Tssk, lazybones 😉

I'm not that expert on sound cards (and as for all those Rage thingies, unless you have very specific demands, take an AGP 4x universal one, or PCI, or just dump/sell them all)

I'll take a crack at SCSI and networking. Someone else will have to comment on DOS compatibility, but Win9x-onwards I'm pretty up to speed with compatibility & performance.

SCSI:
Symbios Logic SYM20403 - simple 16b ISA SCSI-2 card with narrow HD50 external connector and no bootROM.
Adaptec AHA-1520B - simple 16b ISA SCSI-2 card with internal narrow 50p and external narrow HD50 connector and bootROM
Adaptec AHA-1520B - simple 16b ISA SCSI-2 card with internal narrow 50p and external narrow HD50 connector and bootROM (same specs, different - older - PCB)
Adaptec AHA-2930 - simple 32b PCI SCSI-2 card with internal narrow 50p and external narrow HD50 connector and bootROM (apparently bundled with a Plextor device)
Adaptec AHA-2940UW - 32b PCI UW-SCSI card with narrow internal 50p and wide 68p and external wide HD68 connector and bootROM (Dell-branded)
Adaptec AHA-1510A - simple 16b ISA SCSI-2 card with internal narrow 50p and external narrow Centronics connector and no bootROM.

What's best? Well, depends entirely on your system and what you want to do with it. The AHA-2940UW is the only one of these adapters to offer Ultra-SCSI (higher clock) and Wide-SCSI (wider bus). If you have either Ultra and/or Wide devices (and a PCI bus...) this is the one to go for. The rest are all basic narrow SCSI-2. If you want to boot off SCSI, you need an adapter with a bootROM. If you don't want to boot off SCSI, the bootROM slows boot down, so it's better to have an adapter wihout one (or remove the ROM chip from one that does). Apart from that, just take what fits your bus and the connectors on your device. Nothing really special here.

Network:
I'm not going to list every card here, instead just the chipsets and/or model numbers. Exception: if one of the cards is something special. Also, some pics are too fuzzy to make out the exact chip or model, but nothing I can't identify looks too special.

NetworkEverywhere NC100/Linksys LNE100 - Basic 10/100Mbps PCI Ethernet. I strongly suspect these are relabeled Realtek RTL8139 chips.
Davicom DM9102AF - relabeled SiS900 10/100Mbps PCI Ethernet. Marginally better than the RTL8139 and as supported under DOS, but big issue with default WinXP driver (all NICs with this driver present same - incorrect - MAC address to network) so be sure to install updated drivers if running XP, particularly if you have two or more on your network.
Realtek RTL8139B - completely ubiquitous 10/100Mbps PCI Ethernet chip. Low-end, high CPU impact, but as it's an evolution of the 8029 and 8019 it's basically NE2000 compatible so good DOS support.
Realtek RTL8139C - identical to 8139B except it requires PCI 2.2, so cannot be used with older PCI systems.
Digital DEC 21140 'Tulip' - early but generally very robust and well-supported (anything from DOS to Linux to Alpha/VMS) PCI 10/100Mbps Ethernet chip.
3Com905B-TX - ubiquitous mid-range 10/100Mbps PCI Ethernet
3Com509B-TP - ubiquitous mid-range 10Mbps ISA Ethernet. Various configs available, here one with UTP only, one with UTP and AUI.
Intel 82557 (also known as Intel PRO/100) - Good, reliable PCI 10/100Mbps PCI Ethernet chip frequently seen in servers. Well supported, including DOS.
Intel 82556 (Intel EtherExpress Pro/100) - another Intel workhorse. This card with FCC-ID EJM-NPDPILA8465 looks interesting as it has a high component count and buffer RAM onboard. Can't find out more about it though...
UMC UM9003F - never seen one of these before - is there any kind of PC chip that UMC didn't make in the early 1990s? Quick google shows DOS and Win9x drivers should exist.
- and right in the middle there's an Intel 1Gbps server/workstation PCI NIC I can't read the markings on.

Nothing hugely interesting. In terms of specs, the Intel Gb is obviously the best. As for the 100Mbps performance, Intel, DEC and 3Com should be pretty equivalent with SIS and RTL less interesting. For ISA, the 3Coms are well-known and well-supported, and absolutely no idea how the UMC would perform. But it is the only one with a BNC-connector if you want to do 10Base2. In terms of compatibility, it depends on your OS. Everything should work under Win9x, most will work under DOS, and for everything else, go with either DEC or Intel.

Edit: just had a crazy idea - an all UMC-system, with everything from CPU to motherboard to VGA to I/O to LAN (and sound? probably...) being UMC.

First of all just look at the condition they have, and keep only the very factory look ones, or close to that, all other that have scratches, bended pins, strange caps, missing stickers, corrosion/rust, or hard to read chipset just remove them.
Next one is features, the parts that have better features, memory, connectors are better then the others, this is how i decide if i have 1 or more similar parts...

For example the Creative SB Live, there is one better then the others that it have gold plated jacks, that means the card is high end, while the others are not.
Keep the ESS Audio drive, as that cards are just plug and play for DOS games, while Creative is pain in A$$..
LAN cards are easy too, keep the 3Com ones, NETgear, some Intel if you have, the rest realtek just remove.
For the IDE controllers just look what have the better features, and who is the maker of the chipset...

Er, those aren't IDE, they are SCSI...

Also 3Com is overrated and their ISA PnP is a pain in the arse. Would do Intel or DEC over them any day. Netgear just uses other people's chips, including one of the Realtek ones you just slammed. Maybe look at cards better before being so quick to jump to conclusions.

The LNE100 card will likely be a DEC Tulip clone, either from Lite-On or ADMtek.

Who to know what they are, as from the picture the connectors look like IDE not SCSI, also ISA IDE controllers have similar look on the bracket with some ports........
Since when the USA, or other then china build parts are any bad ? As i can see every single USA part i have or i have seen is very well build and made, as 3Com was one of the few ISA lan brands back then..
I use 3Com PCI card on my machines and it work great, also ISA 3Com works, + do you see any better ISA lan cards there, or do you know any better then 3Com ?
About the netgear did not saw it have crap realtek on it, as i did have seen better ones..

Radical Vision wrote:

Who to know what they are, as from the picture the connectors look like IDE not SCSI, also ISA IDE controllers have similar look on the bracket with some ports........

Er, see the list I identified above your first post here. SCSI "looks like IDE" in that it uses flatcables internally, but if you google the IDs of these cards you see easily enough what they are. Plus the "SCSI BIOS" on the bootROM is a bit of a giveaway 😉

Since when the USA, or other then china build parts are any bad ? As i can see every single USA part i have or i have seen is very well build and made, as 3Com was one of the few ISA lan brands back then..
I use 3Com PCI card on my machines and it work great, also ISA 3Com works, + do you see any better ISA lan cards there, or do you know any better then 3Com ?

3Com is fine mid-range prosumer stuff, but I'd prefer Intel's ISA cards because of better (or no) PnP and better CPU offload. Plus 3Com 8-bit cards were really crap. NE1000 was much better then.

About the netgear did not saw it have crap realtek on it, as i did have seen better ones..

Netgear isn't bad, but just like 3Com it's aimed at consumer/SOHO market, and quite a few other cards here are clearly superior - the Intel and DEC ones for starters.

Thanks guys, this is exactly the kind of information I was looking for. 😀

Sorry for being lazy, its just hard to find the time or motivation to research and test every single one of these when I have so many other projects to work on. I figured that there are users on here that could do with these what I do with most other video cards and sound cards (identify the device, its capabilities and its usefulness without having to do much research).

I'll go through the network cards and pick out the ones that best fit my needs now that I know more about them. I'll probably hang onto the SCSI cards, just in case I ever decide to use one. As for the ISA sound cards, I actually have multiples of the ESS and Opti cards. The ESS card with no wavetable header or gameport is kind of lame. I'm sure it works great, but its hard to believe it was so cheap that it didn't even get a game port.

The "AV305" cm8328\crystal card is a bit of a mystery to me though. I've seen pictures of similar cards with ADI Soundport chips and Crystal chips (some calling it a Zoltrix card), but not really any mention of if they're useful in DOS. It has a lot of CD interface options and a built in volume dial, which is nifty... but I'm not sure what kind of driver this card would use. The smaller chip is a CM8328 which I can't find any information about.

Anyone know how to tell which Rage cards are faster? I know some have different memory bus widths and clock speeds, but there are so many models its hard to tell which is the best. I know none of them are great for DOS, but if I ever want to do a comparison between a few cards of that era it'd probably be good to hang on to one or two of the better cards.

Ozzuneoj wrote:

Thanks guys, this is exactly the kind of information I was looking for. 😀

Sorry for being lazy, its just hard to find the time or motivation to research and test every single one of these when I have so many other projects to work on. I figured that there are users on here that could do with these what I do with most other video cards and sound cards (identify the device, its capabilities and its usefulness without having to do much research).

I'll go through the network cards and pick out the ones that best fit my needs now that I know more about them. I'll probably hang onto the SCSI cards, just in case I ever decide to use one. As for the ISA sound cards, I actually have multiples of the ESS and Opti cards. The ESS card with no wavetable header or gameport is kind of lame. I'm sure it works great, but its hard to believe it was so cheap that it didn't even get a game port.

You mean the Compaq-branded one...? Pretty par for the course for bottom-of-the-line supermarket boxes of the era. That said, it's hardly the only one here, the PCI CT5306 'legacy free' does pretty much the same.

The "AV305" cm8328\crystal card is a bit of a mystery to me though. I've seen pictures of similar cards with ADI Soundport chips and Crystal chips (some calling it a Zoltrix card), but not really any mention of if they're useful in DOS. It has a lot of CD interface options and a built in volume dial, which is nifty... but I'm not sure what kind of driver this card would use. The smaller chip is a CM8328 which I can't find any information about.

There's some info on the capability of the chipsets here:
ftp://ftp.amiwiki.spb.ru/Dos/Distrib/Sound/so … cards%20ISA.txt

Zoltrix AP 3200 V.2 16 bit stereo, PCB-ID: AV305. CS4231(A) Codec 16-bit 48KHz, WSS Compatible, AD […]
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Zoltrix
AP 3200 V.2 16 bit stereo, PCB-ID: AV305.
CS4231(A) Codec 16-bit 48KHz, WSS Compatible, ADPCM, Full Duplex.
CMI8328 Controller+Codec, MPU-401, ?

Quite why this AV305 has a Crystal chip on it where every other one I can find (with identical PCB and distinguishing volume knob!) has the AD chips is a mystery to me as well. No idea about DOS support. Stick it in and see what happens if you try addressing it on 220 for MIDI, then on 220/5/1 for SB compatibility. I think I may have had one of these years ago (the volume knob rings a bell), and I got sound out of it - but that would have been either Linux or Win9x, so no idea about DOS. Would be surprised if something this old couldn't do anything in DOS though...

Anyone know how to tell which Rage cards are faster? I know some have different memory bus widths and clock speeds, but there are so many models its hard to tell which is the best. I know none of them are great for DOS, but if I ever want to do a comparison between a few cards of that era it'd probably be good to hang on to one or two of the better cards.

Back in the day they were all pretty 'meh', particularly due to benchmark-cheating drivers.

Here you seem to have:

Rage128 Ultra
Rage128 (not clear if GL (good) or VR (1/2 mem bus)...)
RagePro (Turbo) (the Turbo name was pure marketing, exactly the same chip as the non-Turbo)
RageIIC
Mach64 PCI

Basically that's the order in terms of performance, with the 128 either being just a bit slower than the Ultra (if GL) or just a bit faster than the Pr Turbo (if VR). I had a RagePro upgraded from 4MB to 8MB RAM as my main desktop card around 2001, it worked fine in a DFI MVP3-board with K6-2 550, feeding a Sony W900 24" widescreen monster. That setup wouldn't have won any benchmarks, but was good enough for UT99 and Civ 2, so I was happy 😉