My mystery Tseng 4K-w32i VLB card has terrible jailbars. I'm really hoping to replace it with an ATI Graphics Pro Turbo, partly because it's the card I lusted after when I built my original DX2/66. I did end up getting one eventually, and then obviously gave it away at some point, as I no longer have it. I remember the image quality being fantastic back in the day -- albeit, on a crappy 14" interlaced CRT of the time.

I don't mean to stir up controversy, but IMO, the performance gains of the Tseng are maybe a little over-emphasized. I have a DX2/66 (again) now and it's just not worth bothering with the likes of Duke 3D, Hexen, etc., because the CPU quickly becomes the bottleneck. Maybe some of you crazy kids rocking DX4/120s are doing fine 😀 .... but AFAIC, 640x480 FPS games are Pentium fodder. Ergo, PCI video.

Best option for VLB would be still S3. S3 Trio64 to be exact. Or Cirrus Logic 5434.

I have a DX2/66 (again) now and it's just not worth bothering with the likes of Duke 3D, Hexen, etc., because the CPU quickly becomes the bottleneck.

Doom is more hungry for the good VGA card though.

SirNickity wrote:

I don't mean to stir up controversy, but IMO, the performance gains of the Tseng are maybe a little over-emphasized.

I think so. ET4000 is a great chip. No doubt about it. Yet I kind of think that it is the same talk all over, as the one with 3dFX cards. Great cards for what they are, and they carry an enourmeous amount of history. Buuuuut.... Those brand's are "retro-hyped" to be more than what they actually are.

I have an ET4000-ISA, and it too has spaghetti lines. Really bad ones. And the only way to minimise it, are to use a good monitor. And then I have an ET-4000 on PCI. That delivers perfect output, without any lines.

The Serpent Rider wrote:

Best option for VLB would be still S3. S3 Trio64 to be exact. Or Cirrus Logic 5434.

I have a DX2/66 (again) now and it's just not worth bothering with the likes of Duke 3D, Hexen, etc., because the CPU quickly becomes the bottleneck.

Doom is more hungry for the good VGA card though.

For good performance in Doom and Duke3D, I always find my self, going back to the following three cards:

- Cirrus Logic CL-5446 PCI
- S3 Trio64v+ PCI
- S3 Virge 325 PCI (Number 9 brand)

Yet that is PCI cards, and PCI might not be the best choice for any Dx2-66 or Dx2-80. Feels more correct on Dx4-100 and up.

When I tested my LS-486E motherboard with pci slots and 100Mhz 486dx4 cpu, I didn't notice any performance difference in dos in benchmarks like doom and quake no matter which pci card I did put there. No matter if the card was S3 vision 864, Diamond Stealth 64, Virge GX or voodoo 3 2000. Only pci card I had that didn't post there was pci ati rage pro card.
Perhaps it would have mattered if I were to use windows in it, but I don't know.

The video card seems to matter much more in 486 that uses vlb or isa cards so testing them is much more interesting too.

Of those 3 PCI cards that I did mention, then I get aprox the same in benchmarking when dealing with LS486e as well. It is when I move into Pentium territory that I see the S3's run from the CL5446. Strange enough.... Yet the CL5446 is directly Vesa compatible, meaning that I do not have to load the Univesa TSR. So on a 486 using higher end, not the highest highend cards, then it all comes down to the choice between how much memory you want free (univesa again) and what type of image quality one personally desire. The CL5446 has a distinct warmer glow in colours compared to S3's that has a bit more contrast yet colder colours. And what people choose, is really up to them. On my Lucky Star LS-486e, I am running with a 5x86-133 and I am using the CL-5446. On my Pentium-166 I run with my S3-Trio64v+ card. And then I keep my Virge as a spare, if the Trio dies. For my 5x86-133, I have a spare 5446 as well. There might be cards out there, that have better compatibility than those I have chosen, yet I have not found any software yet, that have not run on them.

I dunno if it's the best all-arounder by my S3 805 2MB VLB has been rather adequate for what I make that old DX4-100 do.

Trio64 is probably a good choice. I also like the 968 which is only slightly slower in DOS but provides higher resolutions in Windows.

Cleaned up thread.

I would really want to find a 486 vlb motherboard that supports the fastest 486 cpus too. I have one motherboard that has isa, pci and vlb slots but for some reason having pci slots seems to mess up with performance of isa and vlb video cards, so I don't like it.
What I would want for testing is a pure isa/vlb board that supports even the fastest 133Mhz 486 cpus too and I have not found one around where I live.