Hey everyone, thanks for your replies. I downloaded the MCA card ID program, it's pretty cool. I've found myself in a conundrum -- too many spare parts and not enough time to play with them ! i've not yet discovered what this thing is, but my thought process followed the majority of the responses. the fact that i've got an apparently stable system, i haven't wanted to piss her off too much. i found a cornerstone video board MC1608C/11 that i've been meaning to play with as well. i have an NEC LCD3000, i intend on trying out the BNC RGB-HV input with the card.
i've been trying to find a beast video accelerator for the 9595 system i've been building, but there seems to be (is?) a dearth of high color cards left in the wild.