ISA Display Adapters in Dock II

[Michael Klenner <klennerm@is.nyu.edu>]

Hi folks,

I recently added a really nice NEC MultiSync 3FGe monitor to my 755cx/Dock
II setup and was disappointed with the refresh rate/flicker coming from the
onboard video circuitry in the 755, so I'm now considering trying run an ISA
card in the Dock which supports higher refresh rates.  It so happens that
someone  on the list asked about doing this recenly, and I recalled having
read about someone who managed to do it several months ago.  Anyway, I
decided to dive into the archives anf find it.  Here's the resulting
pertinant info:

>To: tp750@cs.utk.edu
>From: Ted Frederick <tedf@cadence.com>
>Subject: 3rd party display adapter
>
>
>I'm glowing with pride...
>
>I accomplished what IBM indicated was "impossible with the ThinkPad
>architecture".  I successfully installed and configured an ISA, 3rd party
>graphics adapter in my Dock II.  I now have 1280x1024x8bpp, 1024x768x16bpp,
>800x600x24bpp and 640x480x32bpp with my 755CDV (& external monitor)
>operational in Win 95.
>
>This was needed because I give presentations in 16-bit color, however, I
>needed a large desktop to create the presentations with the desired color
>depth so I didn't have to undock or reboot windows to see what they would
>look like at the 16bpp level.
>
>I tried several display adapters (the hard part was finding high-performance
>ISA display cards). 
>
>The following cards worked:
>
>* Hercules Dynamite Pro 2MB - 87Hz *interlaced* at 1024x768x16bpp, however
>(Back it went) ;-\
>
>* STB Nitro 64 2MB - Use the drivers that ship with Win95, not the Win95
>drivers that come with the card - compatibility issues.  At $189 it's a
>keeper!  I get faster performance from the Nitro through an ISA bus than I
>do with the internal VLB WD driver on the flat-panel!
>
>The following didn't work at all:
>
>Any display card made by ATI.  I tried 3 different ones and nearly every
>case the system wouldn't even boot!
>
>I don't want to bore everyone on the list with any more info, however, if
>you are interested, e-mail me and I'll tell you how I did it and give some
>tips on how to make the installation go smoothly in Win95.
>
>Regards,
>-Ted


Thanks Ted! I think I'm going to try and dig up one of these STB units.
---
Michael Klenner                          East: klennerm@is.nyu.edu
New York University                      West: mklenner@pacificnet.net
Tisch School of the Arts                 http://pages.nyu.edu/~mdk1143
Institute of Film & Television           talk: michael@24frames.com
---