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From: frank@yunexus.yorku.ca (Frank Pikelner)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.misc,comp.windows.ms
Subject: Re: VGA card, WinGif, etc.
Message-ID: <22525@yunexus.YorkU.CA>
Date: 24 Apr 91 18:23:37 GMT
References: <1991Apr21.012648.17139@cs.mcgill.ca> <91111.121310LAIH@QUCDN.QueensU.CA> <1065@venice.SEDD.TRW.COM>
Sender: news@yunexus.YorkU.CA
Organization: York University, Toronto, Ont.
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In article <1065@venice.SEDD.TRW.COM> ries@venice.sedd.trw.com (Marc Ries) writes:
>In article <91111.121310LAIH@QUCDN.QueensU.CA> LAIH@QUCDN.QueensU.CA (Hubert Lai) writes:
>>
>>Actually, ATI does manufacutre a 1 MB version of the VGA Wonder+.  It is
>>currently available.  Give them a call.  It comes with 512 KB and you can
>>add more memory to bring it up to 1 MB.  IT still comes with the mouse, etc.
>
> I second what one previous poster said: the new ATI Wonder+ is a DOG!
> Bark, Bark.  I have an old Wonder, a old "new" Wonder+ (Max 512K) and
> just received the "upgrade" Wonder+ (1Mb max) board.  On a 486-33, using
> the same hardware settings and drivers, the new ATI is an order of
> magnitude slower on start-up.  For example, on LucusFilms game,
> "Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe" (sp?), the intro screen goes thru
> three distinct "fills" over seemingly 4-5 seconds where the old boards
> will just flash it up in about a second or less.
>
> I only had the new board since yesterday and I have already made
> arrangements with ATI to send it back 8-(
>
> Marc Ries


I strongly disagree with Marc. I own two original ATI VGA Wonder (256k and 512k)
and I have know purchased two new ATI VGA Wonder+ 1MB (256k and 1MB). The new
1MB version of the card IS faster than the older cards. On the 1MB version  
when the full 1MB of RAM is installed the full potential of the card can be
realized. When using the card and not directly utilizing the 1MB of RAM ( ie.
using Windows 3.0 in 640x480x256 or 800x600x256 modes) the card will use the
remainder of the memory for buffering functions. The newer ATI VGA Wonder+ 1MB
also includes three refresh rates 60 Hz, 70Hz, and 72Hz (new on the 1MB version)
for reduced flickering. I will admit that this card is not blzing fast, but   
that is because it is not designed to be. If someone wants a fast graphics card
they should consider one that has an onboard processor (say the ATI Ultra , one
of the best in its class). When testing the new VGA Wonder+ 1MB with PC Diags
Bench tests 1.1 I do notice a difference the new card with the FULL meg of RAM
installed performs most of the tests 50-100% faster then the original VGA
Wonder. I realize the above posting refers to the semi new Wonder+ 512Kmax
board, before purchasing our new 1MB board we were provided the 512k version
to demo. The results, the 512k version was under the bench tests for Windows 3.0
a little slower than the 1MB version. And just to make things a little more
interesting I've compared the ATI product to ones with the TRIDENT and TSUENG
chip sets. Although the ATI board was not the fastest it compared well against
the Trident 8900 and Tseung 4000 based boards.

Just as a note ATI, from my experience, is the only company providing upgrade
programs for video cards, excellent technical support, BBS, and regular driver
updates. Also they will be announcing their new ATI Wonder XL card with a 
similar chipset to the Edsun with antialiasing.

Frank Pikelner
Technical Assistant
York University, Toronto, Cnd
frank@cs.yorku.ca