VOGONS


Bought these (retro) hardware today

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Reply 56920 of 56931, by Nicolas 2000

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RaverX wrote on 2025-06-02, 18:49:
Nicolas 2000 wrote on 2025-06-01, 17:01:

I found a 512mb pc133 sdram unit and an ati rage 128 pro ultra (so that would be a 16mb version of the Pro) on the flea market today. Nice upgrade from the 384mb and rage 128 non-pro that I used to run in my W98 machine.

No, Rage 128 Ultra is to Rage 128 Pro the same that TNT2 M64 is to TNT2 Pro. It's the same GPU, but linked to 64 bit memory. Rage 128 (non pro) should be faster in most games than Rage 128 Ultra.

I'm confused now 😀.

My old card said "rage 128" on the card.

My new card says "rage 128 pro" on the card. Dxdiag says it's 16mb.

Which of the two is the better card?

Reply 56921 of 56931, by Trashbytes

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Nicolas 2000 wrote on 2025-06-03, 21:34:
I'm confused now :). […]
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RaverX wrote on 2025-06-02, 18:49:
Nicolas 2000 wrote on 2025-06-01, 17:01:

I found a 512mb pc133 sdram unit and an ati rage 128 pro ultra (so that would be a 16mb version of the Pro) on the flea market today. Nice upgrade from the 384mb and rage 128 non-pro that I used to run in my W98 machine.

No, Rage 128 Ultra is to Rage 128 Pro the same that TNT2 M64 is to TNT2 Pro. It's the same GPU, but linked to 64 bit memory. Rage 128 (non pro) should be faster in most games than Rage 128 Ultra.

I'm confused now 😀.

My old card said "rage 128" on the card.

My new card says "rage 128 pro" on the card. Dxdiag says it's 16mb.

Which of the two is the better card?

Rage 128 Pro has a 128bit memory bus, the 128 Ultra and Pro Ultra have a 64 bit bus.

The 128 Pro if its a legit Pro would be the better of the two, load up GPUz and check the memory bus .. if its 128bit then you are golden if its 64bit then throw it in the trash.

And don't worry about being confused .. you are not the only one and ATI were on hardcore drugs when they segmented the Rage 4 line of cards ...bunch of dumbasses

Reply 56922 of 56931, by Major Jackyl

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Wow! Snatched those right away. How random is that?!

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Main Loadout (daily drivers):
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MSI Z690, Intel 12900K, MSI RTX3090, SB AE-7

Reply 56923 of 56931, by RaverX

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Nicolas 2000 wrote on 2025-06-03, 21:34:
I'm confused now :). […]
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RaverX wrote on 2025-06-02, 18:49:
Nicolas 2000 wrote on 2025-06-01, 17:01:

I found a 512mb pc133 sdram unit and an ati rage 128 pro ultra (so that would be a 16mb version of the Pro) on the flea market today. Nice upgrade from the 384mb and rage 128 non-pro that I used to run in my W98 machine.

No, Rage 128 Ultra is to Rage 128 Pro the same that TNT2 M64 is to TNT2 Pro. It's the same GPU, but linked to 64 bit memory. Rage 128 (non pro) should be faster in most games than Rage 128 Ultra.

I'm confused now 😀.

My old card said "rage 128" on the card.

My new card says "rage 128 pro" on the card. Dxdiag says it's 16mb.

Which of the two is the better card?

Upload a picture of the card here, the new Pro/Ultra card. Or even two pics, front/back. If you can't, you can guess - if the card is "low profile" (half the height of a normal card), it's probably (99%) a Rage 128 Ultra with 64 bit memory (bad), if it's full height, it's probably a Rage 128 Pro(good).

You could also use gpu-z, I guess, I don't know what OS you have and how well the latest gpu-z works on older systems.

See there the memory bus, and other details.

Reply 56924 of 56931, by Nicolas 2000

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Trashbytes wrote on 2025-06-03, 22:20:
Rage 128 Pro has a 128bit memory bus, the 128 Ultra and Pro Ultra have a 64 bit bus. […]
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Nicolas 2000 wrote on 2025-06-03, 21:34:
I'm confused now :). […]
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RaverX wrote on 2025-06-02, 18:49:

No, Rage 128 Ultra is to Rage 128 Pro the same that TNT2 M64 is to TNT2 Pro. It's the same GPU, but linked to 64 bit memory. Rage 128 (non pro) should be faster in most games than Rage 128 Ultra.

I'm confused now 😀.

My old card said "rage 128" on the card.

My new card says "rage 128 pro" on the card. Dxdiag says it's 16mb.

Which of the two is the better card?

Rage 128 Pro has a 128bit memory bus, the 128 Ultra and Pro Ultra have a 64 bit bus.

The 128 Pro if its a legit Pro would be the better of the two, load up GPUz and check the memory bus .. if its 128bit then you are golden if its 64bit then throw it in the trash.

And don't worry about being confused .. you are not the only one and ATI were on hardcore drugs when they segmented the Rage 4 line of cards ...bunch of dumbasses

Everest says the current GPU (which gets all kinds of names depending on where you click, but the PCB says "rage 128 pro") is 16MB, 64 bit. So...would that still be better than the regular "Rage 128" 16MB I had before?

Reply 56925 of 56931, by ATi_Loyalist

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Major Jackyl wrote on 2025-06-04, 01:20:

Wow! Snatched those right away. How random is that?!

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I've spent so much time visiting goodwills hoping and dreaming for something like this and never ever having any luck, thinking it just isn't possible, theres no way anyone will ever find hardware in a goodwill....thanks for sharing! It is possible!!!! Thanks for giving me hope! 😆🤣

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Reply 56926 of 56931, by Nicolas 2000

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I can't take pictures as it's mounted in a crowded PC.

It has the low profile form factor like the Rage 128 Ultra, but mine says "Rage 128 PRO" on the back PCB print. I can't find an example of one just like that on the internet.

Reply 56927 of 56931, by Nicolas 2000

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-double post-

Last edited by Nicolas 2000 on 2025-06-04, 21:30. Edited 1 time in total.

Reply 56928 of 56931, by Nicolas 2000

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I can't take pictures as the GPU is mounted in a crowded PC.

It has the low profile form factor with only a VGA output.

It is exactly this card, I compared the numbers (and also with only half the RAM installed):
https://www.ebay.com/itm/131143290354
(never mind that price! I paid close to nothing)

My previous regular Rage 128 was something similar to this one:
https://ram-co-shop.de/AGP-Grafikkarte-ATI-3D … -N-109-51900-31

So all I know is that is officially called a Rage 128 Pro, everest says it's 64bit 16MB, and the PC on various locations calls it a fury something, pro something, anything goes.

What I'd like to know is, what card is it, but more importantly: is it better than the 16MB "Rage 128" that I used before it?

Reply 56929 of 56931, by RaverX

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That's a Rage 128 "Ultra". Again, think of it as a value, budget version, cheaper, but slower. Exactly like a TNT2 M64. It was a card good for office PCs, not for gaming. Replacing a Rage 128 with a Rage 128 Ultra is not recommended. Some games might run slightly faster, but most of them will be slower.

Reply 56930 of 56931, by Nicolas 2000

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Thanks!

What is the (hi)story behind labeling this one "Pro" on the PCB (it also runs a "R128P" chip where my old one has a "R128" chip) while when they are "Pro Ultra GL"? Because a lot of other Ultra flavours are labeled "Ultra", not "Pro". Ati really were having a go with the branding there...

It is frustrating that it is almost impossible to find a correct spec for any Rage 128 flavour. Thousand models, thousand variants, and a lot of websites state absolute truth when there are more exceptions than rules. My best attempt:

I have tried to find the most precise specs of both my cards.
https://www.techpowerup.com/gpu-specs/rage-12 … -ultra-gl.c2184 (I have the 16MB version PN 109-73100-01)
https://www.techpowerup.com/gpu-specs/rage-128-gl.c877 (note: I have the 16MB DDRAM -so 64bit- version PN 109-51900-01)

From those specs, the Pro Ultra GL still seems the better card of the two? Faster clock speeds, higher rates, higher memory bandwidth, both 64 bit. It's also AGP 4x versus AGP 2x.

By the way, confusion complete: this vogons post says the internet is wrong: 109-73100-01 should be listed as a 64 bit 16MB Pro (like the back says!), not a Pro Ultra GL.
Re: ATI Rage 128 Pro vs Ultra?

And, more interesting, this vogons post benchmarks both my cards:
Re: ATI Rage 128 Pro vs Ultra?

So, it looks like I'm better of keeping the new (Pro whatever) card in my system.

Last edited by Nicolas 2000 on 2025-06-05, 13:25. Edited 2 times in total.

Reply 56931 of 56931, by CrFr

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Bought some junk on local auction site.

IBM model M2 for 20€ + shipping. It doesn't work, but I've repaired one of these before and it wasn't too difficult. Annoying construction to work on, for sure.
Multimedia Pro 16ABO sound card, Yamaha DB50XG midi daughter board and Sound Blaster Live CT4830. I don't really care for that Live, but it was bundle of three items. All for 91,50€ + shipping. I think I got a good deal. Those Yamaha cards on ebay are crazy expensive. And I guess that Aztech card is also pretty decent, with real OPL.

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