Kahenraz wrote on 2022-03-09, 08:22:

Supposedly it used an early form of AFR. This was realistically the only way to do it because the GPUs weren't designed as a multi-chip architecture, unlike SLI.

Hmm now I want to see it in action, you said Pixel Pipes has done a video on it ?

I received these a few days ago but only got around to unpacking and cleaning. Funny to remember I did not have an IO card when I first started out and a fellow Vogoner kindly mailed me one for free to help my 486 build in 2018.. Now I think I have 8 now. I also got the sound card because it's basically the best ISA sound card I know of, so a second one was pretty welcome. Grabbed the MMX 200 because why not?

TrashPanda wrote on 2022-03-09, 08:23:

Kahenraz wrote on 2022-03-09, 08:22:

Supposedly it used an early form of AFR. This was realistically the only way to do it because the GPUs weren't designed as a multi-chip architecture, unlike SLI.

Hmm now I want to see it in action, you said Pixel Pipes has done a video on it ?

He made two videos on it.

One important takeaway is that he mentions that the dual GPU feature does not work on NT-derived operating systems.

https://youtu.be/BJfoyato1Ac
https://youtu.be/4be8HYOGrl4

*Somehow I wrote this reply in the wrong thread. I've moved it here where it belongs!

Also received this ISA VGA card in this lot. It is the most curious ISA card in my collection to be honest. Anyone know anything about this weird VGA card?

appiah4 wrote on 2022-03-09, 09:06:

Also received this ISA VGA card in this lot. It is the most curious ISA card in my collection to be honest. Anyone know anything about this weird VGA card?

I honestly didn't know Realtek ever made display adaptors.

appiah4 wrote on 2022-03-09, 09:06:

Also received this ISA VGA card in this lot. It is the most curious ISA card in my collection to be honest. Anyone know anything about this weird VGA card?

Wow, now that thing looks basic.

Much like the "we've found the very cheapest, highly integrated budget 386 board in 1993 with shitty all-plastic RAM sockets but it still doesn't have onboard VGA so what shall we do here" kind of solution.
That monster will do Windows at 640x480 and 16 different colors, what else is there to wish for?

I wonder whether it is quite as depressingly slow as the other one, that I grew up with.

I think I remember reading about this card elsewhere on the forum and the consensus being that it's a potato of a card.

Cuttoon wrote on 2022-03-09, 09:20:

appiah4 wrote on 2022-03-09, 09:06:

Also received this ISA VGA card in this lot. It is the most curious ISA card in my collection to be honest. Anyone know anything about this weird VGA card?

Wow, now that thing looks basic.

Integrated and cost reduced I would say 😀

Interesting little thing though. I wonder how much memory it has and if it is SVGA compatible.

pan069 wrote on 2022-03-09, 09:32:

Cuttoon wrote on 2022-03-09, 09:20:

appiah4 wrote on 2022-03-09, 09:06:

Also received this ISA VGA card in this lot. It is the most curious ISA card in my collection to be honest. Anyone know anything about this weird VGA card?

Wow, now that thing looks basic.

Integrated and cost reduced I would say 😀

Interesting little thing though. I wonder how much memory it has and if it is SVGA compatible.

"integrated" being the euphemism for "basic" and that for "cheap" and that for "shitty".

Those beetles, usually 128kbyte each - as i wrote, will do 640x480 at 16 colors, which is, well, plain VGA.
But even on a 386-40, try playing the floppy Tie-Fighter or UFO on the top floor of some maps and see it go!
Or, treat you to a slide show, more likely.

Cuttoon wrote on 2022-03-09, 09:39:

"integrated" being the euphemism for "basic" and that for "cheap" and that for "shitty". […]
Show full quote

pan069 wrote on 2022-03-09, 09:32:

Cuttoon wrote on 2022-03-09, 09:20:

Wow, now that thing looks basic.

Integrated and cost reduced I would say 😀

Interesting little thing though. I wonder how much memory it has and if it is SVGA compatible.

"integrated" being the euphemism for "basic" and that for "cheap" and that for "shitty".

Those beetles, usually 128kbyte each - as i wrote, will do 640x480 at 16 colors, which is, well, plain VGA.
But even on a 386-40, try playing the floppy Tie-Fighter or UFO on the top floor of some maps and see it go!
Or, treat you to a slide show, more likely.

Bold of you to assume it can do slide shows 😁

I love old hardware but for me it's 256 colors VGA or bust for graphical interfaces and 16 color EGA for text mode.

My family was given a monochrome laptop with a passive matrix LCD and I tried to play Monkey Island on it as a kid. It scarred me for life and I have never fully recovered.

Guybrush Threepwood didn't walk. He smeared himself across the screen. This experience lasted for all of about 5 minutes of NOPE.

pan069 wrote on 2022-03-09, 09:32:

Cuttoon wrote on 2022-03-09, 09:20:

appiah4 wrote on 2022-03-09, 09:06:

Also received this ISA VGA card in this lot. It is the most curious ISA card in my collection to be honest. Anyone know anything about this weird VGA card?

Wow, now that thing looks basic.

Integrated and cost reduced I would say 😀

Interesting little thing though. I wonder how much memory it has and if it is SVGA compatible.

512K and it is SVGA compatible (up to 800x600x256). Apparently it has an 8-bit memory bus and runs on XT class computers as well. It's a very slow card for even an AT I guess, but it's good for giving an XT some VGA out.. apparently?

TrashPanda wrote on 2022-03-09, 09:18:

appiah4 wrote on 2022-03-09, 09:06:

Also received this ISA VGA card in this lot. It is the most curious ISA card in my collection to be honest. Anyone know anything about this weird VGA card?

I honestly didn't know Realtek ever made display adaptors.

And I thought that Western Digital display adapters were already quite weird 😜

Tetrium wrote on 2022-03-09, 11:25:

TrashPanda wrote on 2022-03-09, 09:18:

appiah4 wrote on 2022-03-09, 09:06:

Also received this ISA VGA card in this lot. It is the most curious ISA card in my collection to be honest. Anyone know anything about this weird VGA card?

I honestly didn't know Realtek ever made display adaptors.

And I thought that Western Digital display adapters were already quite weird 😜

Well apparently Realtek didn't make these, they are Qualcom chips and Realtek bought them out or something? Weird.

Even stranger is that I apparently came across this chipset before and asked on Vogons but I swear I had no memory of it whatsoever: So Realtek made a Video chip: RTG3105iEH

That's the thread I remember reading. 😀

I couldn't remember much about it, but this one reply seemed to stick in my memory:

The Serpent Rider wrote on 2019-07-31, 17:17:

All Realtek chips are horrible

Kahenraz wrote on 2022-03-09, 11:54:

That's the thread I remember reading. 😀

I couldn't remember much about it, but this one reply seemed to stick in my memory:

The Serpent Rider wrote on 2019-07-31, 17:17:

All Realtek chips are horrible

I guess they are everywhere because they're cheap?
Any real good models by Realtek?

I remember reading in paper magazines about good sound chips but bad speakers, so bad, that they'd frustrate the potential of the integrated sound on some otherwise good laptops.

Nexxen wrote on 2022-03-09, 12:13:

I guess they are everywhere because they're cheap? Any real good models by Realtek? […]
Show full quote

Kahenraz wrote on 2022-03-09, 11:54:

That's the thread I remember reading. 😀

I couldn't remember much about it, but this one reply seemed to stick in my memory:

The Serpent Rider wrote on 2019-07-31, 17:17:

All Realtek chips are horrible

I guess they are everywhere because they're cheap?
Any real good models by Realtek?

I remember reading in paper magazines about good sound chips but bad speakers, so bad, that they'd frustrate the potential of the integrated sound on some otherwise good laptops.

Probably all of them, horrible. Yet really hard to avoid. Cheap NICs are almost synonymous.
And, technically, the "Advance Logic" range of sound chips are supposed to be rather decent and ended up being part of Realtek in '95.

appiah4 wrote on 2022-03-09, 10:04:

512K and it is SVGA compatible (up to 800x600x256). Apparently it has an 8-bit memory bus and runs on XT class computers as well. It's a very slow card for even an AT I guess, but it's good for giving an XT some VGA out.. apparently?

Oh, right - I overlooked the two fixed chips with 128k each. There I had tomatos on ze eyes, as the frenchmen use to say.
Well, you're lucky the two sockets were populated then. The OTIvga I referred to had four sockets, but only two chips. Apparently, those were still considered legal for sale as late as 1993.

Then again, that card of yours, by its reduced design, looks as late as 1995. When Matrox released the Millennium, e.g..
To produce a card with 256 kb back then was already showing some nerves...

Seller's photo but I got this on eBay for what I think was a decent price (£34)... in my excitement though I didn't realise it has no accessories so I need to find a cheap serial or parallel adapter for it!

appiah4 wrote on 2022-03-09, 10:04:

pan069 wrote on 2022-03-09, 09:32:

Cuttoon wrote on 2022-03-09, 09:20:

Wow, now that thing looks basic.

Integrated and cost reduced I would say 😀

Interesting little thing though. I wonder how much memory it has and if it is SVGA compatible.

512K and it is SVGA compatible (up to 800x600x256). Apparently it has an 8-bit memory bus and runs on XT class computers as well. It's a very slow card for even an AT I guess, but it's good for giving an XT some VGA out.. apparently?

Having VGA on an XT is quite handy I reckon

SteveC wrote on 2022-03-09, 13:19:

Having VGA on an XT is quite handy I reckon

I don't know much about XTs, but I expect this to be a valid use case, so long as there is a 16-bit ISA slot available.

Here is a period-correct VGA adapter for comparison.

Cuttoon wrote on 2022-03-09, 13:18:

Cheap NICs are almost synonymous.

What was wrong with Realtek NICs of the time? I assume you're referring to the ISA ones?