ATI EGA Wonder VIP
The EGA Wonder VIP two months after the EGA Wonder 800, in August 1987. It was ATI's first VGA card.
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Released | August 1987 |
| Bus | ISA 8-bit | |
| Chipset | ATi16899-0 and Chips & Technologies P82C441 | |
| Standards | Hercules, CGA, EGA, extended EGA, limited VGA | |
| Memory | 256 KB DRAM | |
| Ports | 9-pin DSUB (mono TTL) 15-pin DSUB (RGB analogue) |
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| Part # | 18008 | |
| FCC ID | EXM5RSVIP1 | |
| Price | At launch: $449, May 1988: $309, Sep 1988: $254, Jan 1989: $179, Jul 1989: $239, Nov 1989: $199 | |
| See Also | EGA Wonder 800, EGA Wonder VIP, EGA Wonder 800+ |
"VIP" stood for VGA Improved Performance. The card came with what ATI called "Softsense" automatic mode switching, which changed the graphics mode based on what the running application requested. This card had DIP switches to select the default startup graphics mode, and its backplate offered both 9-pin TTL and 15-pin analogue connectors.
Like the EGA Wonder 800, it could run in 800 x 560 resolutions as well as VGA 640 x 480 and 732 x 410 on a multisync monitor. The 732 x 410 resolution would also work on a standard 400-line (non-multisync) 25 KHz monitor.
The card came with an external RAMDAC in the form of the Inmos G171S that ran at 35 MHz.
Board Revisions
Revision 5 is the only known board revision.
Competition
At launch, the ATI EGA Wonder VIP competed against cards like the Video Seven Vega Deluxe, Sigma Designs VGA and STB Systems VGA Extra.
In the Media
Setting it Up
The below switch settings are valid for all cards in the EGA Wonder range as well as VIP cards:
| SWITCH SETTING | Power-Up Video Mode | Monitor Type | ATI Enhanced Features | |||||
| Monitor Attached | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
| MultiSync (see note) | off | on | on | off | on | off | on | Switch 8 enables the "enhanced" features of the card. Turn this switch off if you experience difficulties. |
| EGA | off | on | on | off | on | off | off | |
| RGB (& Composite) | on | on | on | off | on | on | off | |
| TTL mono | off | on | on | off | off | on | off | |
| 25KHz (see note) | off | on | on | off | off | off | on | |
| Composite mono | on | on | on | off | on | on | off | |
| Compaq (see note) | off | on | on | off | off | off | off | |
| IBM Analog (see note) | on | on | on | off | off | on | on | |
Notes:
OFF = OPEN, ON = CLOSED.
Switches 5 and 6 on a PC or XT motherboard must be set to ON.
"MultiSync" monitors at this time tended to support 15 - 31.5 kHz (*not* 31.5 and up), and used a 9-pin digital connector.
25kHz monitor requires Jumper P8 set to connect pins 2 & 3 (not available on VIP).
Compaq Internal Monitor requires an "optional module" (no longer available).
IBM Analog monitor support is only available on the VIP.
Downloads
Operation Manual Get in touch if you can provide this missing item! |
Original Utility Disk Get in touch if you can provide this missing item! |
BIOS ROM Dump of the 32 KB VGA ROM from an EGA Wonder VIP Rev.5 card |
BIOS ROM Get in touch if you can provide this missing item! |
BIOS ROM Get in touch if you can provide this missing item! |
