DEC Hardware Thread

Irinikus · May 15, 2021

Here's an example of the geometry accelerator add-on card for one of these things:

I'll have to get a search started!

EDIT

I may have just found one!!!

And I just bought it!

Elf · May 15, 2021

Wow, that is a lot of DSP chips!

Irinikus · May 15, 2021

Indeed!

It's a pretty cool looking card!

I just need to determine if it's safe to link it to the 4D60 that Ive bought, as the 4D60's meant to be linked to a Lynx III, which is considerably less powerful. (The vertex bus interface is the same though.)

jenna64bit · May 17, 2021

Interesting. Is this like SGI systems where the TRAM is completely separate from the framebuffer? Or, is it able to handle something like 32mb of textures?

Irinikus · May 17, 2021

jenna64bit said:
Interesting. Is this like SGI systems where the TRAM is completely separate from the framebuffer? Or, is it able to handle something like 32mb of textures?

That’s correct. It can be upgraded to have 64MB of TRAM, over and above its 32MB framebuffer.

Irinikus · May 17, 2021

The graphics card has arrived and I've slotted it into my AlphaStation:

Here are some pics of the card:

This is the graphics card upgrade path that the machine has been through:

I'm currently installing Windows 2000 on the machine, with the hope of getting proper drivers for the card installed!

Irinikus · May 17, 2021

Does anyone know what driver to use for a realizm card in Windows NT4 or 2000 on an Alphastation?

jammaster got his to work, but he seems to be missing in action!

Any help would be much appreciated!

The 3dlabs drivers aren't working! (Aren't installing!)

Irinikus · May 18, 2021

After a huge amount of searching, I finally found the correct Compaq native Alpha driver for the card!

ItsVince725 · Aug 1, 2021

I just acquired a Compaq AlphaStation DS10 today and I'm curious about this weird RAM it has. How would I go about shopping for more, i.e. what should I search for to find it?

LarBob · Aug 1, 2021

ItsVince725 said:
I just acquired a Compaq AlphaStation DS10 today and I'm curious about this weird RAM it has. How would I go about shopping for more, i.e. what should I search for to find it?

20-0ES40-10 Digital Equipment (DEC) 512MB PC100 100MHz ECC Registered 200-Pin D | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for 20-0ES40-10 Digital Equipment (DEC) 512MB PC100 100MHz ECC Registered 200-Pin D at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.com

These worked fine in my DS10L.

ItsVince725 · Aug 1, 2021

LarBob said:
20-0ES40-10 Digital Equipment (DEC) 512MB PC100 100MHz ECC Registered 200-Pin D | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for 20-0ES40-10 Digital Equipment (DEC) 512MB PC100 100MHz ECC Registered 200-Pin D at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.com

These worked fine in my DS10L.

Thanks, that looks like exactly the RAM I need. Not cheap but not as expensive as it could be, with how sellers on eBay price Alpha stuff you'd think it was ultra limited production hardware and not commodity workstation/server stuff...

foleyrya · Sep 30, 2021

I own a DEC Venturis FX 5120 a late intel based desktop running windows 3.11 in its first life it was used to control a centrifuge or some kind of Lab equipment. I also own a Digital DE210 MCA ethernet adapter and a 5.25 inch SCSI HDD of unknown size. I own many other pieces of digital memorabilia including internal documents I have collected myself and some that I've gotten from my grandfather who worked for digital from 1978 through the Compaq years until HP bought Compaq which he left shortly after.