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SuperMac Thunder II 1600 Unboxing
Posted by: David Cook on 2025-01-18 19:53:57 I just received a new-old-stock SuperMac Thunder II 1600 video card. It is still sealed in the original shrink wrap and the box's factory tape is intact. (Please note the "Free Software Offer!" sticker for later in this posting) I paid $350 for this. Ouch. The seller said they had another one. Would I like it as well for $350 but I'd save on shipping? I politely declined. It just sold for $810! The back of the box. Interestingly, this is a big sticker. I guess this allowed them to update the marketing and customize the box for the GX 1600. The end cap label says "Rev D". I don't see anything on the card that indicates this. Upon opening the box we are greeted by two 13W3 video cables. Sadly, they do not have any branding (no SuperMac logo). One cable connects directly to 13W3 monitors (13W3 male-to-male). They recommend continuing to use Apple's cable for the Apple 21" Color Display. The other cable adapts the card output to a standard Macintosh monitor connector (13W3 male to DB15 female). This is critical as the SuperMac Thunder II has a 13W3 output port, but all of my modern monitors do not. Next we have warranty cards and envelopes for USA, Japan, and Europe. Next, software/installation manuals and disks. This is SuperVideo 3.0.2 and IPA GX 2.57. Disks are attached to this post. Next we get some additional printed instructions. Hey! Where is my free software offer that the sticker on the box claimed? Looking more closely, this seems like some sort of software offer, but I can't read Japanese. If I could read Japanese, it would look something like this: And now, most importantly, we have the graphics card. Bodge capacitor on U226 Weird spacer or brace atop the daughter card. Solid -- not squishy. The card works. It says SuperMac Thunder II 1600 v3. ROM Rev 3.0.3. A downside of such a powerful card is that it doesn't support 4, 16, or thousands of colors. This is a problem if you have games or other software that depends on these modes. The printed leaflet warns that Modern Memory Manager must be enabled in PowerPCs. And, this card is not compatible with the Radius Rocket. I am slightly disappointed that there is no documentation included that brags about how much memory this card has or all the resolutions it supports. Condition The box and papers inside were slightly damp. The outside back of the antistatic bag had visible moisture on it. The cables have a hint of white mildew (?). However, there are no signs of corrosion on the graphics card and the floppy disks were readable. The board does not have any electrolytic capacitors to worry about. All in all, I feel very fortunate to have this card and all the original materials. Let me know if there is something you want a closer look at. - David
Posted by: dcr on 2025-01-18 20:31:53 The back of the box. Interestingly, this is a big sticker. I guess this allowed them to update the marketing and customize the box for the GX 1600. It looks like everything that says "GX • 1600" is a sticker. I wonder if it was to cover the printing on the box for a previous version.
Posted by: David Cook on 2025-01-18 21:14:09 It looks like everything that says "GX • 1600" is a sticker. Good eye. I do have three other SuperMac boxes: Thunder, Spectrum V, and Spectrum SI. They all have full page stickers on the back. However, they also all share the same printed box. So, it seems like SuperMac had a pattern of printing bulk boxes and then using stickers for details.
Posted by: dcr on 2025-01-18 21:51:45 Good eye. I do have three other SuperMac boxes: Thunder, Spectrum V, and Spectrum SI. They all have full page stickers on the back. However, they also all share the same printed box. So, it seems like SuperMac had a pattern of printing bulk boxes and then using stickers for details. Maybe it was a common practice back then. I recall a box for something computer-related that also has a big sticker on the box. I'll have to report back what it is if I come across it again.
Posted by: olePigeon on 2025-01-18 22:26:50 A downside of such a powerful card is that it doesn't support 4, 16, or thousands of colors. This is a problem if you have games or other software that depends on these modes. That's precisely why I sold mine. I have several games that require 16 colors.
Posted by: olePigeon on 2025-01-18 22:27:32 Applied Engineering used the same boxes with different slip covers for various products.
Posted by: olePigeon on 2025-01-18 22:28:31 @David Cook I wonder if it would be possible to replace the ROM with the Radius ROM, get those 16 colors back.
Posted by: LaPorta on 2025-01-19 10:06:33 Very interesting. Here, I thought 4 and 16 colors disappeared with Power Macs. Apparently with 3rd parties they never existed!
Posted by: Unknown_K on 2025-01-19 11:58:13 Professional cards meant for 24 bit apps.
Posted by: Arbee on 2025-01-19 12:05:33 Very interesting. Here, I thought 4 and 16 colors disappeared with Power Macs. Apparently with 3rd parties they never existed! The first-gen PowerMacs supported 2, 4, 8, 16, and thousands of colors on their motherboard video (which is actually borrowed from the LC III).
Posted by: eharmon on 2025-01-20 17:34:08 Bodge capacitor on U226 View attachment 82421 Can you read the part number off the U226 below the cap? ICS1562AM? Also curious to know what's before the -001, if you can see it.
Posted by: David Cook on 2025-01-20 19:52:58 Can you read the part number off the U226 below the cap? ICS1562AM? Also curious to know what's before the -001, if you can see it. Yes. Good eye. My other Thunder II 1600 (obtained a while back unrelated to this purchase) has ICS1562AM, 9424-001, AN172551, also ROM 3.0.3
Posted by: eharmon on 2025-01-20 20:09:22 Yes. Good eye. View attachment 82530 My other Thunder II 1600 (obtained a while back unrelated to this purchase) has ICS1562AM, 9424-001, AN172551, also ROM 3.0.3 Thanks! Just a date code before the 001 then. That indicates it's the parallel version. I'll pull some info into the other thread, but here's the B-rev datasheet: https://www.renesas.com/en/document...L3BeAPUZ7ONOKFfxSAQnSwKVGSBT90tUDrgEEKe-Ti17S Seems like just a decoupling cap, wonder if it was catching static shocks from the connector.
Posted by: Joopmac on 2025-02-04 00:16:54 Sorry, I bid on that also 🙂 increased your buying price Such a nice kit in box Do you know if this card supports 1280x1024?
Posted by: David Cook on 2025-02-04 19:49:42 Do you know if this card supports 1280x1024? No, it doesn't seem like it. Here are the resolutions listed in the ROM. 512x384 640x480 640x870 768x576 832x624 1024x768 1152x870 1152x882 1152x819 1280x960 1360x1024 1600x1200 HDTV interlaced (not sure how to trigger) HDTV non-interlaced (not sure how to trigger) This last two are interesting. This would be analog HDTV, rather than the digital standard that was adopted later. Not sure of the resolution.
Posted by: jmacz on 2025-02-09 23:17:49 The seller said they had another one. Would I like it as well for $350 but I'd save on shipping? I politely declined. It just sold for $810! Looks like the person who bought it for $810 now has it listed for $1200!
Posted by: David Cook on 2025-02-10 09:15:51 Looks like the person who bought it for $810 now has it listed for $1200! Yes, I saw that! Pretty good return on a flip. I don't feel bad about opening mine. My happiness comes not from museum pieces or making money off my hobby, but from rediscovering lost information and from getting old technology running again. To each their own. I've seen the bottom fall out of beanie babies, comic books, and postage stamps. My mother had a collection of antique dolls (and even published a collectors guide), that had a significant value at one time, only to be nearly worthless as her generation passed away. To me, the sweet spot is for Macintosh computers to be worth enough to list on auction sites so they aren't thrown away, but not enough for them to attract speculators.
Posted by: jmacz on 2025-02-10 14:46:59 I don't feel bad about opening mine. My happiness comes not from museum pieces or making money off my hobby, but from rediscovering lost information and from getting old technology running again. To each their own. I feel the same way, I would have totally opened it. 🙂
Posted by: Unknown_K on 2025-02-10 15:54:35 Yes, I saw that! Pretty good return on a flip. I don't feel bad about opening mine. My happiness comes not from museum pieces or making money off my hobby, but from rediscovering lost information and from getting old technology running again. To each their own. I've seen the bottom fall out of beanie babies, comic books, and postage stamps. My mother had a collection of antique dolls (and even published a collectors guide), that had a significant value at one time, only to be nearly worthless as her generation passed away. To me, the sweet spot is for Macintosh computers to be worth enough to list on auction sites so they aren't thrown away, but not enough for them to attract speculators. There are comic books, stamps, baseball cards etc. that have kept their value or grown over the years, but they are the very early ones in good condition. Anything mass produced and modern is worthless. It's the old original Star Wars action figure dilemma; do you open the box and play with them or just keep them intact hoping they will be worth something someday. Back in the day when I started collecting, I opened up tons of NIB hardware and software to use it not caring about future value. The only item I never took out of the shrink-wrap was my AWS95 AU/X stuff because I already had an opened version to use.
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