68kMLA Classic Interface
This is a version of the 68kMLA forums for viewing on your favorite old mac. Visitors on modern platforms may prefer the main site.
| Click here to select a new forum. | |
| Can Anyone Identify This SuperMac NuBus Video Card? | |
| Posted by: Superdos on 2014-12-01 17:52:34 So I finally got keys for the car I had my Quadra 700 stuffed into the trunk of... pulled it out last night and just got to it today to see which video card was inside. I remember it having GX printed on it, and so I thought for the longest time it was a Thunder IV GX. This was pulled out of a Radius 81/110 quite a few years ago and left in my Quadra for a long, long time.      What card is this which I posses? I can't find ANY images of it on the internets at all, even when looking up information about it. I'd love to know the exact model before I go dropping it in my IIvx all willy-nilly. Any help into the identification of this card is appreciated greatly. Thanks! | |
| Posted by: Superdos on 2014-12-01 18:37:16 Whoops, nevermind on that. it's a SuperMac-branded Thunder II GX 1152. http://www.vintagecomp.com/room/mactune/VideoSuperMac/ThundrII1152.htm | |
| Posted by: Trash80toHP_Mini on 2014-12-01 20:06:01 Unless you're absolutely sure on that ID, don't jump to conclusions, the Thunder II GX 1360 looks exactly like that as well: http://lowendmac.com/video/thunder2gx.html Set it up in a NuBus Mac, any Mac and . . . https://68kmla.org/forums/index.php?/topic/9157-peripherals-links-project-rev-30/&do=findComment&comment=96711 | |
| Posted by: olePigeon on 2014-12-01 22:07:41 My guess is a Thunder II GX 1360. | |
| Posted by: Macdrone on 2014-12-01 22:13:32 I have a Supermac card like that but the add on part I don't have. Is that more memory or acceleration? | |
| Posted by: Unknown_K on 2014-12-02 03:13:34 Its a DSP board. You can use them on other cheaper cards like the Thunder/24 as well. | |
| Posted by: Trash80toHP_Mini on 2014-12-02 09:53:02 Interesting point. I don't know what the pricing was, but the Thunder/24 was about two years older. Did production continue as a lower cost alternative? It's from the G-World RAM era and could have had a higher price tag than the later series at introduction despite its lower specs. Capabilities change, but tech level and pricing seem to operate on a different timeline. It also seems more likely to me that the Thunder II GX series was designed around a DSP board already in the product lineup that was time tested and in no further need of development. I've not seen a good pic of that daughtercard before. Is it the same as the one on your Thunder_II_GX_1600, oP? Are there components on the solder side of the DSP board? it's the only daughtercard I recall having a cover, is it insulation only or a combination of that and RFI shielding as we//? Are those 9 ICs DRAM? would that be a parity setup for funneling the output of the two(?) DSPs to the controller ASIC? I need to compare it to the 4 DSP card on my Radius_Thunder_IV_GX_1600. Is there any chance we can get scans of both SuperMac cards uploaded to 'fritter's NuBus Mafia? I think we all need to revisit/revitalize that project. 😉 Cool stuff! | |
| Posted by: olePigeon on 2014-12-02 10:05:03 The Radius Thunder IV has slower DSPs, but 4 of them. Not sure how it compares to the 2, but faster DSPs on the SuperMac. | |
| Posted by: Trash80toHP_Mini on 2014-12-02 10:51:36 Interesting, but I'm more interested in the architecture of the DSP boards than clock rates. | |
| Posted by: NJRoadfan on 2014-12-03 10:02:36 I think i have the same card, if I recall it was a 1152, the 1360 has more memory on it. | |
| Posted by: NJRoadfan on 2014-12-03 15:28:48 Yep, that card is definately a Thunder II GX 1152, look at the ROM chip. Should work fine in the IIvx, but the control panel for the card is dodgy in later revisions of System 7. | |
| Posted by: Unknown_K on 2014-12-03 17:29:36 I have a Thunder II 1600 and it seems to have more RAM (1600x1200 24bit I think is what it does). | |
| Posted by: olePigeon on 2014-12-05 11:47:15 The 1600 has 13w3 connector, so it's easy to tell it apart from the other cards. | |
| Posted by: Trash80toHP_Mini on 2014-12-05 13:20:03 😉 Did you get your 13w3 x 1600 x 1200 display issues ironed out? | |
| Posted by: olePigeon on 2014-12-05 19:04:12 Well, the display "works" with the card at 1600x1200, so from that aspect, yes. However, those lazy pixels drive me nuts. I found out I can get them to go away after a while by running one of those pixel fixer videos. Unfortunately they come back immediately after the LCD is switch off. 🙁 So for now I run it at 1024x768. | |
| Posted by: Unknown_K on 2014-12-05 21:41:46 Where did you get the cable (part number) for the 13w3 connection? | |
Posted by: Trash80toHP_Mini on 2014-12-05 21:49:27. . . for now I run it at 1024x768.ROTFLMAO!!!!!!!!!!!! :🙂 < . . . damn, my sides hurt! 😛 > . | |
| Posted by: NJRoadfan on 2014-12-06 22:30:17 It doesn't help that 13W3 ports have a few different pin outs. Early and late Sun machines use a different pinout.... then there is SGI's pin outs. Which one does the 1600 card use? | |
| Posted by: Unknown_K on 2014-12-06 23:30:20 Finding the correct supermac cable is the problem. | |
| 1 |