• Please review our updated Terms and Rules here

"Better" 486 Video / Graphics Cards

Not sure how many they made or how long they produced that card. Since they used a separate generic VGA core they could have sourced quite a few different ones. That and the different VRAM layout (surface mount would be cheaper I think).
 
Sorry to butt in here, but I'm trying to remember a card i havent seen in over a decade.

It was a 16-bit ISA (not VLB) SVGA card that had composite and/or SVHS output.

I'm asking because I'm putting together a 486 machine that dosent really need high end graphics for dos
(I have a newer p3 machine for that)

Its will basically be limited to Deskview and Win 3.11. As i recall, the abovementioned card did 16K colors just fine (1 or 2MB onboard)

Its been over a decade since ive had to deal with this, so plz excuse my dusty brain here :p

Does anyone know what card it was?
 
So i tried installing Relentless on my 486, and the game say my video card don't support VESA or something, i tried using a Cirrus Logic ISA card (GD5320), and selecting Cirrus Logic chipset in the game setup, and it didn't worked.

This board actually use a strange on-board video chipset called "Headland Technology HT216-32-AUPD". I can't find any DOS driver for this or the Cirrus Logic card, and i don't even know if they do support SVGA.

One thing i remember though, i remember i was able to play this game on my 386SX 25Mhz computer at the time (even if the game require 486 25Mhz). So...if i can't do a thing about this ISA card or on-board chipset, what would be a great ISA video card to put in that support SVGA/VESA?
 
RaptorZX3 said:
So i tried installing Relentless on my 486, and the game say my video card don't support VESA or something, i tried using a Cirrus Logic ISA card (GD5320), and selecting Cirrus Logic chipset in the game setup, and it didn't worked.

This board actually use a strange on-board video chipset called "Headland Technology HT216-32-AUPD". I can't find any DOS driver for this or the Cirrus Logic card, and i don't even know if they do support SVGA.

One thing i remember though, i remember i was able to play this game on my 386SX 25Mhz computer at the time (even if the game require 486 25Mhz). So...if i can't do a thing about this ISA card or on-board chipset, what would be a great ISA video card to put in that support SVGA/VESA?
Click to expand...

Can you try the universal vesa driver?

ftp://ftp.chatnfiles.com/Beachware-1000- Games-for-Windows/DOSGAMES/CASINCRD/SPADES30/UNIVBE.EXE
 
The Universal VESA driver support the on-board video, but doesn't support the GD5320 (Cirrus Logic) ISA card. My game (Relentless: Twinsen's Adventure) do work when i select "Cirrus Logic chipset" or "don't know" in the setup menu (with the on-board video), but the text seem to be corrupted a bit (2D graphics seem to be ok, menu and realtime 3D graphics are a bit screwed up).

But which ISA card would you recommend me? one that's not ridiculously overpriced and is doing the job right.
 
Last edited:
RaptorZX3 said:
The Universal VESA driver support the on-board video, but doesn't support the GD5320 (Cirrus Logic) ISA card. My game (Relentless: Twinsen's Adventure) do work when i select "Cirrus Logic chipset" or "don't know" in the setup menu (with the on-board video), but the text seem to be corrupted a bit (2D graphics seem to be ok, menu and realtime 3D graphics are a bit screwed up).

But which ISA card would you recommend me? one that's not ridiculously overpriced and is doing the job right.
Click to expand...

This one isn't too outrageous:

http://www.amazon.com/Video-Diamond...=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=B00B86WE2C
 
I can't believe how much ISA graphics adapters on ebay are listed for. Pretty much anything that isn't bottom of the barrel will sell for at least $50. A few years back you would have a hard time paying somebody to take a Cirrus Logic VGA card off your hands.
 
A matter of convenience. Some people do not care about $: they care about ease of shopping. :) When you have good query skills and a good eye you can still get super bargains on eBay for many common vintage components. They are mislabeled, buried in lots and so on.
 
The seller told me to call him, but i'll pay long distance fees...why can't he give me a quote by email?

The Tseng ET4000AX seem to be a good choice for a DOS-only setup.
 
RaptorZX3 said:
The seller told me to call him, but i'll pay long distance fees...why can't he give me a quote by email?

The Tseng ET4000AX seem to be a good choice for a DOS-only setup.
Click to expand...

Sounds screwy. Maybe he is trying to not have a trail on Amazons messaging? Unless you are desperate I'd say wait and something better will pop up.
 
Anonymous Coward said:
I can't believe how much ISA graphics adapters on ebay are listed for. Pretty much anything that isn't bottom of the barrel will sell for at least $50. A few years back you would have a hard time paying somebody to take a Cirrus Logic VGA card off your hands.
Click to expand...

Supply and demand. The supply has been destroyed by age, neglect and scrappers, while new collectors getting into the hobby has strained supply. Pretty much anything desirable has gone up in prices over the last few years. I used to be able to pick up VLB cards for little or nothing, forget about that now. Same issues with every other thing I collect.

For gaming on ISA (or VLB) it is hard to beat a Tseng based card, I have a bunch in systems. Those cards also do well in Windows 3.1 or OS/2.
 
PeterLI said:
A matter of convenience. Some people do not care about $: they care about ease of shopping. :) When you have good query skills and a good eye you can still get super bargains on eBay for many common vintage components. They are mislabeled, buried in lots and so on.
Click to expand...

Everybody cares about money at some price point, but some people just don't have the time to sit in front of ebay all day looking for a needle in a haystack find. While I was thrilled to get a promise VLB caching controller with a 486 motherboard for something like $18 shipped, it is very uncommon to find a deal like that and I spend lots of time looking for things on ebay.

To be honest it would be far cheaper if I just have 5 machines loaded to the top with rare cards at ebay prices then the huge collection I have purchased over the years at a bargain. Some people would rather pay going rates to get what they want all at once and then spend their quality time using them for whatever then blowing a mint over time for a massive collection they rarely fire up. Everybody is different some just want to relive the past and others like to tinker and have everything they never owned back in the day.
 
That is why I do not collect. I do not have sufficient time to really play around with vintage hardware. :)
 
I don't collect per se since everything I have I originally purchased new. However, I do collect the upgrades that were never done by buying on ebay etc. I would rather pay a non-bargain price for something in excellent condition, that will be reliable, or with a buyer that can accept returns. I just bought an ATI HD4890 graphics card from ebay to upgrade the wife's Core 2 duo XP computer. It was $50 but DOA. It was very disappointing because the card came with EVERYTHING that was in the original retail box (including the box!) The buyer kindly accepted the return and refunded by purchase price and shipping. Then I found a ATI HD4850 that was brand new for $30! (no box or extras though) So it was a slight downgrade, but it worked great so was worth it. I have also purchased many upgrade cards and components on Ebay. Sometimes (especially the graphics cards) they can be a tad expensive.

I completely agree with Unkown_K that I would rather spend my time enjoying the classic rig rather than endlessly bickering with shady sellers on Ebay trying to score a "bargain."
 
Last edited:
Billyray said:
I don't collect per se since everything I have I originally purchased new. However, I do collect the upgrades that were never done by buying on ebay etc. I would rather pay a non-bargain price for something in excellent condition, that will be reliable, or with a buyer that can accept returns. I just bought an ATI HD4890 graphics card from ebay to upgrade the wife's Core 2 duo XP computer. It was $50 but DOA. It was very disappointing because the card came with EVERYTHING that was in the original retail box (including the box!) The buyer kindly accepted the return and refunded by purchase price and shipping. Then I found a ATI HD4850 that was brand new for $30! (no box or extras though) So it was a slight downgrade, but it worked great so was worth it. I have also purchased many upgrade cards and components on Ebay. Sometimes (especially the graphics cards) they can be a tad expensive.

I completely agree with Unkown_K that I would rather spend my time enjoying the classic rig rather than endlessly bickering with shady buyers on Ebay trying to score a "bargain."
Click to expand...

Is there any reason you bought such an old series instead of something new since it is PCI-E. I think it would have been worth it
just to pay a bit more and take advantage of extra features, better driver support etc etc

And you can always pull it out and reuse it in something else at some other time
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top