nzoomed wrote on 2025-12-12, 21:47:

For ISA, I believe the WD90C31 is the best performing one overall, i just found one in my stash i acquired so will be interested to try it out in my 386.
CL-GD5430, as others have mentioned is a very good chip too, available both for ISA and VLB

WD90C31 was ok for 1992 and was very compatible with early graphics standards . I owned one at the time. Speedstar 24x. I replaced it with a mach32 later that year becuase I couldn’t make the diamond video card work with OS/2. Generic WD90C31 drivers didn’t seem to work. However those 1992 cards were out classed by the 64 bit ISA cards that came out in 1994. The mach64 and the 5434 were faster for graphical interfaces and could do high-res true color.

Good benchmarks here, too bad they dont have a cl-gd5434

https://www.vgamuseum.info/index.php/benchmarks

The vgamuseum is a great source of info, but the benchmarks are focusing on agp, pci, isa adapters.
I put some effort towards benchmarking of VLB graphics cards here - hope you find the information there interesting.
Also, when it comes to vlb and video decoding - notice the VideoLogic 928Movie 99HG card - it is an interesting beast.

As for “best” ISA cards - this is simple. There are two cards based on CirrusLogic GD-5434, 2Mb - one by STB and another by Diamond.
Their only problem is that they dont work on 286 machines.

pshipkov wrote on 2025-12-13, 06:30:

...

As for “best” ISA cards - this is simple. There are two cards based on CirrusLogic GD-5434, 2Mb - one by STB and another by Diamond.
Their only problem is that they dont work on 286 machines.

Why would that be a problem?

I am not sure. They just dont seem to work on less than 386.

pshipkov wrote on 2025-12-13, 06:30:

There are two cards based on CirrusLogic GD-5434, 2Mb - one by STB and another by Diamond.

There's an Orchid Kelvin 64 as well.

pshipkov wrote on 2025-12-13, 08:25:

I am not sure. They just dont seem to work on less than 386.

It's about Address latching/buffering.

The manual of the WD90C31 has a page that describes the differences of most 286's to 386's and what needs to be changed. This is only specific to this card.

VGA cards compatible with both would have address latch/buffer chips.

Makes sense. This is most likely the reason. Thanks Mike.

douglar wrote on 2025-12-13, 02:57:

WD90C31 was ok for 1992 and was very compatible with early graphics standards . I owned one at the time. Speedstar 24x. I rep […]
Show full quote

nzoomed wrote on 2025-12-12, 21:47:

For ISA, I believe the WD90C31 is the best performing one overall, i just found one in my stash i acquired so will be interested to try it out in my 386.
CL-GD5430, as others have mentioned is a very good chip too, available both for ISA and VLB

WD90C31 was ok for 1992 and was very compatible with early graphics standards . I owned one at the time. Speedstar 24x. I replaced it with a mach32 later that year becuase I couldn’t make the diamond video card work with OS/2. Generic WD90C31 drivers didn’t seem to work. However those 1992 cards were out classed by the 64 bit ISA cards that came out in 1994. The mach64 and the 5434 were faster for graphical interfaces and could do high-res true color.

Good benchmarks here, too bad they dont have a cl-gd5434

https://www.vgamuseum.info/index.php/benchmarks

Ive been using a WD90C30 in my 386 and it made a huge difference compared to the old trident card I had been using, Jazz jackrabbit was jumpy prior.
I reference those benchmarks a bit, but it doesnt tell you much about the real world performance/compatibility.
I just found a WD90C31 which is supposed to be the same chip, just with extra GUI acceleration features added, so is probably why some recommend it as a good overall card.
But it seems that if you are all about games, you have to make a tradeoff between game performance in DOS or windows, is there any ISA card that can do it all?
Thats why I was told to steer clear of the ET4000 in favor of the WD90C30, as few games were specifically written for it to take advantage of its acceleration, no harm in trying it though, i have noticed the odd glitch in some games that ive never experienced before on other computers, not sure if its graphics card or something else.
Ive also got a CL-GD5430 but the computer wont boot with it, so not sure if its a fault, am yet to try in other computers, I dont know what difference there is with most of those cirrus logic chips, if you look at the benchmarks with the models GD5420 to 28, they all read the same score. Would be interesting to see where the 5430 or 5434 stack up.
There seem to be quite a number who recommend the 5434, and would be keen to try one if i ever get my hands on one, someone here released an open source PCB to build your own card using this chip, could be work a go.

I use a S3 Trio64 2mb VLB (Diamond Stealth 64 DRAM T) in my 486 DX4/100 and it seems like a good card for both DOS & Windows. I don't feel the need to change it.

For ISA the ET4000 works well for me 😀

mwdmeyer wrote on 2025-12-14, 00:32:

I use a S3 Trio64 2mb VLB (Diamond Stealth 64 DRAM T) in my 486 DX4/100 and it seems like a good card for both DOS & Windows. I don't feel the need to change it.

For ISA the ET4000 works well for me 😀

That is a very nice card! No reason to upgrade at all.

nzoomed wrote on 2025-12-13, 21:36:

I just found a WD90C31 which is supposed to be the same chip, just with extra GUI acceleration features added, so is probably why some recommend it as a good overall card.
But it seems that if you are all about games, you have to make a tradeoff between game performance in DOS or windows, is there any ISA card that can do it all?

FWIW, a WD90c31 is perfectly fine (it has the fastest blitter scores out of all ISA cards on a 286) for Windows if you are focusing on games that rely on blitter operations, which is the large majority of games. Where the WD90c31 falls flat compared to other GUI accelerator cards is poor line drawing for anything that isn't a straight horizontal or vertical line, but it's greatest weakness is that the WD90c30/31 has the worst font rendering speed out of all ISA cards that hit the limit of DOS performance - even the ET4000 and Trident 8900D beat it by a fair margin.

If you really want the most out of Windows 3.1 for a 10% tradeoff on games that used unchained VGA modes like Jazz and Doom, look into a VRAM mach32 or a S3 928 card.

Thats why I was told to steer clear of the ET4000 in favor of the WD90C30, as few games were specifically written for it to take advantage of its acceleration, no harm in trying it though, i have noticed the odd glitch in some games that ive never experienced before on other computers, not sure if its graphics card or something else.

Feel free to list those games - I am relatively confident that it would be because of the ET4000.

Ive also got a CL-GD5430 but the computer wont boot with it, so not sure if its a fault, am yet to try in other computers, I dont know what difference there is with most of those cirrus logic chips, if you look at the benchmarks with the models GD5420 to 28, they all read the same score. Would be interesting to see where the 5430 or 5434 stack up.

I have extensive Windows 3.1 benchmarks on a 24Mhz 286 with 12Mhz ISA bus on a Headland HT18 motherboard for GD5420 and GD5429 specifically (with both use the same driver, GD5422 v1.1 - there aren't many drivers for Cirrus Logic which are 286-compatible), and the performance between the two is fairly significant - there's a ~20% performance difference in line drawing and some blitter operations at 640x480x256, and that difference increases to ~45% at 1024x768x256. I do have the rest of the GD542x cards in ISA (except for GD5426) but I haven't extensively benchmarked those yet.

The GD5430 is the worst performing PCI card that is relatively common. There are super rare early PCI cards that are worse, but at least the GD5430 is relatively easily obtainable if you're deliberately seeking a "how inefficient can we go" build.

There seem to be quite a number who recommend the 5434, and would be keen to try one if i ever get my hands on one, someone here released an open source PCB to build your own card using this chip, could be work a go.

Honestly, just get a GD5429 unless you really care about GDI performance in Windows 3.1 that isn't related to blitter. You'll get better DirectDraw performance with a GD5429 compared to a GD5434.

DEAT wrote on 2025-12-14, 22:11:

FWIW, a WD90c31 is perfectly fine (it has the fastest blitter scores out of all ISA cards on a 286) for Windows if you are focusing on games that rely on blitter operations, which is the large majority of games. Where the WD90c31 falls flat compared to other GUI accelerator cards is poor line drawing for anything that isn't a straight horizontal or vertical line, but it's greatest weakness is that the WD90c30/31 has the worst font rendering speed out of all ISA cards that hit the limit of DOS performance - even the ET4000 and Trident 8900D beat it by a fair margin.

If you really want the most out of Windows 3.1 for a 10% tradeoff on games that used unchained VGA modes like Jazz and Doom, look into a VRAM mach32 or a S3 928 card.

OK, so looks like overall its still a good option. I think I might have a mach32 somewhere, but I definitely have a VLB card with an ATI chip. Could be a good option on my 486.

DEAT wrote on 2025-12-14, 22:11:

Feel free to list those games - I am relatively confident that it would be because of the ET4000.

Sorry, I was not very clear in my last post, it was my WD90C30 that I was experiencing these glitches with, mostly Apogee titles from what I can tell, commander keen, secret agent, etc. Its a bit jittery when scrolling across, thats all, nothing major, but ive had it better.

DEAT wrote on 2025-12-14, 22:11:

I have extensive Windows 3.1 benchmarks on a 24Mhz 286 with 12Mhz ISA bus on a Headland HT18 motherboard for GD5420 and GD5429 specifically (with both use the same driver, GD5422 v1.1 - there aren't many drivers for Cirrus Logic which are 286-compatible), and the performance between the two is fairly significant - there's a ~20% performance difference in line drawing and some blitter operations at 640x480x256, and that difference increases to ~45% at 1024x768x256. I do have the rest of the GD542x cards in ISA (except for GD5426) but I haven't extensively benchmarked those yet.

Oh well, I wont worry too much about this card then! I have plenty of VLB cards with these chips, but none in ISA.

DEAT wrote on 2025-12-14, 22:11:

Honestly, just get a GD5429 unless you really care about GDI performance in Windows 3.1 that isn't related to blitter. You'll get better DirectDraw performance with a GD5429 compared to a GD5434.

OK, I will look out for one, I have far more options for 486 computers, but want to throw in the best thing I can for this 386 of mine.

nzoomed wrote on 2025-12-10, 11:12:

An S3 805 is a good option if you can find one.

I have one of these, are they really so rare?

DundyTheCroc wrote on 2025-12-16, 12:01:

I have one of these, are they really so rare?

S3 805 cards aren't rare.
Less common than VLB Cirruses and Tridents, but not rare either.

This is an interesting time capsule-

https://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~andrewm/D … eo-card_faq.txt

From: boogyman@xs4all.nl (Boogyman)
Subject: Video Card FAQ
Date: 1 Feb 1995 00:27:56 GMT
Summary: Lies?
Keywords: vga, svga, video card, benchmark, chipset

95-01-31

This is a faq on PC video cards, with an emphasis on hardware (chipsets)
and performance. It is intended to be clear, informative and truthful.
However, it is also critical and many comments are the opinion of a FAQ
contributor.

Additions/corrections are welcome. Some missing information is flagged
with a question mark. Send to boogyman@xs4all.nl.

Sections:
Current Graphics Chipsets
Card Model Names
DRAM vs. VRAM
DOS Performance (with detailed results)
GUI Benchmarks
Monitor Timing

You are especially encouraged to send in benchmark results. I really mean
that. Grab VIDSPEED (on any simtel mirror, e.g. oak.oakland.edu:
/pub/msdos/screen/vidspd40.zip) and send in some data.

Remember that 64-bit video cards with one megabyte DRAM are very inhonestly
marketed. They perform and function like 32-bit cards, and are easily
three times slower in raw accelerated graphics than the 2Mb versions,
which *do* use a 64-bit interface to video memory.

Current Graphics Chipsets
-------------------------
Alliance
Little known new chipset maker. Has 64-bit DRAM chipset with video
support (Promotion 3210), used on Spider Graphics Pro-Vision 64.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
ARK Logic
New chipset; chips used in Hercules Stingray Pro and 64.
ARK1000PV VLB/PCI, 32-bit DRAM. Excellent bus interface.
Very efficient, aggressive DRAM timing.
ARK2000PV 64-bit DRAM. Supports 1600x1200 with high-end
DAC.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
ATI
High-end accelerators, based on 8514 design.
ATI-Mach8 Old, 8514-compatible
ATI-Mach32 32-bit chip, supports 64-bit interface to
video memory with 2Mb. Supports both DRAM and VRAM.
ATI-Mach64 64-bit chip. VLB speced at 33 MHz.

Verdict

Performance: Fairly good previous generation performance
(Mach32). Mach64 very fast (with VRAM similar
to S3-964, similar to S3-864 with DRAM).
DOS perf: Mach32 fair, depends on card design.
Mach64 uncertain (VGA mediocre).
Max. resolutions depend on RAMDAC and memory type.
Max. res 8bpp: 1280x1024 @ 72 Hz (VRAM)
Max. res 16bpp: 1024x768 @ 70 Hz (VRAM)
Max. res 24bpp: 800x600 @ 72 Hz (VRAM)
BIOS: Unknown.
Picture: Unknown.

Pricing

ATI-Mach64 2Mb VRAM $300?
ATI Xpression (Mach64 2Mb DRAM) $200?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Avance Logic, Inc.
Connection with Acer Labs, Inc. is confusing; it seems they
both claim the 'ALI' acronym.

Low end chipsets, fairly common for PCI. 32-bit DRAM?
ALG-2101
ALG-2228 VLB
ALG-2301 PCI
ALG-2302 PCI
ALG-2308
ALG-2401

Acer Labs chip:
ALI-3145 VESA/PCI, interleaved DRAM.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cirrus Logic, Inc.
Low-to-mid-end DRAM-based cards (accelerated), some laptop chipsets.
Integrates video card components into one chip (built-in RAMDAC
and clock generators). The 5426/8 has been the most common low-end
VLB card chipset for a good while.

CL-GD542x series
32-bit DRAM interface, 16-bit host bus interface.
Acceleration: Fill, scroll, hardware cursor.
Max dot clock at 256 colors is 80 MHz.
First generation VLB cards.

CL-GD5420 Old, no truecolor DAC.
CL-GD5422 Has truecolor DAC.
CL-GD5424 VLB support.

The following chips have a 'BitBLT engine', which implies
better acceleration (opaque move, invert, text).

CL-GD5426 BitBLT chip. ISA, VLB. Max 2Mb.
CL-GD5428 Slightly enhanced version of the 5426.
CL-GD5429 Faster version, MMIO (4th Q 1994).

Verdict

Performance: Fair, drops off at high resolutions/refresh,
16bpp OK. Gains with CPU.
DOS perf: Fair for first generation local bus
chipset. Mediocre by current standards.
Max. res 8bpp: 1024x768 @ 72 Hz (1280x1024 interlaced, 5426+)
Max. res 16bpp: 800x600 @ 60 Hz (1024x768 interlaced, 5426+)
Max. res 24bpp: 640x480 @ 60 Hz
Max mem. clock: 50 MHz, 5429: 60 MHz
Max dot clock: 5426/8: 85 MHz 8bpp, 45+ MHz 16bpp, 26+ MHz 24bpp
5429: 85 MHz 8bpp, 50 MHz 16bpp, 28 MHz 24bpp
BIOS: VESA BIOS support built-in, problematic.
Picture: Depends on card implementation. Good
designs crisp, bad ones fuzzy.

Pricing

Generic 5424/5428 cards can be as low as $60/$80.
Brand-name (e.g. Diamond SpeedStar Pro) $100.

Notes

Upgrade to 2Mb buys very little (interlaced modes only).

CL-GD543x/4x series ('Alpine')
64-bit internal acceleration. 64-bit DRAM interface on
5434 but only with 2Mb memory. Good 32-bit host
interface (5434 PCI interface very good). More or less
compatible with 5426/8.

CL-GD5430 'Budget' version. Limited to 32-bit DRAM interface,
even with 2Mb. A bit faster than the 542x.
CL-GD5434 Has 64-bit interface to DRAM with 2Mb memory. Good
speed. Good truecolor acceleration.
CL-GD5434-E Supports higher memory clock (60 MHz).
CL-GD5440 [announced] Video support.

Verdict

Performance: With 32-bit interface to video memory: fair, faster
than 5426.
With 64-bit interface to video memory: very good.
Looses a bit on blits in benchmarks, otherwise
good all-round (5434).
DOS perf: Good, but not maximally configured (VLB). PCI very
good (burst mode).
Max. res for 5430 and 5434/1Mb is same as 542x.
Max. res 8bpp: 1280x1024 @ 60 Hz
Max. res 16bpp: 1024x768 @ 75 Hz
Max. res 24bpp: 800x600 @ 60 Hz (32-bit pixels). 800x600 @ 72 Hz
possible with fast enough DRAM timing.
Max mem. clock: 5434 50 MHz, 5434 rev. E+/5430 60 MHz.
Max dot clock: 5430: 85 MHz 8bpp, 50 MHz 16bpp
5434: 108 MHz 8bpp, 85 MHz 16bpp, 45+ MHz 32bpp
5434E: 50 MHz 32bpp
BIOS: VESA BIOS support built-in. Reasonable.
Picture: OK. VLB debatable.

Pricing

Generic cards unknown, should be below S3-864.
Brand-name: Orchid Kelvin 64 2Mb $180.

Notes

CL-GD5434 often equipped with only 1Mb, which severely cripples
performance.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
IIT (AGX)

VRAM-based accelerators, some cheap. Has some similarities
with IBM XGA. Discontinued.

AGX-015
AGX-016 64-bit DRAM

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Oak Technologies Inc.

Low-end SVGA chipsets.

OTI-067 Old SVGA chipset, 512K max.
OTI-077 SVGA chipset, 1Mb max. Slow.
OTI-087 Accelerated, 2Mb max. Not very fast.

Pricing

OTI-087 VLB $60.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
S3, Inc.

Well-established for high-end PC graphics chipsets. Has moved into
low-to-mid-end market. Generally efficient accelerators. Wide variation
in card designs (RAMDAC, clock generators etc.). Acceleration interface
based on IBM 8514. 8xx chips are DRAM-based, 9xx VRAM-based.

First Generation

S3-911 Original S3 chip, VRAM-based. Very poor DOS
performance.
S3-924 Bug fix of S3-911, can support 24bpp.

Second Generation

S3-801 ISA, 32-bit DRAM interface. Good acceleration
(drops off a bit at high resolutions), better
than Cirrus 5426/8.
S3-805/805p Local bus version, mostly 16-bit host interface.
Currently (2nd half 1994) low-end VLB.
S3-805i Supports interleaved memory with 2Mb DRAM.

S3-928 Previous generation high-end chipset; 32-bit
interface to VRAM for drawing.

Trio32 (732) Integrated chip with 32-bit DRAM interface.
Part of S3's ambition to take over the low-end
market? Based on 864 core?

64-bit Vision series

S3-864 64-bit DRAM interface with 2Mb memory. 64-bit
acceleration. Variation in RAMDACs. Very good
performance with 2Mb. Unbalanced host interface.
S3-964 64-bit VRAM interface. Very fast, high resolution/
color depth.
Trio64 (764) Integrated version of S3-864 (built-in RAMDAC),
not driver-compatible with S3-864.
S3-868 [announced] Enhanced 864 with video support.
S3-968 [announced] Enhanced 964 with video support.

Verdict

Performance: S3-801/805: Good for a 32-bit card.
S3-928: Very good.
S3-864: Very good with 2Mb memory, limited with 1Mb.
S3-964: Superb.
DOS perf: 801/805: Fair, local bus OK, depends on card design.
928: Very good; depends on card.
864: Reasonably fast (very fast in 320x200, slow in
SVGA modes).
964: Mediocre for a high-end chipset (low res OK).
Max. resolutions depend on RAMDAC and memory timing.
Max. res 8bpp: 1280x1024 @ 60-72 Hz
Max. res 16bpp: 1024x768 @ 60-90 Hz
Max. res 24bpp: 800x600 @ 60-70 Hz
Max mem. clock: 864, Trio32: 65 MHz Trio64: 70 MHz
Max dot clock: 864: 135+ MHz 8bpp, 95 MHz 16bpp, 47.5 MHz 32bpp
Trio64: 135+ MHz 8bpp, 80 MHz 16bpp, 80 MHz 32bpp
BIOS: Unknown.
Picture: Unknown. Depends on design and DAC.

Pricing

Generic 801/805 $80.
Generic S3-864 1Mb $100, 2Mb $145.
Brand-name S3-864 2Mb: $200?
S3-964 2Mb: $250.

Notes

S3-864 takes a big performance hit with only 1Mb (very misleading
marketing). Variation in memory timing (speed) between different
S3-864 cards.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Trident Microsystems

Long-established low-end chipsets. Very poor performance, but very cheap.

TVGA8900C Old ISA, SVGA. Extremely poor performance.
TVGA9000 512K only, very poor.
TVGA8900CL Supports local bus, but very slow.
TVGA9200Cxr Local bus, slow.
TVGA9400CXi Supports 2Mb, truecolor. May have acceleration.
TVGA9420 ?
TGUI9440AGi Aggressive DRAM timing, accelerated, much quicker.

Verdict

Performance: Miserable. Recent VLB accelerators better but
still below par. 9440 may be considered first
Trident chip that is not sub-standard.
DOS perf: Extremely poor (8900C). Local bus better.
Max. resolutions unknown.
Max mem. clock: TGUI9440: 70 MHz
BIOS: Unknown.
Picture: Unknown.

Pricing

Generic ISA/VLB/PCI 1Mb, $60/$70/$90.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tseng Labs, Inc.

ET4000 well-established non-accelerated chipset. W32 series accelerated.
ET4000/W32i and W32p support smart 32-bit interleaved memory interface
with 2Mb DRAM installed, yielding 85% of the video memory bandwidth of a
64-bit interface.

ET4000AX Old ISA chipset, VLB OK (16-bit host interface,
good response).

W32 series

ET4000/W32 Accelerated, 32-bit host interface. 32-bit memory
interface. Fair performance, comparable to
Cirrus 5426.
ET4000/W32i Improved acceleration, supports interleaved memory
with 2Mb. Very fast blits.
ET4000/W32p Improved acceleration, better host bus interface
support (incl. PCI). Special video support.

Verdict

Performance: W32: Mediocre, comparable to Cirrus 5426.
W32i/p with 1Mb: Fair.
W32i/p with 2Mb: Very good, very fast blits.
DOS perf: Very good, but depends on card design. Not very
good on PCI?
Max. resolutions depend on RAMDAC.
Max. res 8bpp: 1280x1024 @ 72 Hz
Max. res 16bpp: 1024x768 @ 72 Hz (W32p)
Max. res 24bpp: 800x600 @ 72 Hz (24-bit pixels).
Unknown (32-bit pixels).
Max mem. clock: W32p: 50 MHz (Tseng), 65 MHz (other source)
BIOS: VESA BIOS support built-in, not all. Unknown.
Picture: Unknown.

Pricing

Generic ET4000/W32p $100, with 2Mb $150.

Notes

ET4000/W32i and W32p take big advantage of second Mb of memory.
Reputation for good DOS performance, but varies a bit between
card designs.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
UMC

UMC 8710 PCI, 32-bit interleaved DRAM, accelerated.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Weitek

High-end VRAM accelerators.

P9000 Old, 32-bit VRAM-interface for drawing?
P9100 Current version.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Western Digital (Paradise)

Long-established SVGA chipsets. 32-bit DRAM, some accelerated.

WD90C30 SVGA chipset, 32-bit DRAM interface (1Mb).
WD90C31 Has acceleration (comparable to Cirrus 5426).
WD90C33 Newer version, max 2Mb.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Card Model Names
----------------
This list is intended to also include model names of more generic-type cards.
Cards that are more or less obsolete are marked 'Obs'.

1        Name                            Chip            Bus
2Obs     Actix GraphicsEngine 32         S3-801/805      ISA
3        Actix GraphicsEngine 32i        S3-805i?        VLB
4        Actix GraphicsEngine 64         S3-864
5        Actix GraphicsEngine Ultra      S3-964?
6Obs     Actix ProStar VL                CL-GD5426/8     VLB
7        Actix ProStar64                 CL-GD5434       PCI
8        Actix Ultra+                    S3-928          ISA
9        ALG5434(E) (Pro)                CL-GD5434(E)    PCI
10Obs     ATI 8514 Ultra (no VGA)         ATI-Mach8       ISA
11        ATI AX0                         ATI-Mach32      PCI
12Obs     ATI Graphics Ultra              ATI-Mach8       ISA
13        ATI Graphics Ultra Pro (VRAM)   ATI-Mach32      ISA/EISA/VLB/PCI
14        ATI Wonder
15        ATI Ultra Plus (DRAM)           ATI-Mach32      ISA/VLB/PCI
16        ATI Ultra XLR                   ATI-Mach32      VLB
17        ATI Expression (DRAM)           ATI-Mach64      VLB/PCI
18        ATI GUP Turbo/WinTurbo (VRAM)   ATI-Mach64      VLB/PCI
19Obs     Acumos AVGA3                    CL-GD5422/4/6   ISA/VLB
20        AVGA4VL                         CL-GD5428       VLB
21        Boca Vortex                     IIT AGX-015?    VLB
22Obs     Cardex Cobra                    ET4000/W32i
23        Cardex Challenger               ET4000/W32p     VLB
24        Cardex Challenger Pro           ET4000/W32p     PCI
25        Cardex Power 64                 S3-864
26        Cardex Thunder Pro 64           CL-GD5434       PCI
27        CCS Labs MaxPower               P9000/32
28        DFI-WG1000                      CL-GD5422/6/8   ISA/VLB
29        DFI-WG2000                      ALG-2301?       PCI
30        DFI-WG5000                      ET4000/W32p     PCI
31        DFI-WG6000                      WD90C33         VLB
32Obs     Diamond SpeedStar (Plus/24)     ET4000AX        ISA
33Obs     Diamond SpeedStar 24X           WD90C31         ISA/?
34        Diamond SpeedStar Pro           CL-GD5426/8     ISA/VLB
35        Diamond SpeedStar 64            CL-GD5434       ISA/PCI
36        Diamond SpeedStar Pro SE (1)    CL-GD5430/4     VLB/PCI
37Obs     Diamond Stealth VRAM            S3-911/924      ISA
38        Diamond Stealth 24              S3-801/805      ISA/VLB
39Obs     Diamond Stealth Pro             S3-928          ISA/VLB
40        Diamond Stealth 32 (5)          ET4000/W32p     VLB/PCI
41        Diamond Stealth 64 DRAM         S3-864/Trio64   VLB/PCI
42        Diamond Stealth 64 DRAM Video   S3-868          VLB/PCI
43        Diamond Stealth 64 VRAM         S3-964          VLB/PCI
44        Diamond Stealth 64 VRAM Video   S3-968          VLB/PCI
45        Diamond Viper Pro               Weitek P9100    VLB/PCI
46        EIZO VRAM?                      IIT AGX-015     VLB
47        ELSA Winner 1000                S3-928          ISA/PCI
48        ELSA Winner 1000PRO             S3-864
49        ELSA Winner 2000                S3-928          VLB
50        ExpertColor DSP6430             C&T-64300DGX?   VLB
51Obs     Genoa 8500VL(-28)               CL-GD5426/8     ISA/VLB
52        Genoa 8900 Phantom 32i          ET4000/W32i/p   VLB/PCI
53        Genoa Phantom 64i               S3-864          VLB/PCI
54        Hercules Dynamite Power         ET4000/W32i/p
55        Hercules Dynamite Pro           ET4000/W32i/p   ISA/VLB
56Obs     Hercules Graphite Pro           IIT AGX-014/5/6 ISA/VLB
57Obs     Hercules Graphite Power         IIT AGX-016     ISA/VLB/PCI
58        Hercules Stingray               ALG-2228/2301   VLB/PCI
59        Hercules Stingray Pro           ARK1000PV       VLB/PCI
60        Hercules Stingray 64            ARK2000PV       PCI

61        Hercules Graphite Terminator 64 S3-964          VLB/PCI
62        Intel 5430                      CL-GD5430       PCI
63        LeadTek WinFast S200 (4)        ET4000/W32p     PCI
64        Matrox MGA Ultima               Matrox          VLB/PCI
65        Matrox MGA Ultima +             Matrox          VLB/PCI
66        Matrox MGA Impression           Matrox          VLB/PCI
67        Metheus 928-4M                  S3-928          VLB
68Obs     Miro Crystal 8S                 S3-805          VLB
69        Miro Crystal 10SD               S3-801/805
70Obs     Miro Crystal 16S                S3-928          VLB
71        Miro Crystal 20SD               S3-864 (3)?     VLB/PCI
72        Miro Crystal 20SV               S3-964          VLB
73Obs     Number Nine GXE                 S3-928          ISA/VLB
74        Number Nine GXE 64 (3)?         S3-864/Trio64   VLB/PCI
75        Number Nine GXE 64 Pro          S3-964          VLB/PCI
76        Number Nine GXE 64 Pro 1600     S3-964
77Obs     Octek AVGA2                     CL-GD5420       ISA
78Obs     Orchid Celsius                  AGX             VLB
79Obs     Orchid Fahrenheit 1280          S3-911(924?)    ISA
80Obs     Orchid Fahrenheit 1280+         S3-801/805      ISA/VLB
81Obs     Orchid Fahrenheit VA            S3-801/805      ISA/VLB
82        Orchid Fahrenheit 64            S3-864?         VLB/PCI
83        Orchid Fahrenheit Pro 64        S3-964?         VLB/PCI
84        Orchid Kelvin EZ                CL-GD5430?      VLB/PCI
85        Orchid Kelvin 64                CL-GD5434       ISA/VLB/PCI
86Obs     Paradise Accelerator Value      OTI-087
87        Paradise Accelerator 24         WD90C31?
88        Paradise VL3000                 WD90C31?        VLB
89        Paradise VL-Plus                WD90C33?        VLB
90        Sigma Concorde                  ET4000/W32i     VLB
91        SPEA/V7 Mirage VEGA Plus        ALG-2228        VLB
92        SPEA/V7 Mercury                 S3-928          VLB
93        SPEA/V7 Mirage P64              S3-864          VLB/PCI
94        Spider VLB Plus                 CL-GD5428       VLB
95        Spider Tarantula 64             S3-964          VLB
96        Spider Graphics Pro-Vision 64   Alliance-3210
97        Spider 64                       CL-GD5434       VLB/PCI
98Obs     STB Powergraph X-24             S3-801/805      ISA/VLB
99        STB Powergraph/V                S3-868
100Obs     STB Horizon                     CL-GD5426/8     ISA/VLB
101        STB ?                           CL-GD5430       PCI
102        STB Pegasus                     S3-928          VLB
103        STB LightSpeed                  ET4000/W32i/p   VLB
104        STB Nitro                       CL-GD5434       ISA/PCI
105        STB Velocity 64V                S3-968
106        Techworks Thunderbolt           ET4000/W32p     VLB
107        Techworks WarpVL-1              S3-864?
108        Techworks WarpVL-2              S3-864?
109        VG-8000 WH                      WD90C33?
110        VI720                           CL-GD5434       PCI
111        VideoMagic PCI V864             S3-864          PCI
112        VidTech FastMax P20             S3-864
113        ViewTop PCI                     ET4000/W32p     PCI

Notes
(1) The Diamond SpeedStar (Pro) SE is CL-GD5430 based, local bus.
(2) S3-864 with 60 MHz MCLK.
(3) S3-864 with 50 MHz MCLK.
(4) Reported to have slower DOS performance than some other PCI
ET4000/W32p-based cards.
(5) Probably uses quite aggressive chip/memory timing.

DRAM vs. VRAM
-------------
Video cards need to access video memory for two purposes:

- Refreshing the monitor screen from the picture stored in video memory.
- Drawing graphics into video memory.

With dual-ported VRAM memory, both tasks can be performed simultaneously.
With DRAM memory, graphics drawing is blocked while memory is read for
monitor refresh (this usually happens with burst reads into a so-called
CRT FIFO buffer).

There is a maximum amount of video memory that can be accessed by the card
in one second. This is called video memory bandwidth. On a VRAM-based card,
all available memory bandwidth is available for drawing since it is
undisturbed by monitor refresh. On a DRAM-based card, the video memory
bandwidth left for drawing is the total video memory bandwidth subtracted
by the bandwidth used for monitor refresh. If monitor refesh takes up
a large portion of the bandwidth, graphics performance goes down steeply.

With 32-bit video memory access (which is the case with a 1Mb DRAM-based
card, including so called 64-bit ones), the video memory bandwidth is
typically something from 90 to 120 Mb/s. With 64-bit video memory access
(which is the case with 64-bit 2Mb DRAM-based cards, and 64-bit VRAM-based
cards), the video memory bandwidth is doubled (about 200 Mb/s).

For a mode like 1024x768x256 with 80 Hz refresh, the amount of bandwidth
taken up by monitor refresh is approximately 1024 * 768 * 80 = 63 Mb/s,
which with overhead added works out to about 75 Mb/s of video memory
bandwidth.

The overall situation for 1024x768x256 NI looks like this:

1                        1Mb DRAM    2Mb DRAM    1Mb VRAM    2Mb VRAM
2                        32-bit (*)  64-bit      32-bit      64-bit
3
4Total bandwidth:        100 Mb/s    200 Mb/s    100 Mb/s    200 Mb/s
5Refresh bandwidth:       75 Mb/s    75 Mb/s      75 Mb/s     75 Mb/s
6
7Left for drawing:        25 Mb/s    125 Mb/s    100 Mb/s    200 Mb/s

(*) Includes so-called 64-bit cards with 1Mb DRAM.

The amount of bandwidth left for drawing pretty much corresponds to
raw graphics primitive performance. As you can see the 1Mb DRAM-based
card is seriously impaired compared to the 2Mb DRAM and VRAM configurations.

For 64-bit 2Mb DRAM cards, resolutions like 1024x768x16bpp and 800x600x32bpp
leave relatively little bandwidth for drawing, leaving for example 50 Mb/s,
whereas a VRAM-based card can use the full 200 Mb/s.

Here's a table that shows the drawing bandwidth for typical non-interlaced
resolutions on different memory configurations:

1        Resolution:             800     1024    1280    1024    800
2                                600     768     1024    768     600
3        Pixel depth:            8bpp    8bpp    8bpp    16bpp   32bpp
4        Refresh bandwidth:      50      75      125     150     180
5                  MCLK: Total
61Mb DRAM (32-bit)   50  100      50      25       -       -       -
71Mb DRAM (32-bit)   60  120      70      45       -       -       -
81Mb DRAM (32-bit)   70  140      90      65       -       -       -
91Mb DRAM (32-bit)   80  160     110      85       -       -       -
102Mb DRAM (32-bit i) 50  170     120      95      45      20       -  (1)
112Mb DRAM (32-bit i) 60  205     155     130      80      55      25
122Mb DRAM (64-bit)   50  200     150     125      75      50      20
132Mb DRAM (64-bit)   60  240     190     165     115      90      60
142Mb DRAM (64-bit)   70  280     230     205     155     130     100
152Mb DRAM (64-bit)   80  320     270     245     195     170     140
16
171Mb VRAM (32-bit)   50  100     100     100       -       -       -
182Mb VRAM (32-bit)   50  100     100     100     100     100     100  (2)
192Mb VRAM (64-bit)   50  200     200     200     200     200     200
202Mb VRAM (64-bit)   80  320     320     320     320     320     320

(1) 32-bit interleaved memory access (e.g. ET4000/W32p).
(2) 32-bit access for drawing, but 64-bit access for monitor refresh.
Typical of previous-generation high-end VRAM accelerators.

Different 1Mb and 2Mb DRAM configurations are listed, with increasingly
aggressively timed memory (50, 60, 70 or 80 MHz memory clock (MCLK)).
Current 70ns fast-page DRAMs are clocked up to 60 MHz, 60ns up to 70 MHz,
although the DRAM stability is debatable (probably needs rigorous
testing). The new EDO fast-page DRAMs support 80 MHz MCLK.
Some 2Mb S3-864-based cards use a 60 MHz MCLK, while other S3-864's and
CL-GD5434's are more conservatively timed (50 MHz MCLK).

As far as DOS performance (host bus transfers) is concerned, note that
there is generally enough video memory bandwidth available to handle
a good bus speed in all but the very highest resolutions.
However, it all depends on how smart the host bus interface on the card is.
A DRAM card will need a very good CPU write buffer to avoid waits when video
memory is unavailable due to monitor refresh. Some recent DRAM chipsets
have a good host bus interface, while some VRAM chipsets haven't been
optimized to do better than the reasonable scores delivered by VRAM with
a relatively simple bus interface.

VLB vs. PCI
-----------
The Vesa Local Bus is a strongly tied to the 486 bus interface, and
usually very directly connected to the CPU. As a result, variation
in timing between different CPU's is problematic and makes very quick
response to writes (3 cycles or less) very difficult to implement
consistently on an adapter card. A lot depends on the VLB logic on
the motherboard. With a good card VLB can sustain 4 cycle 32-bit
writes at 33 MHz; with zero-wait state setting on some cards it can
approach 2 cycles per write (but this may be unreliable as mentioned).

The VLB standard includes burst-mode, but I'm not sure if it is
actually usable. A higher clock such as 50 MHz helps, but the benefit
is reduced by the need to insert extra cycles (waitstates). Many VLB
cards behave as a 16-bit host bus interface card in some or all video
modes, so that 32-bit writes are twice as slow as they should be.

The PCI bus is independent of the CPU, and runs at a fixed speed
(30/33 MHz), so that cards can depend on relatively stable timing.
The PCI standard includes a buffer between the CPU and the bus
(the so-called CPU-to-PCI-buffer), the implementation of which
varies greatly between different motherboard designs (some poor
ones simply don't have one or it is disabled). With a decent
implementation, the CPU can continue its calculations immediately
after a write to the bus, which takes place in the background. This
can be beneficial for animation that writes directly to the screen,
rather than copying large bitmaps from system memory.

The PCI burst mode standard is better established, but you need
a pretty good CPU-to-PCI-buffer for burst-mode writes to be generated.
Apparently this is even more difficult with the bus interface of a
Pentium. Burst mode does seem to be essential for good PCI throughput.
PCI video card chipsets that support burst mode should be much faster
than others. Typical rates are 5 or 6 cycles per write without burst-
mode on a good chipset (e.g. Intel Saturn (486) chipset without
burst-mode, about 25 Mb/s throughput), while a good burst mode
implementation can bring it up to an average approaching 2 cycles per
write (60 Mb/s). All this assumes a PCI card with a good write buffer
that is able to receive accesses most of the time.

Here's a little table of the expected throughput with different cycle
timings, for groups of 4 32-bit writes (burst-mode or not). Note that
the card types mentioned are assumed to have maximized bus performance
(no delays).

1Cycles          Speed   Max Throughput
24-4-4-4         33 MHz  33 Mb/s         Good VLB card at 33 MHz
34-4-4-4         40 MHz  40 Mb/s         Good VLB card at 40 MHz
45-5-5-5         50 MHz  40 Mb/s         Good VLB card at 50 MHz
53-3-3-3         33 MHz  44 Mb/s         VLB zero-wait state? at 33 MHz (6)
64-4-4-4         50 MHz  50 Mb/s         Good VLB card at 50 MHz
72-2-2-2?        33 MHz  67 Mb/s         VLB zero-wait state at 33 MHz (5)
8
99-9-9-9         33 MHz  15 Mb/s         Poor PCI system
106-6-6-6         33 MHz  22 Mb/s         PCI without burst-mode (1)
115-5-5-5         33 MHz  27 Mb/s         PCI without burst-mode (2)
128-1-1-1/5-2-2-2 33 MHz  48 Mb/s         Typical for Pentium design
137-1-1-1/4-2-2-2 33 MHz  53 Mb/s
146-1-1-1/3-2-2-2 33 MHz  59 Mb/s         486 design with burst mode (3)
155-1-1-1/2-2-2-2 33 MHz  67 Mb/s         Theoretical max. for 33 MHz 486
163-1-1-1         33 Mhz  89 Mb/s         Adapter card burst (4)
172-1-1-1         33 MHz  107 Mb/s        Max. for 4-word burst
18x-1-1-1-1-...   33 MHz  133 Mb/s        Theoretical max. for 32-bit PCI

(1) Intel Saturn with CPU-to-PCI-buffer disabled.
(2) Intel Saturn with burst-mode disabled.
(3) Intel Saturn with burst-mode enabled.
(4) A good card supporting burst-mode may support this (one-shot at
least), but would take quite some CPU-to-PCI-buffer to sustain.
(5) 57/62 Mb/s observed on Cirrus Logic GD5434 VLB programmed to zero
wait-state.
(6) 42 Mb/s observed on ET4000/W32p VLB.

Note that the idea that VLB at 40 or 50 MHz is faster than PCI is a fallacy.

DOS Performance
---------------

The term 'DOS performance' is meant as a general indication of
write-images-over-host-interface performance, with special
interest to low-res VGA modes, as used by DOS games.

VIDSPEED is a good indicator of raw bus transfer speed (unlike 3dbench
and, god forbid, 'Landmark'). It measures the throughput of writing constant
pixel data to video memory over the bus in graphics modes, and is more or
less CPU-independent. Here's a table of results, in kilobytes per second,
for typical modes with both 16-bit and 32-bit writes. A vidspeed number
of '17011W' means 17 Mb/s for writes.

Results so far (sorted on score):

Low Res Modes

1Card and bus                            320x200 320x200 360x480 360x480
2                                        16-bit  32-bit  16-bit  R 8-bit Score
3Herc. Stingray Pro (ARK) PCI 1Mb P100   26340   48907   23530    2207   46.98
4Hercules Dynamite Power 2MB VLB DX2/66  22200   44401   16000    3700   41.18
5Genoa Phantom 64 2M (S3-864) PCI P90    19835   36571   17924    1563   35.26
6Genoa Phantom 64 2M (S3-864) VLB DX2/66 22230   33032   16300    2086   35.15
7ET4000/W32p (2Mb) VLB DX2/66            16650   33300   16408    3780   33.65
8Diamond Stealth 32 2MB VLB DX2/66       16667   33368   15128    3657   33.05
9Mercury X1/VL 2Mb (S3-805i) VLB DX2/80  19980   29204   15445    2488   32.33
10D. Stealth 64 DRAM (Trio64) PCI P90     19835   30739   15149    1525   31.78
11Spea Mirage P64 (S3-864) 2Mb PCI P100   22051   27863   13806    1754   31.65
12Cirrus Logic 5434 2Mb VLB SX/40         18024   35929    9460    2655   31.62
13Diamond Stealth 64 DRAM PCI P90         19859   29879   14804    1699   31.48
14Cirrus Logic 5434 2Mb VLB SX/33         16318   32572    9064    2406   28.85
15Diamond Stealth Pro 2Mb (928) VLB DX/50 24380   16667    8333    2767   27.39
16Diamond Stealth 64 VRAM 2Mb VLB DX2/66  19073   22629   10081    2039   26.56
17Diamond Stealth 64 DRAM 1Mb PCI P90     18575   22914   10146    1519   25.88
18ATI Mach32 2Mb VLB DX2/66               13298   26597    8579    2886   24.93
19S3-805 VLB DX2/66                       20634   12064    6030    2316   21.93
20Cirrus Logic 5426 VLB SX/33             12497   12497    9839    2534   18.96
21Diamond Stealth 24 (S3-805) VLB         15922   11077    5546    2391   18.59
22LightSpeed W32p (1Mb) PCI DX2/66         7396   14800    7397    2655   15.97
23Cirrus Logic 5428 VLB DX2/66             9508    9508    9223    2383   15.58
24Orchid Fahrenheit 1280+ 1Mb VLB DX2/66  10126    9002    5177    1943   13.69
25Trident 9200Cxr 1Mb VLB SX/25            6619    7386    4859    1303   10.17
26ET4000 ISA DX/33                         5259    6311    5261    1255    9.03
27Diamond SpeedStar Pro ISA DX/40          5191    5191    5192    1409    8.67
28Diamond Viper PCI 2Mb (Oak VGA) P100     4517    4608    2956    1223    6.95
29Number 9 Imagine 128 PCI P60             3211    4044    3211     557    5.38
30ET4000 ISA                               3145    3145    3146     944    5.34
31Diamond Viper SE PCI P90                 2716    3173    2183     845    4.61
32Trident 8900 ISA                         2941    3006    1167     904    4.33

SVGA Modes

1Card and bus                            640x480   640x480   640x480x16M
2                                        16-bit    32-bit    32-bit    Score
3Diamond Stealth Pro 2Mb (928) VLB DX/50 24415     48901     48759     48.85
4Hercules Dynamite Power 2MB VLB DX2/66  22186     44373     44373     44.37
5Herc. Stingray Pro (ARK) PCI 1Mb P100   24997     45953     17203     41.01
6Diamond Viper PCI 2Mb (Oak VGA) P100    12573     40320     40223     37.26
7Cirrus Logic 5434 2Mb VLB SX/40         17843     35687     30946     34.73
8ET4000/W32p (2Mb) VLB DX2/66            16656     33346     33346     33.33
9Diamond Stealth 32 2MB VLB DX2/66       16656     33346     33346     33.33
10Mercury X1/VL 2Mb (S3-805i) VLB DX2/80  19991     40031      1049     32.22
11Cirrus Logic 5434 2Mb VLB SX/33         15444     30889     26923     30.09
12Diamond Stealth 24 (S3-805) VLB         15360     30720     14726     27.52
13Diamond Stealth 64 VRAM 2Mb VLB DX2/66  19235     19235     19191     23.07
14ATI Mach32 2Mb VLB DX2/66               13312     26624         0     21.29
15Genoa Phantom 64 2M (S3-864) PCI P90    18492     18616     10104     20.58
16Genoa Phantom 64 2M (S3-864) VLB DX2/66 17080     17080      8681     18.81
17Diamond Stealth 64 DRAM PCI P90         17097     17080      8659     18.81
18D. Stealth 64 DRAM (Trio64) PCI P90     16557     16557     10615     18.68
19Spea Mirage P64 (S3-864) 2Mb PCI P100   15588     15588      7242     17.03
20LightSpeed W32p (1Mb) PCI DX2/66         7398     14804     14804     14.80
21Cirrus Logic 5426 VLB SX/33             13238     13238      6725     14.58
22Diamond Stealth 64 DRAM 1Mb PCI P90     11895     11887      7700     13.43
23Cirrus Logic 5428 VLB DX2/66             9508      9508      7350     10.97
24S3-805 VLB DX2/66                        5570     11144      7119     10.33
25Orchid Fahrenheit 1280+ 1Mb VLB DX2/66   5539     11078      6632     10.18
26Trident 9200Cxr 1Mb VLB SX/25            7155      8348      6260      9.12
27Diamond SpeedStar Pro ISA DX/40          5191      5191      5191      6.22
28ET4000 ISA DX/33                         5259      6312         0      5.89
29Number 9 Imagine 128 PCI P60             3210      4024         0      3.69
30ET4000 ISA                               3145      3145         0      3.14
31Trident 8900 ISA                         2941      3008         0      2.98
32Diamond Viper SE PCI P90                 2714      3170         0      2.98

Overall Busteroids

1Card and bus                            Low Res   SVGA      Overall
2Herc. Stingray Pro (ARK) PCI 1Mb P100   46.98     41.01     43.99
3Hercules Dynamite Power 2MB VLB DX2/66  41.18     44.37     42.77
4Diamond Stealth Pro 2Mb (928) VLB DX/50 27.39     48.85     38.12
5ET4000/W32p (2Mb) VLB DX2/66            33.65     33.33     33.49
6Diamond Stealth 32 2MB VLB DX2/66       33.05     33.33     33.19
7Cirrus Logic 5434 2Mb VLB SX/40         31.62     34.73     33.18
8Mercury X1/VL 2Mb (S3-805i) VLB DX2/80  32.33     32.22     32.28
9Cirrus Logic 5434 2Mb VLB SX/33         28.85     30.09     29.47
10Genoa Phantom 64 2M (S3-864) PCI P90    35.26     20.58     27.92
11Genoa Phantom 64 2M (S3-864) VLB DX2/66 35.15     18.81     26.98
12D. Stealth 64 DRAM (Trio64) PCI P90     31.78     18.68     25.23
13Diamond Stealth 64 DRAM PCI P90         31.48     18.81     25.15
14Diamond Stealth 64 VRAM 2Mb VLB DX2/66  26.56     23.07     24.82
15Spea Mirage P64 (S3-864) 2Mb PCI P100   31.65     17.03     24.34
16ATI Mach32 2Mb VLB DX2/66               24.93     21.29     23.11
17Diamond Stealth 24 (S3-805) VLB         18.59     27.52     23.05
18Diamond Viper PCI 2Mb (Oak VGA) P100     6.95     37.26     22.11
19Diamond Stealth 64 DRAM 1Mb PCI P90     25.88     13.43     19.65
20Cirrus Logic 5426 VLB SX/33             18.96     14.58     16.77
21S3-805 VLB DX2/66                       21.93     10.33     16.13
22LightSpeed W32p (1Mb) PCI DX2/66        15.97     14.80     15.38
23Cirrus Logic 5428 VLB DX2/66            15.58     10.97     13.27
24Orchid Fahrenheit 1280+ 1Mb VLB DX2/66  13.69     10.18     11.93
25Trident 9200Cxr 1Mb VLB SX/25           10.17      9.12      9.64
26ET4000 ISA DX/33                         9.03      5.89      7.46
27Diamond SpeedStar Pro ISA DX/40          8.67      6.22      7.45
28Number 9 Imagine 128 PCI P60             5.38      3.69      4.54
29ET4000 ISA                               5.34      3.14      4.24
30Diamond Viper SE PCI P90                 4.61      2.98      3.80
31Trident 8900 ISA                         4.33      2.98      3.65

Incomplete results (320x200x256 only): 16-bit 32-bit
Number 9 GXE 64 Pro PCI P90 18492 22260
ATI Expression PCI P90 11062 16752 (SVGA modes crash)
Diamond Stealth 32 PCI P90 10051 15156

The 320x200x256 mode has most relevance for DOS games, 640x480x256 is
becoming increasingly popular. The 360x480 VGA mode score has relevance
for games that use 'Mode X'. The 640x480x16M mode result is interesting
for windows-video type applications. The 16-bit 320x200x256 score
corresponds to '3dbench' on a given system (ignoring its large CPU
dependency).

From these results, the breakdown for local bus chipsets is like this:

1ARK:                    Excellent at low res, very good at SVGA.
2ET4000/W32p VLB:        Very good at both low res and SVGA.
3CL-GD5434 VLB:          Good at both low-res and SVGA.
4S3-864/Trio64:          Very good at low res, mediocre at SVGA.
5S3-964:                 Good at low-res, fair at SVGA.
6ATI Mach32 VLB:         Fair.
7ATI Mach64 DRAM:        Mediocre (need more data, e.g. VRAM, SVGA).
8ET4000/W32p PCI:        Mediocre (need more evidence).
9S3-805 (Stealth 24):    Mediocre at low-res, good at SVGA.
10S3-805 (generic):       Mediocre.
11CL-GD5426/8:            Mediocre.
12Trident 9200Cxr:        Poor.
13P9000/Oak (Viper PCI):  Very poor at low-res, very good at SVGA.
14P9000 (Viper SE PCI):   Very poor at both low-res and SVGA.
15Imagine 128 PCI:        Very poor at both low-res and SVGA.

No data for current Trident local bus chipsets, Avance Logic, Cirrus PCI.

A weighted score is derived for low-resolution (game) modes, for a
subset of SVGA modes, and for both combined. The weights are as follows:

1Low res modes           Weight  Scaling Resulting weight factor
2320x200x256 16-bit      30%     2       60
3320x200x256 32-bit      40%     1       40
4360x480x256 16-bit      20%     2       40
5360x480x256 8-bit read  10%     10      100

SVGA modes

1640x480x256 16-bit      20%     2       40
2640x480x256 32-bit      60%     1       60
3640x480x16M 32-bit      20%     1       20

The scaling compensates for the different sizes of the operations (e.g.
16-bit vs. 32-bit). The weighted score is derived by multiplying the
results for each mode with the weight factor for that mode, and adding
them up. The scores are finally divided by 100 to get a rough unit of
millions of pixels per second.

Vidspeed probably uses the 'rep stos' instruction to repeatedly write data
to the card. This instruction takes 4 cycles per iteration on a 486. Hence,
on a non-clock doubled 486, if the video card can process a CPU write
in less than 4 cycles, the CPU will be the bottleneck.

Most numbers correspond to the number of bus cycles that each write takes.
For example, with a 33 MHz bus, and 32-bit writes, you are writing 4 bytes
at a time. Given 4 cycle writes, you have one byte per cycle and thus
33 Mb/s. With 3 cycle writes you would get 44 Mb/s, and with 2 cycle
writes 66 Mb/s, which is what good PCI motherboard/card combinations
should come near to. See the table in the VLB vs. PCI section. The
low-res modes are usually slowed down because of the need to have 100%
VGA compatible memory/register configuration.

VIDSPEED can be found in the screen directory of the Simtel MSDOS
collection (e.g. oak.oakland.edu, /pub/msdos/screen/vidspd40.zip).

Run like 'vidspeed L W S S3 >mycard.out'.

GUI Benchmarks
--------------

WinBench 95 (FTP: zcias3.ziff.com: /pub/zdbop/winbench/winben.exe)
This seems to be more of a graphics/system performance benchmark in
that it profiles real-world usage, which may depend more strongly on
CPU and bus than older versions.

For XFree86 performance, refer to a regularly posted survey in the newsgroup
comp.windows.x.i386unix.

Monitor Timing
--------------
There are three basic parameters that describe the rates at which a picture
is displayed on a monitor.

The Vertical Refresh Rate is the number of times the entire screen is
refreshed per second. The video card sends signals to the monitor to
let the monitor beam move from the top of the screen to the bottom,
scanline by scanline, 70 or so times per second.

The Horizontal Sync Rate is the rate at which scanlines are displayed.
This the key parameter and the horizontal sync range that a monitor
supports defines what modes it can support. The horizontal sync rate
increases as the vertical refresh frequency is increased and as
the vertical resolution is increased (since a higher rate is required
to keep the same refresh frequency with more scanlines).

The Monitor Bandwidth is the rate at which pixels are displayed on the
monitor as a scanline is drawn. This is usually not a critical parameter,
although it is specified for most monitors indicating the pixel rate limit
for an image of acceptable quality.

Parameters for typical resolutions:

1Resolution      Vert. Refresh   Horizontal Sync         Bandwidth
2640x480         60 Hz           31.5 kHz                25 MHz
3640x480         72 Hz           36.5 kHz                31.5 MHz
4640x480         75 Hz           37.5 kHz                31.5 MHz
5800x600         56 Hz           35.2 kHz                36 MHz
6800x600         60 Hz           37.8 kHz                40 MHz
7800x600         72 Hz           48.0 kHz                50 MHz
8800x600         75 Hz           46.9 kHz                49.5 MHz
91024x768i       87 Hz interl.   35.5 kHz                45 MHz
101024x768        60 Hz           48.4 kHz                65 MHz
111024x768        70 Hz           56.5 kHz                75 MHz
121024x768        75 Hz           60 kHz                  78.7 MHz
131280x1024i      87 Hz interl.   48 kHz                  75 MHz
141280x1024       60 Hz           65 kHz                  108 MHz
151280x1024       74 Hz           78.9 kHz                135 MHz

The 75 Hz modes are current VESA mode timing standards, the 72 Hz timings
are the old standard.

The pixel depth (number of colors) does not have any relation to the
monitor timing. You can conceivably display 48-bit truecolor at 640x480
on an old analog color VGA monitor.

Note that the monitor bandwidth for a mode is approximately equivalent
to the video memory bandwidth taken up by monitor refresh on a DRAM-based
card (when multiplied by the pixel size).

References
----------
A magazine with good articles on PC hardware is the German magazine
c't (magazin fuer computer technik).

FTP-sites for drivers/utilities for specific chipsets/vendors:

ftp.cirrus.com Cirrus Logic drivers
atitech.ca ATI Technologies
diamondmm.com Diamond
solaria.mit.edu Diamond drivers

DundyTheCroc wrote on 2025-12-16, 12:01:

nzoomed wrote on 2025-12-10, 11:12:

An S3 805 is a good option if you can find one.

I have one of these, are they really so rare?

The attachment viber_image_2025-01-14_12-02-00-362.jpg is no longer available

I wasn't implying they were rare, just a good option if you can find one.
Most vintage stuff is hard to find in general unless you go on ebay and pay the stupid prices some ask on there.
I can't say they are overly common, ive only got one in my travels. Yours looks an earlier type compared to mine.
For the record here is the photo of mine.