DOS Days

Orchid Kelvin 64 / Kelvin Video64

The Orchid Kelvin 64 series of graphics cards launched in 1994 and used either Cirrus Logic CL-GD5434 or Alliance ProMotion 6410 chipset, depending on the model variant.

 Released 1994
Bus ISA 16-bit (Kelvin 64), VESA Local Bus (Kelvin 64 & Kelvin 64 EZ) or PCI (Kelvin 64, Kelvin EZ & Kelvin Video64)
Chipset Cirrus Logic CL-GD5434 (Kelvin 64-ISA and VLB)
Cirrus Logic CL-GD5430 (Kelvin 64 EZ)
Alliance ProMotion 6410 (Kelvin Video64 PCI)
Standards Hercules, MDA, CGA, EGA, VGA
Memory 1 MB or 2 MB DRAM
RAMDAC (Integrated)
Ports 15-pin DSUB (analogue video out)
Part # 830-0137-X (Kelvin 64-ISA)
830-0135-X (Kelvin 64-VLB)
830-0136-X (Kelvin 64-PCI)
831-0171-X (Kelvin Video64)
FCC ID DDS7EFKELVI64-ISA (Kelvin 64-ISA)
DDS7EF1093-93-KVL (Kelvin 64-VLB)
DDS7EF1193-93-PCI (Kelvin 64-PCI)
DDS7EFKELVI64-PCI or DDS7EFKELVID6410PCI (Kelvin Video 64)
Price Dec 1994: $325 list (Kelvin 64 VLB)
Mar 1995: $146 (1MB), $193 (2MB), $125 (EZ/VLB 1MB)
See Also Orchid Celcius/VLB

Kelvin 64 was the first affordable 64-bit graphics accelerator, and was available in ISA and VESA Local Bus forms. Both used the Cirrus Logic CL-GD5434 graphics accelerator with integrated 135 MHz RAMDAC. The ISA version is almost identical to the STB Systems Nitro.

The Kelvin EZ was a 32-bit version of the Kelvin 64, supporting resolutions up to 1280 x 1024 and up to 16.7 million colours in lower resolutions. It used the Cirrus Logic CL-GD5430. It came only in VESA Local Bus form.

The Kelvin Video 64 arrived in 1995, came only in PCI form, and complemented the CL-GD5434 chip with an Alliance ProMotion-3210 or ProMotion-6410 for fast video playback. The 3210 is the lesser 32-bit version of the 6410 and was the first video chipset to integrate video acceleration with PC graphics. The 6410 was the 64-bit version; a 2D Windows/VGA/motion video accelerator chipset. Its core clock ran at up to 170 MHz. With the full 2 MB of EDO or FPM DRAM memory it supported a maximum resolution of 1600 x 1200. I'm not sure if the Alliance ProMotion 641 is different from the 6410, but the 641 was used on the Alaris Matinee and Focus OptiView Pro graphics cards.

 

Board Revisions

The Orchid Kelvin 64 cards came in a number of board revisions including:

  • Kelvin 64-ISA: 1/A, 1/A1
  • Kelvin 64-VLB: 1/B1
  • Kelvin 64-PCI: 1/B2

 

Competition

In 1994, PCI graphics accelerators were prevalent, and manufacturers were producing cards across all three of the main system buses: ISA, VESA Local Bus, and PCI. The Kelvin 64 series competed against cards such as the ATI Graphics Xpression and WinTurbo, Diamond Stealth 32, Stealth 64, and Viper SE, STB PowerGraph 64 PCI, Spider Graphics Spider 64 PCI, Number Nine GXE64 VLB and PCI, miro miroCrystal 20SV VLB and PCI, ELSA Winner 1000 Pro VLB and PCI, Genoa Hornet VLB and Phantom 64 VLB, Hercules Dynamite Power VLB, and Matrox MGA Impression Plus PCI.

 

In the Media

"Well-built and moderately priced, Orchid Technology's Kelvin 64 VLB graphics accelerator offers responsive Windows and DOS performance. Unfortunately, this graphics adapter's $325 list price is a little higher than other DRAM-based boards. Furthermore, its awkward software installation routine and spotty performance in 24-bit color tests may encourage corporate bargain hunters to look elsewhere. The board is based on the Cirrus Logic CL-GD5434.

Although the hardware portion of the Kelvin 64's installation process is painless, the DOS software installation routine needs work. Lacking clear instructions, new users are likely to find several menu options and the lack of prompts confusing. Once installed, however, most should find the Windows and DOS utilities fairly straightforward.

Using a Kelvin setup utility, you can set the resolution, number of colors, size of the font cache, and font size. The setup utility also lets you select a hot key for zoomed-in views or select a virtual screen option (up to 1,024-by-768 with 256 colors). A DPMS-compliant power-saving option lets you adjust power-down modes and times.

In order to select the monitor type and vertical refresh rate, you have to switch back to a DOS utility. The Kelvin supports an ergonomic refresh rate of 75 Hz in 800-by-600 and 1,024-by-768 modes with 65,536 colors. The non-interlaced vertical refresh rate drops to a less than pleasing 60 Hz in the maximum 1,280-by-1,024 mode with 256 colors.

A solid DOS performer, the Kelvin 64 also did well in Winstone 8-bit mode. In strict 24-bit color graphics modes, though, the Kelvin 64 fell to nearly half the speed of the WinBench leaders. Those looking for a 16.7-million color adapter should also note that the Kelvin 64 was able to manage only a 60-Hz vertical refresh rate in 800-by-600, 24-bit mode.

In PC Labs' compatibility tests, Orchid's software drivers required more resources than most. We were able to open only four large Windows applications and two DOS windows before we ran out of memory in 800-by-600 mode with 256 colors. According to the company, the problem was due to a resource link in the software driver for the Cirrus Logic GD5434, and it expects to remedy the problem with an updated driver by the time you read this. The Kelvin 64 also had trouble playing back Indeo .AVI video files smoothly, while Cinepak .AVI files played without a hitch.

The Kelvin 64 offers few more amenities than lower-priced offerings based on S3's Vision864. Unfortunately, it isn't able to match the price-and-performance combination offered by some of the less expensive competition." 
PC Magazine, December 1994

 

 

Setting it Up

I have no information of the hardware set up for the Orchid Kelvin 64.


Downloads

User Manual
Orchid Kelvin 64 and EZ

For Orchid Kelvin 64 and Kelvin EZ.

User Manual
Orchid Kelvin Video64

For Orchid Kelvin Video64.

 

Brochure / Datasheet
Orchid Kelvin Video64

For Orchid Kelvin Video64.

Original Utility Disk
(missing)

Get in touch if you can provide this missing item!

Kelvin 64 Windows 3.x Driver
Version 1.3, October 1993

For Orchid Kelvin 64-ISA with CL-GD5434

Kelvin Video64 Driver Disks
Version 1.0

For Orchid Kelvin Video64 only. Disk1 is 931,157 bytes, Disk2 is 1,070,788 bytes.

Kelvin Video64 Windows NT 3.51 Drivers
Version 1.0

For Orchid Kelvin Video64 only. File is 34,066 bytes.

Kelvin Video64 OS/2 Warp Drivers
Version 1.24

For Orchid Kelvin Video64 only. File is 890,634 bytes.

VGA ROM BIOS v1.02
(missing)

For Orchid Kelvin 64-ISA with CL-GD5434

VGA ROM BIOS v1.1
(missing)

For Orchid Kelvin 64-VLB with CL-GD5434

VGA ROM BIOS v1.10
(missing)

For Orchid Kelvin 64

VGA ROM BIOS v1.10b
(missing)

For Orchid Kelvin 64

VGA ROM BIOS v3.15
(missing)

For Orchid Kelvin Video64
  

 

More Pictures


An Orchid Kelvin 64-ISA with 2 MB of video memory (1994)


Another Orchid Kelvin 64 ISA (1994)


An Orchid Kelvin 64-VLB with 1 MB of video memory (1994)


An Orchid Kelvin Video64 with 1 MB of video memory (1995)