Orchid Celcius/VLB
The Orchid Celcius VLB launched in 1993 and used the IIT AGX015 graphics accelerator chip.
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Released | October 1993 |
| Bus | VESA Local Bus | |
| Chipset | IIT AGX015 | |
| Standards | Hercules, MDA, CGA, EGA, VGA | |
| Memory | 1 MB (upgradable to 2 MB) VRAM | |
| RAMDAC | Sierra SC15021CV | |
| Ports | 15-pin DSUB (analogue video out) | |
| Part # | 830-0124-X | |
| FCC ID | DDS7EF0493-93-CEL | |
| Price | Oct 1993: $399 (1 MB) list price | |
| See Also | Orchid Fahrenheit 1280 |
The AGX015 from IIT was a the successor to their earlier AGX014 graphics accelerator. It could be used on both ISA and VLB cards, could support up to 6 MB of VRAM video memory and provided 24-bit colour depths at a resolution of 800 x 600 or a maximum resolution of 1600 x 1200 at lower colour depths. The AGX015 was also used on the Hercules Graphite VL Pro and Spider Black Widow VLB. It included a number of graphics acceleration features including BitBlts, line draws, complex polygon fills, circles, ellipses, and surface mapping and shading. Its memory was clocked at 65 MHz.
Supports up to 90 Hz flicker-free refresh rates, 16.7 million colours, and resolutions up to 1280 x 1024 (in 16 colours non-interlaced).
The Celcius was never released as an ISA card.
Board Revisions
I have no information on the various board revisions for the Celcius VLB, with only rev.1/B2 known.
Competition
In 1993, the Orchid Celcius/VLB competed directly with other mid-range to high-end cards including the Matrox MGA Ultima, Hercules Graphite VL Pro, and Number Nine GXE.
In the Media
PC Magazine, October 1993
Setting it Up
I have no information on how to configure the Celcius/VLB, though the User Manual can be downloaded below.
Downloads
Operation Manual |
Original Utility Disk 1 x 1.2 MB floppy disk image |
VGA ROM BIOS v1.0 Get in touch if you can provide this missing item! |
More Pictures
