Retro Review: Tseng Labs ET4000AX Part 3

11th November 2022

In part 2 I ran some synthetic benchmarks on this SVGA card from 1991 (though it's really 1989 tech). In part 3, I will record some videos of games running on the ET4000, and on other cards that were around a similar timeframe of 1989-1991. Again, this is on a PC that's way ahead of the time period for the card and that is by design, so the card is not being throttled by any other components.

To begin with, let's see how it runs some 1989 and 1990 games, coupled with a middle-of-the-road 386DX-25.

F-15 Strike Eagle II (MicroProse, 1990)
This games runs really well on a 386DX-25 with full graphics detail, very smooth with no graphical glitches. 
Indianapolis 500: The Simulation (Electronic Arts, 1989)
Indy 500 runs at a good clip - this is running at maximum detail, but does seem to suffer an incorrect cyan fill on the track at regular intervals.
 
Test Drive 3: The Passion (Accolade, 1990)
TD3 requires a slow 386 due to its CPU speed sensitivity - a 386SX-25 is about right with full detail enabled. The Tseng runs this game very well.
 
Midwinter (MicroProse, 1990)
A game that does drop frames to keep the game's pace up when you're outside, so definitely good for a middling 386, not a fast 286. On 486 systems it will run too fast.

Now we'll run some more advanced games from 1992 and 1993...

Comanche: Maximum Overkill (Novalogic, 1992)

 

Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss (ORIGIN Systems, 1992)

 

Doom (ID Software, 1993)

 

Wing Commander III: Heart of the Tiger (ORIGIN Systems, 1993)
The first CD-ROM title in this test.