After testing six graphics cards designed for EISA, we were pleasantly surprised to find that EISA video speeds can keep up with VL-Bus speeds. We still believe that VL-Bus is the best choice for graphics performance, but some EISA systems, notably Compaq's M series, lack a local bus. For those systems, cards such as the Compaq QVision 1280/E are competitive with the best of the breed for any bus attachment.
Users of EISA systems can also consider ISA-based video accelerators, and we found that these boards usually work flawlessly in an EISA system. Accordingly, we considered the entire sampling of EISA and ISA cards for all awards in this section. Nevertheless, our tests show that while they are compatible with EISA systems, IS
A boards are slower and less flexible than EISA boards, which can fully participate in EISA's automatic configuration scheme. (The EISA version of the Appian Renegade 1280 didn't arrive in time for testing.)
A major advantage of the EISA bus over ISA is the 32-bit address space (4 GB), compared to 24 bits (16 MB) for ISA. Compaq's ISA-based QVision 1280/I in particular requires a large chunk of the ISA address space; using this board limits your overall ISA system memory to 12 MB.
The QVision 1280/E earned our highest rankings for general-purpose and CAD/CAM. With even IBM now moving to third-party graphics designs, Compaq is one of the last system vendors to make its own video accelerators and write its own drivers. The QVision 1280/E is a remarkable success; it dominated all the other cards in the 256-color graphics modes. However, its drivers for 64,000 colors are newer and not as well tuned. Consequently, it placed only sixth in those tests.
The QVision 1280/E gains much of its speed
through highly tuned drivers; it was one of the few cards to quickly handle a display of a 24-bit DIB (device-independent bit map). By mapping the entire VRAM into the system-address space, the QVision 1280/E saves time that would otherwise be spent paging memory over other designs.
For the best general-purpose alternatives to the QVision 1280/E, look to the ISA cards we've ranked. At $199, the Paradise/Western Digital Accelerator 24 offers good value as a low-cost general-purpose card for EISA systems. The Hercules Graphite Pro HG310 and the Volante Warp20-2 are nearly twins. Both are ISA boards based on IIT AGX accelerators and provide 1 or 2 MB of VRAM at similar prices.
Both of these boards are also competitive choices for the best direct-color and CAD/CAM boards. (Their maximum 2 MB of memory is not enough for serious color publishing applications, however.) We give a slight edge to the Graphite Pro HG310 here because of its broad range of support options, the strength of its bundled utilit
ies, and its better performance.
The Appian Renegade 1280 was our choice for 64,000 colors on VL-Bus and ISA, and EISA is no exception. The 8-bit drivers for the ISA-based Renegade 1280 are uninspired; displaying a 24-bit DIB takes a whopping 22 seconds in 1024 by 768 resolution, and 37 seconds in 1280 by 1024 resolution. The 16-bit (64,000 colors) drivers, however, are a masterpiece, displaying the same 24-bit DIB in only four-tenths of a second. The Renegade 1280 ISA was one of the few adapters that were faster using 64,000 colors than they were using 256 colors. The Renegade 1280 uses Appian's own accelerator technology.
A more polished, though somewhat slower, board is the ATI Graphics Ultra Pro EISA. Like the Renegade 1280 ISA, the Graphics Ultra Pro shines its brightest using 16-bit, direct color. The Graphics Ultra Pro could not match the Renegade 1280's overall speed, but it was significantly faster at Blting (i.e., making raw pixel copies from memory to screen): 3.5 million pixels per s
econd for the Graphics Ultra Pro, compared to 2.5 million pixels per second for the Renegade 1280. (An EISA version of the Renegade 1280 would probably be faster, however.)
Blting performance is the all-important parameter for multimedia applications and image-editing applications. Considering ATI's advanced support for Video for Windows, the Graphics Ultra Pro looks like a natural for people with a special interest in multimedia. The Graphics Ultra Pro is based on ATI's own Mach 32 accelerator.
The main alternative to the QVision 1280/E for CAD/CAM applications is the Sigma WinMach 1600. The WinMach 1600 is our CAD/CAM choice for ISA systems, but it can't match the speed of the QVision 1280/E on EISA systems. (S3 has an improved driver in the works, but it was in beta at the time of our tests.) The WinMach 1600 offers the added enticement of hardware panning, a 1600- by 1200-pixel desktop, and a strong package of special imaging utilities.
Need to speed business applications?
GENERAL PURPOSE
Compaq QVision 1280/E
This accelerator was the equal of better-known designs and fast enough to be on a par with VL-Bus video accelerators. Like all non-VL-Bus boards, the QVision 1280/E has relatively poor pixel-copy speeds, but its speed in displaying text and complex graphics is among the fastest of any board.
SPEED EASE OF PRICE AS RAM AS
(SECONDS) USE TESTED TESTED
BEST Compaq QVision 1280/E 0.641 *** $599 2 MB
RUNNER-UP Paradise/W D Accelerator 24 0.733 ** $199 1 MB
RUNNER-UP Hercules Graphite Pro HG310 0.744 *** $399 1 MB
RUNNER-UP Volante Warp20-2 0.766 *** $499 1 MB
RUNNER-UP ATI Graphics Ultra Pro EISA 0.859 *** $549 1.5 MB
ACCELERATOR CONTROLLER
BEST Compaq QVision 1280/E
Proprietary
RUNNER-UP Paradise/W D Accelerator 24 WD90C31
RUNNER-UP Hercules Graphite Pro HG310 IIT AGX015
RUNNER-UP Volante Warp20-2 IIT AGX-14/15
RUNNER-UP ATI Graphics Ultra Pro EISA ATI Mach 32
STANDARD DRIVERS
AUTOCAD OS/2 WINDOWS 3.1 UNIX#
BEST Compaq QVision 1280/E X X X X
RUNNER-UP Paradise/W D Accelerator 24 X X X
RUNNER-UP Hercules Graphite Pro HG310 X X X
RUNNER-UP Volante Warp20-2 X X X X
RUNNER-UP ATI Graphics Ultra Pro EISA X X X X
KEY
Ease of Use:
Excellent ****
Good ***
Fair **
Poor *
# SCO Open Systems' version of the X Window System.
EISA leaders in 64,000 colors
DIRECT COLOR
Appian Renegade 1280 ISA
Although we tested the ISA version
of the board here, the Renegade 1280 was 17 percent faster than the second-place ATI Graphics Ultra Pro EISA. The Renegade 1280 is not without warts: It is one of the few cards that requires a driver to be loaded during the DOS boot.
SPEED EASE OF PRICE AS RAM AS
(SECONDS) USE TESTED TESTED
BEST Appian Renegade 1280 ISA 0.659 *** $490 2 MB
RUNNER-UP ATI Graphics Ultra Pro EISA 0.769 *** $549 2 MB
RUNNER-UP Compaq QVision 1280/E 0.859 *** $599 2 MB
RUNNER-UP Nth Graphics Nth Edge 1280 0.787 *** $995 2 MB
RUNNER-UP Sigma Designs WinMach 1600 0.832 *** $995 2 MB
ACCELERATOR CONTROLLER
BEST Appian Renegade 1280 ISA Appian AGC98032
RUNNER-UP ATI Graphics Ultra Pro EISA ATI Mach 32
RUNNER-UP Compaq QVision 1280/E Propr
ietary
RUNNER-UP Nth Graphics Nth Edge 1280 Chips & Technologies 481
RUNNER-UP Sigma Designs WinMach 1600 S3 86C928
STANDARD DRIVERS
AUTOCAD OS/2 WINDOWS 3.1 UNIX#
BEST Appian Renegade 1280 ISA X X X X
RUNNER-UP ATI Graphics Ultra Pro EISA X X X X
RUNNER-UP Compaq QVision 1280/E X X X X
RUNNER-UP Nth Graphics Nth Edge 1280 X X
RUNNER-UP Sigma Designs WinMach 1600 X X
KEY
Ease of Use:
Excellent ****
Good ***
Fair **
Poor *
# SCO Open Systems' version of the X Window System.
Want the best for true-color work?
DESKTOP PUBLISHING
SuperMac Spectrum/24 EISA
The Spectrum/24's 1152 by 910 resolution with 16.7 million colors makes a good match for programs such as QuarkXPr
ess and Adobe Photoshop. The other boards ranked here offer credible performance.
SPEED EASE OF PRICE AS RAM AS
(SECONDS) USE TESTED TESTED
BEST SuperMac Spectrum/24 EISA 1.058 ** $999 3 MB
RUNNER-UP Raster Ops PaintBoard PC 1.963 *** $999 3 MB
RUNNER-UP Number Nine #9GXE 2.700 *** $895 4 MB
ACCELERATOR CONTROLLER
BEST SuperMac Spectrum/24 EISA Proprietary
RUNNER-UP Raster Ops PaintBoard PC S3 86C924
RUNNER-UP Number Nine #9GXE S3 86C928
STANDARD DRIVERS
AUTOCAD OS/2 WINDOWS 3.1 UNIX#
BEST SuperMac Spectrum/24 EISA X
RUNNER-UP Raster Ops PaintBoard PC X X
RUNNER-UP Number Nine #9G
XE X X
KEY
Ease of Use:
Excellent ****
Good ***
Fair **
Poor *
# SCO Open Systems' version of the X Window System.
For high resolution and speed
CAD/CAM
Compaq QVision 1280/E
The 1280/E's performance puts it in the league of VL-Bus graphics adapters, but its main drawback is the 2-MB maximum VRAM, which limits resolution compared to the more expensive 3- and 4-MB boards.
SPEED EASE OF PRICE AS RAM AS
(SECONDS) USE TESTED TESTED
BEST Compaq QVision 1280/E 0.687 *** $599 2 MB
RUNNER-UP Sigma Designs WinMach 1600 0.808 *** $995 2 MB
RUNNER-UP Pixelworks WhirlWin-II 0.815 *** $895 2 MB
RUNNER-UP Appian Renegade 1280 ISA 0.886 *** $490 2 MB
RUNNER-UP ATI Graphics Ultra Pro EISA 0.948 ***
$549 2 MB
ACCELERATOR CONTROLLER
BEST Compaq QVision 1280/E Proprietary
RUNNER-UP Sigma Designs WinMach 1600 S3 86C928
RUNNER-UP Pixelworks WhirlWin-II S3 86C928
RUNNER-UP Appian Renegade 1280 ISA Appian AGC98032
RUNNER-UP ATI Graphics Ultra Pro EISA ATI Mach 32
STANDARD DRIVERS
AUTOCAD OS/2 WINDOWS 3.1 UNIX#
BEST Compaq QVision 1280/E X X X X
RUNNER-UP Sigma Designs WinMach 1600 X X
RUNNER-UP Pixelworks WhirlWin-II X X X X
RUNNER-UP Appian Renegade 1280 ISA X X X X
RUNNER-UP ATI Graphics Ultra Pro EISA X X X X
KEY
Ease of Use:
Excellent ****
Good ***
Fair **
Poor *
# SCO Open Systems' version of the X Window System.
The Best Graphics Accelerators For EISA-Bus Systems
