Jasin Natael wrote on 2022-04-14, 21:18:
Are you using Windows at all? Or just DOS?
If you are using Windows 3.11 or Win95 I would try to get the MACH64 working as it has some nice high resolution modes.
If you are using pure DOS then I would use the TSENG.
2 MB was deemed very much adequate for the time but will not afford you any notion of modern Windows desktop, no matter the chip.
Video memory of 90s 2D cards is very easy to determine.
Look up the fine print of the RAM chips, you'll find the size.
But most likely, you'll have the slim beetles:
https://c7.alamy.com/comp/RFJ3B0/ati@600nm@fi … c182-RFJ3B0.jpg
- thats's 8 x 128 kB soldered on and sockets for the same, so, 2 MB max. (sorry for the disturbing photo 😉 )
Or the "flat beetles":
http://old.vgamuseum.info/images/stories/zaat … ach64ct_flq.jpg
- that's 2 MB as well.
What resolution and color depth will need what memory is also quite straightforward.
E.g. 256 colors is 2⁸ possibilities, so needs 8 bits, aka one byte.
1024 x 768 resolutions is 786432 byte or 768 kilobytes.
- that's what was accepted as a perfectly fine windows desktop into the mid 90s, if you could afford a fancy 17" monitor.
"High color" would be 16 bit and true color 24, which at 1024 x 768 will already require slightly over 2 MB.
High end cards of the time would do 1600 x 1200 in true color and eye-friendly frequency on the CRT.
For DOS games, it's merely a matter of certain quirks of some games, this list can help:
https://gona.mactar.hu/DOS_TESTS
All you cards should be quick enough for DOOM. Not quite sure about the Trident, those could be rather shitty.
Tseng ET4000 was an awesome ISA chip, the 6k was ok for windows and probably plenty fast for DOS.
Maybe Duke Nukem 3D would be more of a challenge, which obviously, if you play DOOM, you need to play as well.
Nice PCI cards of ca. 1995, the Matrox Millennium is an obvious choice for me. Four megabyte models are easy to find and still cheap in auctions. DOS speed hard to match at the time.
Your G450, some three generations later. But, Matrox being Matrox, I'd not be suprised if there are Win3.1 drivers for it. At least off label, like using the ones of the Millennium II or something.