GXe / #9GXe
Number Nine unveiled the #9GXe in late 1992 with shipping in early 1993. Based on the 'then-new' Vision928 chipset from S3, it supported screen resolutions as high as 1,280 x 1,024 (non-interlaced) in 256 colours, 1,152 x 870 in 65,536 colours, and 800 x 600 in 16.7 million colours. All these resolutions could be driven at 76 or 77 Hz refresh rate for flicker-free operation in 256-colour mode.
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Released | Early 1993 |
| Bus | ISA 16-bit or VESA Local Bus | |
| Chipset | S3 Vision928 | |
| Standards | MDA, Hercules, CGA, EGA, VGA | |
| Memory | 1 MB - 4 MB VRAM | |
| Ports | 9-pin DSUB (RGB analogue video out) | |
| Part # | PC0092xx02 | |
| FCC IDs | JF9-GXE4MEG (#9GXE ISA version), JF9-GXEVLT (#9GXE VL version) | |
| RAMDAC | Brooktree Bt9485KP | |
| Price | At launch: $495 (1 MB), $895 (4 MB) | |
| See Also | Number Nine GXe64 |
The GXe straddled the brief time when VESA Local Bus and ISA cards were competing in the high-end video card market. The only difference between the ISA-based #9GXe and the VESA Local Bus one was that latter came with a dual-pin VGA pass-through connector. Typical of early 1993, both cards had the same list price of $495 at launch.
The card came in three memory sizes: 1 MB, 2 MB and 4 MB, all of which used the faster VRAM (video RAM) that ran at 60ns, instead of the cheaper and slower DRAM. In its launch year it competed against such cards as the ELSA Winner 1000 ($599), ATI Graphics Ultra Pro ($499), Hercules Graphite Pro ($549), Matrox MGA Ultima ($899), Diamond Viper VLB ($499), and Orchid Fahrenheit VA/VLB ($349).
Board Revisions
Competition
Against the competition the #9GXe was the fastest VESA Local Bus card you could buy apart from the Actix GraphicsEngine Ultra VL ($399) though the ISA-based version was the fastest when compared to other high-end ISA cards. It also boasted the best utility software with its "HawkEye" Control Panel and other tools.
In the Media
Setting it Up
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! |
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