TheAbandonwareGuy wrote on 2026-04-12, 02:55:

8.) Another TNT2 M64 ....

..... TNT2 M64s are roughly as fast as an original TNT, they would pair nice with a early Pentium II system but I'd never go out of my way to acquire one.

Heh, I've never actually specifically bought a TNT2 M64, they just kinda turn up with things and in things. Nevertheless they are among most numerous of one variety of graphics chip here.

Oh actually I did once, but I was lied to by an intermediate back in the day reseller label on it that lied about what it was.

BitWrangler wrote on 2026-04-12, 15:51:

TheAbandonwareGuy wrote on 2026-04-12, 02:55:

8.) Another TNT2 M64 ....

..... TNT2 M64s are roughly as fast as an original TNT, they would pair nice with a early Pentium II system but I'd never go out of my way to acquire one.

Heh, I've never actually specifically bought a TNT2 M64, they just kinda turn up with things and in things. Nevertheless they are among most numerous of one variety of graphics chip here.

Oh actually I did once, but I was lied to by an intermediate back in the day reseller label on it that lied about what it was.

Those cards are everywhere.... even today. The only cards that show up more often are FX 5200 64-Bits, and Radeons 9250

Shader_BiH wrote on 2026-04-12, 15:59:

BitWrangler wrote on 2026-04-12, 15:51:

TheAbandonwareGuy wrote on 2026-04-12, 02:55:

8.) Another TNT2 M64 ....

..... TNT2 M64s are roughly as fast as an original TNT, they would pair nice with a early Pentium II system but I'd never go out of my way to acquire one.

Heh, I've never actually specifically bought a TNT2 M64, they just kinda turn up with things and in things. Nevertheless they are among most numerous of one variety of graphics chip here.

Oh actually I did once, but I was lied to by an intermediate back in the day reseller label on it that lied about what it was.

Those cards are everywhere.... even today. The only cards that show up more often are FX 5200 64-Bits, and Radeons 9250

At least the FX 5200 even in 64-bit configuration is a 9x beast. The TNT2 M64 is just kind of useless (again, unless its paired with an older system as a cheap substitute for a genuine TNT1)

Being a "junior" collector, up until recently I had nothing from Trident... So I decided to look up some of their cards.
My first target was Blade XP 32 MB, but they seem non-existent at the moment. So, until it turns up. I got it's predecesor, a Blade 3D 8MB card. It's got some light scratches but overall it's in decent condition.

Now I know it ain't a great card from the performance standpoint, but from what I seen and read they are quite decent comapred to that first generation of 3D cards. (horrors of first Rage, AT3D, Virge, etc...)

I was wondering, is there anything particulary interesting about these Blade chips, or is there some specific Trident card that is worth collecting?

If you have the space and the price is cheap enough I don't see why you don't get one of everything. Everyone wants the highest end they can find or can afford for each generation but having the also rans are fun to compare them too.

Shader_BiH wrote on Yesterday, 05:17:

I was wondering, is there anything particulary interesting about these Blade chips, or is there some specific Trident card that is worth collecting?

To me, any 3D card from the 90s is worth collecting, especially if it's an odd or unusual one. The Blade 3D feels like Trident's redemption, the card where they finally got it right. The PCI variant (extremely rare, that one is a collector's item) is particularly interesting - works in many older motherboards, great DOS compatibility, great picture quality, good for many early 3D titles. I loved mine in a Pentium MMX Windows 95 build.

asdf53 wrote on Yesterday, 07:13:

To me, any 3D card from the 90s is worth collecting, especially if it's an odd or unusual one. The Blade 3D feels like Trident's redemption, the card where they finally got it right. The PCI variant (extremely rare, that one is a collector's item) is particularly interesting - works in many older motherboards, great DOS compatibility, great picture quality, good for many early 3D titles. I loved mine in a Pentium MMX Windows 95 build.

Yes... non-mainstream parts are always interesting. I've always had a soft spot for "alternative" video cards... like Xabre... or Parhelia, or Permedia cards. There are always some interesting stories behind, not always a happy ones nevertheless. Blade 3D was definitely a redemption.... I've looked up their older 3D cards and, it was really bad. Seems like almost everyone was suffering with first 3D solutions.

Unknown_K wrote on Yesterday, 06:33:

If you have the space and the price is cheap enough I don't see why you don't get one of everything. Everyone wants the highest end they can find or can afford for each generation but having the also rans are fun to compare them too.

Yeah... I started with that in mind, having one of everything. The space however is starting to become a problem... I repurposed two wardrobes for parts, and they are almost full. Also two metal shelves full of PC cases, which are waiting to be restored and packed with better components. I do have more space available elsewhere, but it is exposed to cold temperatures in the winter... down to -5 degrees C... and I had a bad experience with leaving hardware in such conditions. My current collection is fairly comfortable stored. 18-22 degrees C at 40-55% range humidity. I hope it lasts like that a while.

Shader_BiH wrote on Yesterday, 05:17:

Now I know it ain't a great card from the performance standpoint, but from what I seen and read they are quite decent comapred to that first generation of 3D cards. (horrors of first Rage, AT3D, Virge, etc...)

First and second generation Rage - Rage1 and Rage2 where not that great performers, it got better with Rage3 card (Rage Pro from 1997 and its rebranded Turbo). I have some experience with Rage2 / Rage3.

marxveix wrote on Yesterday, 11:08:

Shader_BiH wrote on Yesterday, 05:17:

Now I know it ain't a great card from the performance standpoint, but from what I seen and read they are quite decent comapred to that first generation of 3D cards. (horrors of first Rage, AT3D, Virge, etc...)

First and second generation Rage - Rage1 and Rage2 where not that great performers, it got better with Rage3 card (Rage Pro from 1997 and its rebranded Turbo). I have some experience with Rage2 / Rage3.

I've experienced this first hand... I got myself recently a Compaq Deskpro SFF with Celeron at around 200 MHz, and it had integrated Rage Pro Turbo (I suppose that is considered Rage 3?) It is indeed better, image quality is much better. I suppose a discrete Pro Turbo would also be faster. Do you have any advice concerning drivers for these... because I had many problems getting them right. Are they manufacturer dependant?

I picked this up today. I was looking for a tower 486 and I found this one. I removed the battery already and luckily there is no damage to the board. Waiting for the replacement to arrive. I think this will be a great system and will replace my current one.

I also like the scsi 5.25 inch drive. Never seen one before.

Soooo...
Time for the case reveal !

Here we can already see that it is a 486 machine with VESA Local Bus slots and a nice 486 overdrive !

And here is the motherboard an PAT48PG (ver. 0.30) with a DRIF socket (Difficult and Risky Insertion Force)

It seems I can only add 5 pictures per post so I will finish this on next post

Continuing...

CPU is a very nice 486 Overdrive DX2 66mhz
I have no idea he difference between a normal DX2 and a DX2 overdrive... :p

Extensive Varta damage... I dont know if the poor motherboard is salvageable

A nice Trident 8900CL-B ... I have no idea why people had this VLB sysems and them they just plug regular ISA cards... have seen it so many timed

Ram is 4MB FPM 72 pin module

The hard disk is nice Conner 420mb that is working perfectly ... it has Windows 3.11 installed

Well guys I wanted to post some pictures of the hard disk files and windows 3.11 but 5 pictures is as much as we can post so I guess that's about it

I have another similar mini tower case on the way and next week I think we can do another case reveal !

Have fun and happy retro computing !

Nunoalex wrote on Yesterday, 22:27:

A nice Trident 8900CL-B ... I have no idea why people had this VLB sysems and them they just plug regular ISA cards... have seen it so many timed

afaik there was ~$100 price premium on VLB cards, it only evaporated when PCI took over but at that point VLB was already obsolete.

Bought a Socket 754 build around last week which came with a 9550.

Except for one small interesting detail. Look closely at the card and see if you can find what is it.

Nunoalex wrote on Yesterday, 22:27:

Extensive Varta damage... I dont know if the poor motherboard is salvageable

Looks fixable. Will require some jumper wires/new traces, and maybe a new keyboard port.

PcBytes wrote on Yesterday, 23:18:

Bought a Socket 754 build around last week which came with a 9550.

Except for one small interesting detail. Look closely at the card and see if you can find what is it.

Universal AGP keys? I'd guess more of a mistake (or, judging by how the card looks, the OEM didn't care at all) than something done on purpose.
The 5ns memory will limit performance somewhat , but try flashing it to a 9600.

As a sidenote, what does it say on the GPU? I've only come across 2 9550s so far, a Powercolor and a no name not too much different from yours, and neither did have the ASIC labelled as 9550.
The no name had it labelled as a 9600 and the Powercolor was a Mobility 9700.

PcBytes wrote on Yesterday, 23:18:

Bought a Socket 754 build around last week which came with a 9550.

Except for one small interesting detail. Look closely at the card and see if you can find what is it.

It can fully accelerate Microsoft Windows 7 Aero desktop compositing, the 128bit VRAM makes it decent, and it runs silently - all useful.

PCB reused from something earlier and it has all capacitors installed? That's a bit odd for a low powered card.

For useful workloads it has more VRAM than it can fill, and more heatsink than it can heat. Hmm..

It could be the fabled ATI Randeom 😉

Shader_BiH wrote on Yesterday, 10:41:

Yeah... I started with that in mind, having one of everything. The space however is starting to become a problem... I repurposed two wardrobes for parts, and they are almost full. Also two metal shelves full of PC cases, which are waiting to be restored and packed with better components. I do have more space available elsewhere, but it is exposed to cold temperatures in the winter... down to -5 degrees C... and I had a bad experience with leaving hardware in such conditions. My current collection is fairly comfortable stored. 18-22 degrees C at 40-55% range humidity. I hope it lasts like that a while.

it's not that bad if you keep it to a specific period. Having a large basement has allowed me to collect quite a bit over the years. Whole computers take up a lot of space, but video cards really don't. You can get some plastic storage bins with lids and put 100's of cards into them if you really wanted to and toss in some desiccant packs to keep humidity low. Humidity and heat are generally an issue, not sure what freezing temps would do to hardware that is not powered up.

andrea wrote on Yesterday, 23:58:

Universal AGP keys? I'd guess more of a mistake (or, judging by how the card looks, the OEM didn't care at all) than something […]
Show full quote

PcBytes wrote on Yesterday, 23:18:

Bought a Socket 754 build around last week which came with a 9550.

Except for one small interesting detail. Look closely at the card and see if you can find what is it.

Universal AGP keys? I'd guess more of a mistake (or, judging by how the card looks, the OEM didn't care at all) than something done on purpose.
The 5ns memory will limit performance somewhat , but try flashing it to a 9600.

As a sidenote, what does it say on the GPU? I've only come across 2 9550s so far, a Powercolor and a no name not too much different from yours, and neither did have the ASIC labelled as 9550.
The no name had it labelled as a 9600 and the Powercolor was a Mobility 9700.

Indeed, universal AGP keys. Another thing that makes me believe it as being somehow 3v3 compatible - a lot of 9550/9600s I find only use one AMS1117 regulator. This thing has THREE of them. No specific markings other than 1117 but I wouldn't be surprised if any of them was used to somehow make the RV350 to be 3v3 compatible. After all, the signals seem to be there, at least according to most of the PDFs posted by ediflorianUS. (I'll link them later)

If anything, I'll look for a random invaluable AGP2x mobo and try. It seems weird that Connect3D would advertise it as such and at any rate I'm not the only one who has this card either - squelch41 and darry also have the same "C3D 6055" 9550 card as I do, with the same notches.

EDIT: Forgot photos.

If only there's a way to figure whether it's wored for 1.5v only or 3.3v as well, that wouldn't involve sacrificing a motherboard (and potentially the GPU itself)

Identical looking boards are sold as 9600 and 9600 Pro. Incidentally, my 9550 is on a different PCB and also double keyed. I suspect ATI's project managers had a bunch of CRs to circulate and didn't bother. Or worse - ATI knew these cards were cheap and making their way into poorer communities that didn't have a lawyer in the family.

I bought a Yamaha XG - not a fancy variant.