to rasz_pl) (https://www.amd.com/system/files/TechDocs/17986.pdf & https://hobbes.nmsu.edu/?detail=%2Fpub%2Fos2% … DAm2100_1-1.zip)
Realtek RTL8002: 1993. Month and day unknown. Copyright date gives a hint (Thanks to rasz_pl) (https://android.googlesource.com/kernel/msm.g … t/realtek/atp.c)
Realtek RTL8012: Same as above.
3Com EtherLink III (3C509): At least 1994. Month and day unknown. (Thanks to rasz_pl) (https://hobbes.nmsu.edu/?detail=%2Fpub%2Fos2% … m3C5x9_3-00.zip)
Racal Interlan EtherBlaster: 1994-03-25 (http://en.techinfodepot.shoutwiki.com/w ... 00_REV_AA))
AMD PCnet-PCI II: 1995. Month and day unknown. (Thanks to dismuter) (https://stuff.mit.edu/afs/sipb/contrib/doc/sp … k/am79c970a.pdf)
Realtek RTL8009: At least 1995. Month and day unknown. (Thanks to rasz_pl) (https://hobbes.nmsu.edu/?detail=%2Fpub%2Fos2% … L_8009_1-01.zip)
Realtek RTL8019: At least 1996. Month and day unknown. (Thanks to rasz_pl) (https://www.os2site.com/sw/drivers/network/re … ek/rtl8019_.zip)
Realtek RTL8029AS: 1997-01-16? Data sheet was released in that date

Network Interface Controllers

TNDY: November 1984. Day unknown
AdLib: 1987. Month and day unknown
Creative Music System: August 1987. Day unknown
Game Blaster: 1988. Month and day unknown
Tandy PSSJ Clone: 1988. Month and day unknown
Sound Blaster v1.0: 1989. Month and day unknown
Innovation SSI-2001: April 1989. Day unknown
Sound Blaster v1.5: 1990. Month and day unknown
Sound Blaster Pro v2: 1991. Month and day unknown
Sound Blaster Pro v1: May 1991. Day unknown
Sound Blaster v2.0: October 1991. Day unknown
AdLib Gold: 1992. Month and day unknown
Sound Blaster 16: June 1992. Day unknown
Gravis Ultrasound: Early October 1992. Don't have the exact date.
Aztech Sound Galaxy Nova 16 Extra: 1994. Month and day unknown
Sound Blaster 16 PnP: 1994. Month and day unknown
Sound Blaster AWE32: March 1994. Day unknown
miroSOUND PCM10: 1995. Month and day unknown
Sound Blaster 32 PnP: 1995-06-06? Announce date according to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sound_Blaster
Sound Blaster AWE64: November 1996. Day unknown
Ensoniq AudioPCI: 1997. Month and day unknown

--------------------------
- Missing/Incertain Data -
--------------------------
AcerMagic S20: Couldn't find a date
Aztech Sound Galaxy Pro 16 AB: 1994? Found a list here but it doesn't list it http://dosdays.co.uk/topics/images/aztech_summary.png
C-Media CMI8338: 1998-05-18? Saw this random date in this PDF. Really not sure if it's for the card https://datasheetspdf.com/pdf-file/493224/C-Media/CMI8338/1
C-Media CMI8738: Couldn't find a date. Found the drivers though.
Crystal CS4235: November 1997? Datasheet was released at that time https://www.philscomputerlab.com/uploads/3/7/ … 5_datasheet.pdf
Crystal CS4236B: September 1997? Datasheet was released at that time https://retronn.de/ftp/driver/TerraTec/EWS/64XL/4236b.pdf
Sound Blaster AWE32 PnP: Couldn't find a concrete date
Sound Blaster AWE64 Gold: 1995? Why would the Gold version be earlier than the regular version
Sound Blaster AWE64 Value: Couldn't find a concrete date
Windows Sound System: February 1993? Wikipedia is saying that it's a sound card specification released at the end of 1992, but, the drivers were released in February 1993 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Sound_System)

Sound Cards

CGA: 1981. Month and day unknown
MDA: 1981. Month and day unknown
Colorplus: 1982. Month and day unknown
Hercules: 1982. Month and day unknown
Compaq CGA: March 1983. Day unknown
EGA: October 1984. Day unknown
PGC: 1984. Month and day unknown
Hercules Plus: 1986. Month and day unknown
Tseng Labs ET2000: 1986. Month and day unknown
Compaq CGA 2: 1986-02-20 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compaq_Portable_II)
Compaq EGA: December 1986. Day unknown
Hercules InColor: 1987. Month and day unknown
IBM 8514/A: 1987. Month and day unknown
SuperEGA: 1987. Month and day unknown
Tseng Labs ET3000AX: 1987. Month and day unknown
VGA: 1987. Month and day unknown
ATI EGA Wonder: March 1987. Day unknown
G2 GC205: 1988. Month and day unknown
Oak OTI-037C: 1988. Month and day unknown
Paradise PVGA1A: 1988. Month and day unknown
Tseng Labs ET4000AX: 1989. Month and day unknown
Video 7 VGA 1024i: 1989. Month and day unknown
Oak OTI-067: 1990. Month and day unknown
Trident TVGA 8900B: 1990. Month and day unknown
XGA: 1990. Month and day unknown
Western Digital WD90C11-LR: 1990-10-29? Manual was released in that date. (http://www.elektronikjk.pl/elementy_czynne/IC/WD90C11-2.pdf)
ATI VGA Charger: 1991. Month and day unknown
Cirrus Logic GD5401: 1991. Month and day unknown
Oak OTI-077: 1991. Month and day unknown
Radius SVGA Multiview: 1991. Month and day unknown
Realtek RTG3106: 1991. Month and day unknown
Western Digital WD90C30-LR: 1991. Month and day unknown
ATI VGA Wonder XL: May 1991. Day unknown
S3 86c911: 1991-06-10 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S3_Graphics)
Cirrus Logic GD5402: 1992. Month and day unknown
Cirrus Logic GD5420: 1992. Month and day unknown
Cirrus Logic GD5422: 1992. Month and day unknown
S3 86c924: 1992. Month and day unknown
Trident TVGA 8900D: 1992. Month and day unknown
Trident TVGA 9000B: 1992. Month and day unknown
Tseng Labs ET4000/w32: 1992. Month and day unknown
S3 86c801: 1992-07-27? Announce date according to http://www.vgamuseum.info/index.php/cpu/item/346-s3-86c801-r
Cirrus Logic GD5426: 1993. Month and day unknown
Cirrus Logic GD5428: 1993. Month and day unknown
S3 86c928: 1993. Month and day unknown
Tseng Labs ET4000/w32i Rev. B: 1993. Month and day unknown
S3 Vision864: 1993-11-01? Announce date according to https://www.vgamuseum.info/index.php/cpu/item … 51-s3-vision864
ATI Mach64GX: 1994. Month and day unknown
Cirrus Logic GD5429: 1994. Month and day unknown
Cirrus Logic GD5430: 1994. Month and day unknown
Cirrus Logic GD5434: 1994. Month and day unknown
S3 Trio32: 1994. Month and day unknown
S3 Trio64: 1994. Month and day unknown
S3 Vision868: 1994. Month and day unknown
S3 Vision964: 1994. Month and day unknown
Trident TGUI 9440AGi: 1994. Month and day unknown
Tseng Labs ET4000/w32p Rev. B: 1994. Month and day unknown
Cirrus Logic GD5440: 1995. Month and day unknown
S3 Vision968: 1995. Month and day unknown
nVIDIA STG-2000: 1995-05-22 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Nvidia_ … rocessing_units)
S3 Trio64V+: 1995-06-13? Announce date according to http://www.vgamuseum.info/index.php/cpu/item/359-s3-trio64v
Cirrus Logic GD5436: 1995-08-24? Announce date according to https://www.vgamuseum.info/index.php/cpu/item … logic-cl-gd5436
S3 ViRGE/VX: 1995-11-13? Announce date according to http://www.vgamuseum.info/index.php/cpu/item/366-s3-virge-vx
S3 ViRGE: 1995-11-13? Announce date according to http://www.vgamuseum.info/index.php/news/item/365-s3-virge
Cirrus Logic GD5446: 1996. Month and day unknown
ATI 3D Rage: April 1996. Day unknown
ATI Mach64VT2: 1996-05-21? Announce date according to http://vgamuseum.info/index.php/cpu/item/94-ati-mach64-vt2
S3 Trio64V2/DX: 1996-06-03? Announce date according to http://www.vgamuseum.info/index.php/cpu/item/ … -s3-trio64v2-dx
Matrox Mystique: 1996-08-14 (https://www.vogonswiki.com/index.php/Matrox_Mystique)
3dfx Voodoo Graphics: 1996-10-07 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3dfx_Interactive)
Cirrus Logic GD5480: 1996-10-28? Announce date according to https://www.vgamuseum.info/index.php/cpu/item … logic-cl-gd5480
S3 ViRGE/DX: 1996-10-28? Announce date according to http://www.vgamuseum.info/index.php/cpu/item/367-s3-virge-dx
S3 ViRGE/GX: 1996-10-28? Announce date according to http://www.vgamuseum.info/index.php/cpu/item/368-s3-virge-gx
Matrox Mystique 220: 1997. Month and day unknown.
S3 ViRGE/GX2: 1997-03-24? Announce date according to http://www.vgamuseum.info/index.php/cpu/item/ … 69-s3-virge-gx2
3dfx Voodoo Rush: August 1997. Day unknown
nVIDIA Riva 128: 1997-08-25 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Nvidia_ … rocessing_units)
Creative 3D Blaster Banshee: 1998. Month and day unknown
nVIDIA Riva 128ZX: 1998-02-23 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Nvidia_ … rocessing_units)
3dfx Voodoo 2: 1998-03-01 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3dfx_Interactive)
nVIDIA Riva TNT: 1998-06-15 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Nvidia_ … rocessing_units)
3dfx Voodoo Banshee: 1998-06-22 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3dfx_Interactive)
S3 Trio3D/2X: 1999. Month and day unknown
3dfx Voodoo3 1000: March 1999. Day unknown
nVIDIA Riva TNT2 Ultra: 1999-03-15 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Nvidia_ … rocessing_units)
nVIDIA Riva TNT2: 1999-03-15 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Nvidia_ … rocessing_units)
nVIDIA Vanta: 1999-03-22 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Nvidia_ … rocessing_units)
3dfx Voodoo3 2000: 1999-04-07 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3dfx_Interactive)
3dfx Voodoo3 3000: 1999-04-07 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3dfx_Interactive)
3dfx Voodoo3 3500 TVsi: 1999-04-07 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3dfx_Interactive)
Matrox Millennium G400 MAX: 1999-05-20 (https://www.techpowerup.com/gpu-specs/millenn … -g400-max.c3719)
Matrox Millennium G400: 1999-05-20 (https://www.techpowerup.com/gpu-specs/millennium-g400.c3720)
3dfx Voodoo3 3500 TV SE: June 1999. Day unknown
3dfx Voodoo3 3500 TV: June 1999. Day unknown
3dfx Velocity 100: 1999-06-26 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3dfx_Interactive)
ATI Rage 128 Pro: 1999-08-01 (https://www.techpowerup.com/gpu-specs/rage-128-pro.c1716)
nVIDIA Riva TNT2 M64: October 1999. Day unknown
nVIDIA GeForce 256 SDR: 1999-10-11 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Nvidia_ … rocessing_units)
nVIDIA Riva TNT2 Pro: 1999-10-12 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Nvidia_ … rocessing_units)
nVIDIA GeForce 256 DDR: 1999-12-13 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Nvidia_ … rocessing_units)
nVIDIA Vanta LT: March 2000. Day unknown
nVIDIA GeForce2 GTS: 2000-04-26 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Nvidia_ … rocessing_units)
3dfx Voodoo5 5500: 2000-06-22 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3dfx_Interactive)
nVIDIA GeForce2 MX: 2000-06-28 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Nvidia_ … rocessing_units)
nVIDIA GeForce2 Ultra: 2000-08-14 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Nvidia_ … rocessing_units)
3dfx Voodoo4 4500: 2000-10-13 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3dfx_Interactive)
nVIDIA GeForce2 Pro: 2000-12-05 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Nvidia_ … rocessing_units)

--------------------------
- Missing/Incertain Data -
--------------------------
ATI EGA Wonder 800: March 1987? Wikipedia marks ATI EGA Wonder as March 1987, but, I dunno if it applies for the other cards (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ATI_Wonder_series)
ATI EGA Wonder 800+: March 1987? Same as ATI EGA Wonder 800
ATI Korean VGA: Couldn't find anything on this
ATI-18800-5: Couldn't find anything on this
Genius VHR: No date I could find. Full name is MDSI Genius VHR
ImageManager 1024: Couldn't find anything about it
Iskra EGA: Couldn't find anything about it
NCR NGA: 1986? Really not sure if it's this card https://vgamuseum.info/index.php/component/k2 … 221-ncr-cs00684
Olivetti OGC (GO708): Could only find a PDF that explained how the card worked
Pravetz VDC-2: Couldn't find anything about it
Sigma Color 400: Couldn't find a date
Trident TGUI 9660XGi: Couldn't find a date
Trident TGUI 9680XGi: 1995-03-06? Not sure if it's the right card neither https://www.vgamuseum.info/index.php/cpu/item … rident-tgui9680
Tseng Labs ET4000/w32p Rev. C: Couldn't really find anything about the revisions date
Tseng Labs ET4000/w32p Rev. D: Couldn't really find anything about the revisions date
Wyse 700: 1980s. couldn't find an accurate year

Video Cards

If enough people are interested in this project, I might expand this on other stuff such as video cards, motherboards, CPUs, etc.

Thank you all for your time.

Last edited by MrYossarian on 2023-07-14, 20:02. Edited 7 times in total.

Reply 1 of 21, by Shponglefan

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I think this project would be worth doing. I often find myself wondering when specific h/w was released back in the day.

Usually I try to determine that from old magazines.

Pentium 4 Multi-OS Build
486 DX4-100 with 6 sound cards
486 DX-33 with 5 sound cards

Reply 2 of 21, by MrYossarian

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Shponglefan wrote on 2022-11-21, 20:25:

I think this project would be worth doing. I often find myself wondering when specific h/w was released back in the day.

Usually I try to determine that from old magazines.

Oh yeah, I agree. I think I will do a few video cards tomorrow since you're interested. Probably tomorrow. So stay tuned 😀

And hey, if you find information in the old magazines you have, lemme know, I'd like to add them in the repository 😀

Reply 3 of 21, by BitWrangler

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There were a lot of "paper" releases through the years. Meaning stuff that was announced as released 3 months before availability. Comdex "releases" could take as long as 6 months to turn up also. Then there was the opposite, several AMD CPUs turned up in retail before AMD would even admit to them existing. Usually "filler" skus, fleshing out the range.

Unicorn herding operations are proceeding, but all the totes of hens teeth and barrels of rocking horse poop give them plenty of hiding spots.

Reply 4 of 21, by Horun

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Agree BitWrangler ! Back in 1990's and 2000's it was common for a product announcement but actual OEM or retail delivery was usually weeks to months later.
Intel has used the Year- Quarter (1st, 2nd, etc or Winter, Spring, etc) method for a long time on CPU releases... IMHO getting the Year and Quarter would be more than accurate enough....

Hate posting a reply and then have to edit it because it made no sense 😁 First computer was an IBM 3270 workstation with CGA monitor. Stuff: https://archive.org/details/@horun

Reply 5 of 21, by debs3759

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MrYossarian wrote on 2022-11-22, 01:34:
Shponglefan wrote on 2022-11-21, 20:25:

I think this project would be worth doing. I often find myself wondering when specific h/w was released back in the day.

Usually I try to determine that from old magazines.

Oh yeah, I agree. I think I will do a few video cards tomorrow since you're interested. Probably tomorrow. So stay tuned 😀

And hey, if you find information in the old magazines you have, lemme know, I'd like to add them in the repository 😀

Check my website for older ATI/AMD and NVidia reference card dates.

See my graphics card database at www.gpuzoo.com
Constantly being worked on. Feel free to message me with any corrections or details of cards you would like me to research and add.

Reply 6 of 21, by rasz_pl

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https://www.os2museum.com/wp/emulating-etherlink/

3Com 10Mbps Ethernet 3C500 aka IBM Ethernet (IE) aka EtherLink is October 1982!

a03cac_005e3e9eb62b47c29265cb94a99f68aa~mv2_d_3264_2448_s_4_2.jpg

Later cost reduced, same functionality, miniaturized with ASICs:
3Com 10Mbps Ethernet 3C501 aka IE-4 aka EtherLink ~1986

Dont forget 3C200 (PDP-11 Q-Bus), 3C300 (PDP-11 Unibus) and 3C400 (Sun-2 Multibus). Afaik all based on same design as above, but for different busses/computer architectures.

Computer History Museum: Oral History of Kanwal Rekhi https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ox0e7yVgsXM (Excelan, Novell CTO) has some interesting stories about Novell, their strategies, Lite products and bonkers ideas (mormon run, trying to compete with Microsoft, hate of unix despite owning it).

Computer History Museum: Metcalfe, Bob (Robert M.) oral history https://www.computerhistory.org/collections/c … talog/102657992 https://www.computerhistory.org/collections/c … talog/102738773 3Com co-founder, and co-inventor of Ethernet 😀

But what was before Ethernet? Glad you asked. There was Aloha 😀
Computer History Museum: Celebrating 50 Years of the ALOHA System and the Future of Networking https://www.computerhistory.org/collections/c … talog/102792095 Bob Kahn and Vint Cerf of DARPA among others speak about early days of networking.

https://www.os2museum.com/wp/was-the-ne2000-really-that-bad/ and https://www.os2museum.com/wp/1987-networking- … 6-level-i-2-0a/ are also interesting read

Open Source AT&T Globalyst/NCR/FIC 486-GAC-2 proprietary Cache Module reproduction

Reply 8 of 21, by chinny22

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Plenty of people like period builds so would be useful for them.
I'm not even one of those people but sometimes have a passing interest in when something was released.

Reply 9 of 21, by BitWrangler

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MrYossarian wrote on 2022-11-21, 18:14:

Western Digital WD8013EBT: Couldn't find anything on it, so rare that Google only returned 1 result

Well it was getting FCC certified in 1990 https://fcc.report/FCC-ID/EU4WD8013EBT

Unicorn herding operations are proceeding, but all the totes of hens teeth and barrels of rocking horse poop give them plenty of hiding spots.

Reply 10 of 21, by MrYossarian

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rasz_pl wrote on 2022-11-22, 06:17:

3Com 10Mbps Ethernet 3C500 aka IBM Ethernet (IE) aka EtherLink is October 1982!

Added to the list

BitWrangler wrote on 2022-11-22, 16:01:
MrYossarian wrote on 2022-11-21, 18:14:

Western Digital WD8013EBT: Couldn't find anything on it, so rare that Google only returned 1 result

Well it was getting FCC certified in 1990 https://fcc.report/FCC-ID/EU4WD8013EBT

Updated the info.

I also added some video cards in the list as well, will add more later.
I also removed some network cards that I deemed pointless.

Reply 11 of 21, by HanSolo

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I did this for CPUs (Intel and AMD), graphics chips (NVidia, ATi, Matrox, 3dfx) and soundcards (Creative and GUS) up to 2003. My list is surely far from complete since it is only to get a rough overview for stuff that interests me. Most dates I collected from Wikipedia, only some were harder to track down

I can edit it into a nicer form and upload it here

Reply 12 of 21, by MrYossarian

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HanSolo wrote on 2022-11-22, 20:29:

I did this for CPUs (Intel and AMD), graphics chips (NVidia, ATi, Matrox, 3dfx) and soundcards (Creative and GUS) up to 2003. My list is surely far from complete since it is only to get a rough overview for stuff that interests me. Most dates I collected from Wikipedia, only some were harder to track down

I can edit it into a nicer form and upload it here

Sure, go ahead! Anything will help.

Reply 13 of 21, by MrYossarian

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I have added more video cards to the list.
I am planning on doing the S3, Trident and Tseng Labs branch tomorrow.
I will also sort them by release date as well so that people can make their picks based on the year.

Thank you all for your interest in this project.

Reply 14 of 21, by MrYossarian

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I have completed my video cards list and also sorted the network internet controllers along with the video cards as well.
I have put a section for missing/incertain data, these are priorities to find a date and such, so, if anyone is able to find anything about these, lemme know.

Reply 15 of 21, by MrYossarian

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Sorry for all the spamming, if there's better ways to announce updates, please let me know.

I have added the sound cards in the list, and I also moved a network that I really wasn't sure if the release date was correct or not.

Reply 16 of 21, by dismuter

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I'm a bit late to the party, but for the AMD PCnet-PCI II, I wonder if it wasn't released in 1995 rather than 1998.

Three hints:

  • In 1995, AMD's PCnet-PCI II device designed into HP Vectra PCs.
  • Mentions of PCnet-PCI II in february 1995
  • April 1995 datasheet marked Preliminary
  • When I asked ChatGPT "When was the AMD PCnet-PCI II released?", it replied with: "The AMD PCnet-PCI II is a network interface card (NIC) that was released by AMD (Advanced Micro Devices) in 1995.". However, when pressed to explain, it said: "When I provided the initial response stating that the AMD PCnet-PCI II was released in 1995, it was based on my understanding of the general timeline for networking technologies and AMD's product releases around that period. The mid-1990s marked a significant era for the development and adoption of Ethernet network interface cards, and 1995 seemed like a plausible year for the release of the PCnet-PCI II. However, I don't have access to specific sources to verify this information, and I apologize for any confusion caused by my response."

Reply 17 of 21, by Horun

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MrYossarian wrote on 2022-11-23, 16:41:

Sorry for all the spamming, if there's better ways to announce updates, please let me know.

I have added the sound cards in the list, and I also moved a network that I really wasn't sure if the release date was correct or not.

Any time you update a list just post a new message here, that way it gets moved back to the first page of Old Hardware 😀
Please do continue with your work, noted you have not done an update for a while and hope you are continuing your work !

Hate posting a reply and then have to edit it because it made no sense 😁 First computer was an IBM 3270 workstation with CGA monitor. Stuff: https://archive.org/details/@horun

Reply 18 of 21, by rasz_pl

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MrYossarian wrote on 2022-11-21, 18:14:

3Com EtherLink: October 1982. Day unknown. (Thanks to rasz_pl)
3Com EtherLink II: 1991? Data sheet was released in that year. Month and day unknown

As mentioned earlier there were multiple Etherlinks, its best to go by detailed designation
3C500 Etherlink 1982
3C501 still same Etherlink, just integrated into less chips. 1986 $595 https://www.os2museum.com/wp/emulating-etherlink/
3C505 EtherLink Plus 1986 ~$1000 https://archive.org/details/bitsavers_3Com3c5 … deMay86_3677170 Hi End. Intel 80186 as coprocessor on board.
3C523 Etherlink/MC 1987 https://www.ardent-tool.com/NIC/3c523.html. Different from all the other 3Com cards, Intel based.
3C503 Etherlink II 1987. DP8390 based like WD8003 and NE1000/2000.

3C507 EtherLink 16 and EtherLink 16 TP at least 1992 https://hobbes.nmsu.edu/?detail=%2Fpub%2Fos2% … _1992-06-19.zip
3C509 Etherlink III at least 1994 https://hobbes.nmsu.edu/?detail=%2Fpub%2Fos2% … m3C5x9_3-00.zip Re: 3 Com 3C509 vs RTL 8019AS ISA Ethernet

MrYossarian wrote on 2022-11-21, 18:14:

Realtek RTL8029AS: 1997-01-16? Data sheet was released in that date

RTL8002/8012 1993, printer port dongle "Copyright 1993 United States Government as represented by the Director, National Security Agency" https://android.googlesource.com/kernel/msm.g … t/realtek/atp.c
RTL8008 ???, wd8003/8013 compatible
RTL8009 at least 1995, NE2000 compatible https://hobbes.nmsu.edu/?detail=%2Fpub%2Fos2% … L_8009_1-01.zip
RTL8019 at least 1996 https://www.os2site.com/sw/drivers/network/re … ek/rtl8019_.zip

MrYossarian wrote on 2022-11-21, 18:14:

AMD PCnet-PCI II: 1998? Data sheet was released in that year. Month and day unknown.

AMD LANCE (Am1500 based) 1991 https://www.driverguide.com/driver/detail.php?driverid=36017 date of earliest files
AMD LANCE (Am2100 based) 1992 https://www.amd.com/system/files/TechDocs/17986.pdf https://hobbes.nmsu.edu/?detail=%2Fpub%2Fos2% … DAm2100_1-1.zip

Western Digital was another early ethernet chip vendor https://www.computinghistory.org.uk/det/37827 … herCard-PLUS-A/
WD EtherCard MCA 1987 https://www.ardent-tool.com/NIC/SMC_8003.html
WD EtherCard ISA 1987 $399 https://books.google.com/books?id=MR0EAAAAMBA … epage&q&f=false

MrYossarian wrote on 2022-11-21, 18:14:

Novell NE1000: 1987. Month and day unknown
Novell NE2000: 1987. Month and day unknown

NE1000 released after WD according to https://books.google.com/books?id=MR0EAAAAMBA … epage&q&f=false and at $495 but quickly went down to $395
NE2000 1988 https://books.google.pl/books?id=GRIEAAAAMBAJ … =ne2000&f=false

Excelan Exos 205T 1987 $895 https://techmonitor.ai/technology/excelan_int … ork_connections Another Hi End card with Intel 80186 onboard. Excelan was a big and important network vendor at the time.

Early 3Com cards were TERRIBLE, 500/501 are unusable. https://github.com/spotify/linux/blob/master/ … ers/net/3c501.c "Do not purchase this card, even as a joke. It's performance is horrible, and it breaks in many ways."

Open Source AT&T Globalyst/NCR/FIC 486-GAC-2 proprietary Cache Module reproduction

Reply 19 of 21, by MrYossarian

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@dismuter @Horun @rasz_pl
Many thanks to you all, you've given me motivation to work on this again. I will update the information with what you guys have said and I will go ahead and do the CPUs

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