Video cards...remember this one?

[Rio Rebel]

I was scouring through the old computers at work, and ran across a Diamond Viper VLB (that's Vesa Local Bus for the newbies).

MAN, I remember when I would have given my right arm for that card. It has 4mb (I think) of VRAM. At one time, it was the KING of video for the pc...running around $350-400.

So I gave it to some woman talking to my boss, and told her how incredibly valuable it was 8 years ago.

Now you can almost get a computer for the same price.

Wow.

 

[Adul]

heh, I remember having one. It help speed up sim city 2000 for me I think I bought it used off of someone.

 

I had one. I think I got it when it was much cheaper, like $150.



<< MAN, I remember when I would have given my right arm for that card. It has 4mb (I think) of VRAM. At one time, it was the KING of video for the pc...running around $350-400. >>


Just think, you will be saying the same thing about the NV20 in eight years.

 

[fir3wir3]

<< Just think, you will be saying the same thing about the NV20 in eight years. >>



you mean the geforce3

 

[Adul]

<< Just think, you will be saying the same thing about the NV20 in eight years. >>



I know I won't be.

 

[AndrewR]

Ah, VLB -- now THAT was an interface! Anyone here have a combo VLB/PCI motherboard? ISA, VLB, PCI all on the same board -- now that was a killer mobo!

 

[cavingjan]

I hated those VLB cards. They were a serious pain to install. Always made me feel like I should be using a crowbar AND a shoe horn to get the stupid thing in. I have a motherboard here at the office that is still in use that has one VLB slot and 3 PCI and 3 ISA. I think its running on of the AMD 586 133 chips.

 

[Ornery]

Just had a Diamond Stealth 64 VESA hooked up and running 2 weeks ago. Had a fancy Promise VESA controller on it too. It was only an AMD 120, so I had to bump it up to a Pentium 233MMX and pack it the VESA stuff away again.

Reminds me of the Beta VS VHS battle. The better solution lost in both cases. VESA was superior to PCI, but more expensive to implement.

 

[RevVveD1]

heh.. ive got a couple old trident isa cards if anyone wants.. lol

I think one of em even has a whole meg of memory!!

 

[Windogg]

I still have a 2MB Tseng Labs ET400 VLB video card from a old 486-66. That bad boy was a real screamer in it's day. Plus I felt special because I had one of the first mobos with TWO VLB slots. Whoa... didn't know what I was gonna stick in it (never did put anything else in the 2nd slot) but it was good to know it was there.

Windogg

 

[Emulex]

my favourites were the cirrus logic vlb' named the 5422,5424,5426,5428. they kept making them faster yet always compatible.

 

[xtreme2k]

The Cirrus Logic 54XX were once so popular in the lower end market. They are as popular as the S3 Virge I must say. And they were SO MUCH faster than the crappy Trident I had then with my 486DX2/66.

 

[BoberFett]

I threw away several Viper VLBs and VLB motherboards not too long ago. They were gathering dust in my basement.

 

[AndrewR]

S3 Virge?? Ahhhh! Did you have to excavate those repressed memories?

I shudder to think about the graphics quality of that piece of trash I had.

 

[thebestMAX]

Got a Cirrus Logic 54XX and a Paradise Pro with 512k if anybody is interested.

 

[Adul]

I use to have one of those combo vlb/PCI MB. We had a AMD Dx4 133 in it. Nice cheap upgrade at the time do to a 486 chip that burnt out. Took MB along with it too.

 

[Modeps]

VLB ruled. Never truly understood why PCI and AGP took over and VLB left, but ISA stayed. because of legacy support? screw it , just by a new modem.