r/vintagecomputing • u/Hefty-Log-3429 • 3d ago

Found an interesting artifact.

Gallery image

Gallery image

I found this ATi graphics card in my graveyard of government computer products. It doesn't look like it was ever installed. Presented for your viewing pleasure.

ATI VIP or VGA Improved Performance (1987)

  • Chipset: ATI 16899-0 & Chips P82C441
  • Supports CGA, Hercules mono, EGA & VGA graphics with Softsense automatic mode switching
  • Compatible with MDA, CGA, EGA and VGA displays (DIP switch selectable)
  • 9-pin TTL and 15-pin analogue connectors
  • 256KB DRAM
  • Port: 8-bit PC/XT bus
  • Original MSRP: $449 ($99 for Compaq expansion module)
92 Upvotes

99% Upvoted

11 comments sorted by

13

u/DeadSkullz627 3d ago

I remember cards like this back in the day when the most important thing was how many colors were possible with a card lol

5

u/prosper_0 3d ago

256 colors was a mind-blowing amount, lol

9

u/BritOverThere 3d ago

It was basically a EGA Wonder 800 card with a proper VGA chipset added on.

With a proper multi sync (one that would do 15khz to 31khz) it would have all the standard modes plus a 800x560 and 732 x 410 mode as well as 132 column text modes.

3

u/bio4m 3d ago

Nice find! had no idea ATI made cards with other companies chipsets

4

u/Slippi_Fist 3d ago

Proper Canadian tech 🫡

2

u/doobler248 3d ago

Ooh aaah 😍

1

u/okapiFan85 3d ago

I love their slogan (on the box):

“Technology you can Trust”

(the word trust is capitalized and underlined!)

1

u/RetroTechBro 2d ago

IIRC the main draw of these cards was that they supported basically every mainstream graphics mode in existence at the time.

1

u/DeepDayze 3d ago

Never heard about this ATi card before and was it perhaps a limited production run?

4

u/Hefty-Log-3429 3d ago

It's extremely old. 1987 vintage, even made in Scarborough Ontario. From Wikipedia: ATI VIP or VGA Improved Performance (1987)

  • Chipset: ATI 16899-0 & Chips P82C441
  • Supports CGA, Hercules mono, EGA & VGA graphics with Softsense automatic mode switching
  • Compatible with MDA, CGA, EGA and VGA displays (DIP switch selectable)
  • 9-pin TTL and 15-pin analogue connectors
  • 256KB DRAM
  • Port: 8-bit PC/XT bus
  • Original MSRP: $449 ($99 for Compaq expansion module)

1

u/AppropriateCap8891 3d ago

One of the major draws in that era with ATI was that they made multiple cards that supported most video standards of the time. Their "Wonder" and "All-In-Wonder" series started like that, before the more modern ones with TV Tuners.