Rage 128 Identification, and Daughterboard

[cobalt60]

I have 2 very similar Rage 128 cards, both received in Blue G3 towers. One, on the chip, says "RAGE 128 GL", so I think that one is identified. It also has an identifying number of 630-2858
The other has a heatsink over that chip, which just reads "..RAGE 128", and an identifying number of 630-2896. Which variety of Rage 128 is this? Is it better than the GL?

The GL came with a daughtercard. I've seen it called a DVD decoder card, but also a memory expansion card. Which is it, or is it both? If the Rage 128 I have with the heatsink is the better card, would swapping this daughtercard to it make it the best video card I have with the parts on hand?

Attaching pictures below

 

[NJRoadfan]

The daughter card is a DVD MPEG2 decoder, the RAM is for the decoder. All of Apple's DVD decoders used the same C-Cube chip and drivers should come with OS 8 and 9. The video cards look like the OEM Apple cards that came in the B&W's 66Mhz PCI slot. They are both likely functionally identical, just minor hardware revisions. The missing components and ports are because ATI recycled the XClaimVR 128's PCB.

 

[Powerbase]

The heatsink-ed Rage 128 is most likely clocked higher than the non heatsink one. It came with Revision 2 Blue&White G3s.

 

[cobalt60]

Is the heatsinked one possibly a "RAGE 128 Pro"?

 

[NJRoadfan]

Doubtful. ATI didn't make Macintosh compatible versions of the 128 Pro. This is from ATI's own FAQ.

Q14:	Which ATI board is most like the board currently shipping in Apple's latest Power Macintosh G3 (the blue system)?
A14:	ATI RAGE ORION card is the most similar to the graphics card in the new G3.

The Rage ORION card shares the same PCB design as the cards pictured above.

 

[Phipli]

ATI didn't make Macintosh compatible versions of the 128 Pro

Well... They did, but they were AGP that I know.

It was provided with some graphite and even early Quicksilver G4s.

That said, the heatsinked card in this thread still is not a Rage 128 Pro. It is a Rage 128 based card, as noted, most likely from a Rev B B&W.

 

[Powerbase]

Is the heatsinked one possibly a "RAGE 128 Pro"?

Nah, it was just a slightly higher clocked Rage 128.

 

[cobalt60]

ATI RAGE ORION card is the most similar to the graphics card in the new G3.

So does that mean both of these cards would be considered Orion? Sorry if I'm dragging this out, I just expected each card to have a unique model name. The reason I thought it might be a Pro is because it seems to be the next step up from the GL, and, depending on your definition of slightly higher, is slightly higher clocked in MHz (103 -> 125 for the core, and 103 -> 143 for the memory, according to wikipedia, and I guess those are the PC versions; there is no Rage Orion in the specs list).

Do you think if I removed the heatsink, it would also say "Rage 128 GL" on the chip? I guess there is a way to find out.

 

[Phipli]

So does that mean both of these cards would be considered Orion?

If I remember, ATI sold the card themselves as the "Orion". Likely with a different ROM.

These Apple cards didn't really have a snazzy name, they were just "Rage 128 based graphics".

 

[Powerbase]

So does that mean both of these cards would be considered Orion? Sorry if I'm dragging this out, I just expected each card to have a unique model name. The reason I thought it might be a Pro is because it seems to be the next step up from the GL, and, depending on your definition of slightly higher, is slightly higher clocked in MHz (103 -> 125 for the core, and 103 -> 143 for the memory, according to wikipedia, and I guess those are the PC versions; there is no Rage Orion in the specs list).

Do you think if I removed the heatsink, it would also say "Rage 128 GL" on the chip? I guess there is a way to find out.

I'm thinking more along the lines of 70MHz on 'first revision' versus 80 or 90MHz on the 'second revision' cards. They're still Rage 128GL gpus though. I don't remember them being particularly highly clocked.

I remember an article on Xlr8yourmac mentioning the clock speed difference but its gone, like most things.