PMAG-C Turbochannel Graphics Card, 54-20314-01
urbancamo
RE: PMAG-C Turbochannel Graphics Card, 54-20314-01
I was wondering if anyone could shed some light on this card. The
serial number is AY12000680 which implies this card was manufactured
in February, 2001. I bought the card off ebay. It is quite substantial
- contains two large VLSI chips and a separate riser card with memory
on.
It's listed on various sellers sites as: TURBOCHANNEL 8 PLANE 2D
GRAPHICS ACCELERATOR PX,1280X1024,66HZ. Does 'accelerator' simple mean
graphics card, or did it do something special?
Could anyone tell me what model of DEC hardware this would have been
shipped with/used for? I have a DEC 3000/600 which it could fit in,
but as it happens I have a PMAGD-BA which is a 24 bit card. Is it a
case that the more recent 24 bit card is as quick as this more
impressive looking card?
I also noticed that a couple of cards I have contain a 3.5 jack socket
for glasses, I'm presuming 3D glasses? Does anyone have any
information about what/how these would have been used?
Thanks for the help, Mark.
urbancamo
ahead of myself!
Hans Bachner
urbancamo <ma...@wickensonline.co.uk> wrote:
> I was wondering if anyone could shed some light on this card. The
> serial number is AY12000680 which implies this card was manufactured
> in February, 2001. I bought the card off ebay. It is quite substantial
> - contains two large VLSI chips and a separate riser card with memory
> on.
>
<snip>
>
> Could anyone tell me what model of DEC hardware this would have been
> shipped with/used for? I have a DEC 3000/600 which it could fit in,
> but as it happens I have a PMAGD-BA which is a 24 bit card. Is it a
> case that the more recent 24 bit card is as quick as this more
> impressive looking card?
<snip>
IIRC the MIPS-based DECstation 5000 models were using Turbochannel.
Given that the card was manufactured in the pre-Alpha area, it might
well have been an option for one of those boxes.
While some VAXstations were also TC-based, I could not find any evidence
that this particular card was ever supported on OpenVMS VAX (though it
was supported with several DEC 3000 models).
Hans.
Dennis Grevenstein
>
> It's listed on various sellers sites as: TURBOCHANNEL 8 PLANE 2D
> GRAPHICS ACCELERATOR PX,1280X1024,66HZ. Does 'accelerator' simple mean
> graphics card, or did it do something special?
accelerated means that the card does 2D acceleration. Compare
this to the original PMAG-B which is a simple framebuffer.
The -C will be much better just for moving windows around on
your X desktop. Scrolling in xterms will be faster, etc.
accelerated 2D would be the least you would want from a graphics
card.
> Could anyone tell me what model of DEC hardware this would have been
> shipped with/used for? I have a DEC 3000/600 which it could fit in,
> but as it happens I have a PMAGD-BA which is a 24 bit card. Is it a
> case that the more recent 24 bit card is as quick as this more
> impressive looking card?
The PMAGD-BA is much better. The PMAG-C is much older.
Systems where it might have been used are the DECstation
5000/200 or some early 5000/1XX. Later systems used a
PMAGB-B or PMAGD-AA for accelerated 2D graphics.
Dennis
--
Don't suffer from insanity...
Enjoy every minute of it.
Michael Kraemer
> Hi,
>
> RE: PMAG-C Turbochannel Graphics Card, 54-20314-01
>
> I was wondering if anyone could shed some light on this card. The
> serial number is AY12000680 which implies this card was manufactured
> in February, 2001. I bought the card off ebay. It is quite substantial
> - contains two large VLSI chips and a separate riser card with memory
> on.
>
> It's listed on various sellers sites as: TURBOCHANNEL 8 PLANE 2D
> GRAPHICS ACCELERATOR PX,1280X1024,66HZ. Does 'accelerator' simple mean
> graphics card, or did it do something special?
>
> Could anyone tell me what model of DEC hardware this would have been
> shipped with/used for? I have a DEC 3000/600 which it could fit in,
> but as it happens I have a PMAGD-BA which is a 24 bit card. Is it a
> case that the more recent 24 bit card is as quick as this more
> impressive looking card?
I'd put the PMAG-C into a DEC 5000
and the PMAGD into a DEC 3000 AXP.
The -C might work in the AXP as well,
but the PMAGD is a much better choice.
Kari Uusimäki
The various PMAG-* graphics adapters were used on DEC3000 Alphas. There
is some information about them in the DEC 3000Model 500/500S AXP Options
Guide (EK–FLAMI–IG). Each adapter version has its own manual as well,
where the usage is described in detail. The manuals are unfortunately
difficult to find anymore on the net.
Regards,
Kari
dsnyder
>
> - Show quoted text -
I have a couple of these modules, they are ZLX Graphics Accelerator
Modules and I also have the
owners manual for them. If you would like I could email the adobe
versions of these manuals.
Dan
urbancamo
Thanks for all the info guys - I'd guessed it was something like that,
but it's nice to have it confirmed.
What I'm surprised about is how poor the image quality of the S3
trio64+ output is on the AlphaServer 300 4/266. I've messed around
with the video refresh but the picture is very muddy and slightly
blurred at 60 Hz, 66 Hz, and 72 Hz. Certainly not a patch on PMAGD-BA!
Mark
Dennis Grevenstein
> trio64+ output is on the AlphaServer 300 4/266. I've messed around
> with the video refresh but the picture is very muddy and slightly
> blurred at 60 Hz, 66 Hz, and 72 Hz. Certainly not a patch on PMAGD-BA!
That's why the S3 is a PC graphics card. If you want something
like your PMAGD-BA, then get a TGA based card. While cards like
the Tri64 or the Mach64 were a cheap alternative, the classic
cards were still available with the PCI Alphastations.
urbancamo
wrote:
I don't suppose anyone knows if the variant of the TGA card:
PBXGA-BN TGA 24 PLANE FOR WINDOWS NT, 2 MPIXELS, PCI GRAPHICS
ACCELERATOR, 1280X1024,72HZ OR 1024X768,72HZ.
(as opposed to the PBXGA-BA) will work with tru64 in an AlphaServer
300? The table on the options page below doesn't make it clear - on
the face of it there appears to be support, but then why have a
Windows NT/ tru64 & OpenVMS variant listed?
http://www.compaq.com/alphaserver/options/as300/as300_7_options_sorted.html#OptListHead
Dennis Grevenstein
>
> PBXGA-BN TGA 24 PLANE FOR WINDOWS NT, 2 MPIXELS, PCI GRAPHICS
> ACCELERATOR, 1280X1024,72HZ OR 1024X768,72HZ.
>
> (as opposed to the PBXGA-BA) will work with tru64 in an AlphaServer
> 300? The table on the options page below doesn't make it clear - on
> the face of it there appears to be support, but then why have a
> Windows NT/ tru64 & OpenVMS variant listed?
is that really different hardware or rather a different order option?
My guess is that you just get different software/drivers.
urbancamo
wrote:
Ah, now that makes perfect sense!
Cheers for point out what now seems obvious!
Mark.
urbancamo
> On Jan 19, 2:10 pm, Dennis Grevenstein <dennis.grevenst...@gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>
>
> > In comp.sys.dec urbancamo <m...@wickensonline.co.uk> wrote:
>
> > > I don't suppose anyone knows if the variant of the TGA card:
>
> > > PBXGA-BN TGA 24 PLANE FOR WINDOWS NT, 2 MPIXELS, PCI GRAPHICS
> > > ACCELERATOR, 1280X1024,72HZ OR 1024X768,72HZ.
>
Quick update, I received the PBXGA-BN and installed it in the
AlphaServer 300 4/266 and can confirm that the image quality is
*much*, *much* better than the trio S3. Having 24 bits is also great!
Thanks for all the advice, Mark.