ATI VGA Wonder XL
The VGA Wonder XL got the Sierra HiColor RAMDAC which added support for 15-bit colour in 640 x 480 @ 72 Hz and 800 x 600 @ 60 Hz.
Cards tended to come with 256 KB 80ns DRAM soldered-in with a further 768 KB capacity in DRAM sockets. These accepted 70ns DRAMs.
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Released | May 1991 |
| Bus | ISA 16-bit | |
| Chipset | ATi 28800-6 | |
| RAMDAC | Inmos IMSG176J or Sierra HiColor (32K colours) | |
| Standards | Hercules, CGA, EGA, VGA, and SVGA | |
| Memory | 256 KB, 512 KB or 1 MB DRAM (70ns or 80ns) | |
| Ports | 15-pin DSUB (RGB analogue) VESA Feature connector |
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| Part # | 109P014310 | |
| FCC ID | EXMVGAXLV1 | |
| Price | At launch: $229/$349/$399 (256K/512K/1MB), Aug 1991: $259 (512K), Feb 1992: $169/$229 (256K/1MB), Jun 1992: $169/$219 (256K/1MB) |
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| See Also | VGA Wonder+, VGA Wonder 1024D, VGA Edge series, VGA Basic-16 |
Board Revisions
Some board revisions got the bus mouse connector and 9-pin digital video out port, while others did not.
Competition
In 1991, competition was very high in the consumer SVGA graphics card market as business users had all but moved to Windows 3.0. The VGA Wonder XL went head to head with cards including the Diamond SpeedSTAR HiColor VGA, Everex VRAM VGA, Orchid ProDesigner IIs, Sigma VGA Legend, Video Seven VRAM II, STB PowerGraph Ergo-VGA, and Prism Excelsior.
The ATI's performance was decent, but was beaten by cards using the Tseng Labs ET4000 chipset and Western Digital 1024CX and 1024DX. Some of these cards could manage 1280 x 1024 resolution (albeit limited to 16 colours) or even 1600 x 1200 at the very top end of the pricing scale.
The first graphics accelerators were just around the corner though, including ATI's Mach8 and the first one from S3, the 86C911, both of which would arrive in late 1991.
In the Media
The VGA Wonder XL is the only board in this roundup to provide flicker-free 72-Hz screen refresh at all resolutions, even with a large, expensive, flicker-free monitor.
If you use PowerPoint or AutoCAD, however, you might want to consider a faster board. In our PowerPoint speed tests, the VGA Wonder XL fell far back in the field. In the AutoCAD benchmarks, it consistently ran in the middle of the pack.
The ATI VGA Wonder XL is an excellent board to have around as flicker-free high-resolution monitors get cheaper. It's a truly switchless board and has the smoothest driver installation of the bunch — a boon for those who frequently switch between DOS applications.
It's a distinct Best Buy, especially if you don't already have a mouse."
PC World, August 1991
This is not a stripped-down model, either. Based on ATI's own chip set and design, the board (6.2 inches long) makes room for both a 15-pin analog and a 9-pin digital video connector, a DIN mouse port (with a three-button mouse included at no extra cost), and a VGA pass-through edge connector along the top of the card - used with add-on adapters that don't provide their own VGA support.
Noticeably missing from the card's layout are switches. Installation is a snap, thanks to configuration software that programs the card's on-board EEPROM to work with your monitor and to set other options such as the vertical refresh rates or mouse operation. The accompanying manual does a good job of explaining the card's options.
The 256K version of the VGA Wonder XL gives you 16 colors in 800-by-600 and VGA resolutions, plus four colors at 1,024 by 768. Sockets on the card allow you to upgrade it to either 512K or 1MB of memory. With full memory installed, you can get up to 256-color support at 800-by-600 and 1,024-by-768 resolutions and 32,768 colors in VGA mode. If you have 1MB of memory, you can also get a 72-Hz vertical refresh rate at all three resolutions.
In terms of performance, the VGA Wonder XL was not the fastest but was generally near the front of the pack. It beat the competition on the Screen-to-Screen quite as well on the 800-by-600 mode Windows tests, but except for the 256-color Dialog Boxes Show and Destroy test, it was competitive in its speed.
The ATI VGA Wonder XL offers a lot for its price. You get good performance, a wide range of features, and a few bonuses such as 32,768 colors and a bus mouse. ATI's attention to its drivers has clearly paid off, making the VGA Wonder XL an attractive value."
PC Magazine, September 1991
Setting it Up
No configuration is required for the VGA Wonder XL, with its auto-switching capability. The card came with a utility to force the display mode if necessary.
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! |
Wonder XL VGA BIOS ROM Get in touch if you can provide this missing item! |
DOS Drivers ATI VGA Wonder Series drivers for DOS. Includes utilities, a VESA driver, a mouse driver and software drivers for WordStar 3.31, 4.0 and 5.0, WordPerfect 4.1, 4.2, and 5.0, |
Windows 3.1 Drivers ATI VGA Wonder Series drivers for Windows 3.1. |
Windows 3.1 Drivers ATI VGA Wonder Series drivers for Windows 3.1. Supports VGA Wonder, VGA Wonder Plus, VGA Wonder XL, VGA Integra, 8514 Ultra, Graphics Vantage and Graphics Ultra. |
ATI Mouse Driver DOS mouse driver for all ATI cards with a bus mouse port |
More Pictures
General pictures (unknown credit)
