I have never owned an ET6100. My understanding is that the ET6100 had a higher clocked RAMDAC, higher clocked MDRAM and included MPEG2 hardware decoding. It did not, however, benchmark much better that a ET6000. Besides the collectable factor of these cards, is it really worth paying a huge premium to get one for a retro build?
Besides the collectable factor of these cards, is it really worth paying a huge premium to get one for a retro build?
No, absolutely not.
The best thing about those ET6xxx cards is their 2D image quality. Apart from that especially for DOS gaming a good quality S3 card is the better choice imho.
Since i just got a Tualatin system going and have the cards to hand, I'll do a test tomorrow with an Ark2000 for competition.
Any particular game to test? Quake and Duke Nukem seem to be favourites.
Wonder if I have to level the MDRAM as the ET6100 is fully loaded at 4MB and the ET6000 at 2MB. They are nerve racking to swap out 🤣.
Hanamichi wrote on 2020-10-02, 22:48:Since i just got a Tualatin system going and have the cards to hand, I'll do a test tomorrow with an Ark2000 for competition.
Any particular game to test? Quake and Duke Nukem seem to be favourites.
Wonder if I have to level the MDRAM as the ET6100 is fully loaded at 4MB and the ET6000 at 2MB. They are nerve racking to swap out 🤣.
Quake performance would be of the greatest interest to me.
It should perform slightly better in DOS, although that depends on quality of the card, some had higher clocks and some don't. So it's also possible for ET6100 card of questionable quality to underperform.
Apart from that, it's able to display 1600x1200 60Hz mode, which is strangely not possible on ET6000, although 135 Mhz RAMDAC technically should be capable to display it 256 colors.
Is it worth premium price? No. You can obtain something like Riva TNT2 M64 PCI, which can outperform Tseng cards even in Doom timedemo, has better DAC and also able to play 3D games.
I must be some kind of standard: the anonymous gangbanger of the 21st century.
The higher RAMDAC would have been nice back in the day when people used CRT monitors and 60hz refresh hurt your eyes.
I like my 6000 (4MB) but never bothered to hunt down the more rare 6100 back when I started collecting (not much difference) and these days prices are too high to bother.
Collector of old computers, hardware, and software
As promised - TSENG ET6000 vs ET6100 vs ARK2000 on Tualatin 1400-1750MHz
Photos may take some time.
Hanamichi wrote on 2020-10-03, 17:01:As promised - TSENG ET6000 vs ET6100 vs ARK2000 on Tualatin 1400-1750MHz
Photos may take some time.
Thanks for doing the testing. Obviously the ET6100 is more of a collector's item than anything practical for a retro build given the extreme high cost to obtain one, unless your lucky enough to run across one like at a thrift store.
Pretty much but don't underestimate the appeal of having the absolute best you could get in a category/ having a piece of hardware with a bigger number/a childhood dream/collecting a series. Welcome to the hobby 😀
For price/performance your conclusion is absolutely right. If you can get an S3 805/968 card cheap and the Tseng ET6000 as well that would cover all DOS and early WIN GUI acceleration pretty well. Choose the one that works best for you. There are other fast accelerator options if you include 3D cards. Serpent Rider has some great tests for comparisons.
Hanamichi wrote on 2020-10-04, 13:48:Pretty much but don't underestimate the appeal of having the absolute best you could get in a category/ having a piece of hardware with a bigger number/a childhood dream/collecting a series. Welcome to the hobby 😀
For price/performance your conclusion is absolutely right. If you can get an S3 805/968 card cheap and the Tseng ET6000 as well that would cover all DOS and early WIN GUI acceleration pretty well. Choose the one that works best for you. There are other fast accelerator options if you include 3D cards. Serpent Rider has some great tests for comparisons.
My return to retro computing started last year after my dad passed away. It needed an outlet to deal with the loss. I have enjoyed working with computers from my past. Everything from XT class systems all the way up to my current project of a Core 2 Quad system. Welcome to the hobby indeed:)
Ah sorry to hear that, I hope you can enjoy the hobby and maybe relive/jog some good memories.
I started about 2 years ago due to being fed up with the lack of creativity in modern games, they just lost meaning to me didn't bring back the childhood enjoyment.
