SuperMac Spectrum/8*24 PDQ video card is much slower that it should be

[jasa1063]

I just got a SuperMac Spectrum/8*24 PDQ NuBus video card. The ROM version is 1.39. I have it installed in my Mac IIci running System 7.1 w/Update 3.0. I am using the SuperVideo 2.75 Control Panel. Video acceleration is enabled but the card benches much lower than the speed of the onboard Mac IIci video. The Spectrum/8*24 PDQ gets a score of about 11, but the Mac IIci onboard video gets about 17 in SpeedOMeter 3.23. I have a DayStar PowerCache P33 50Mhz accelerator installed. Other graphics operations seem much slower as well such as AfterDark screen savers. I have benched both at 640x480 8 bit color. Any idea on why this might be?

 

[Byrd]

Nubus is never as fast as onboard video, but at higher resolutions and colour depths the Nubus card will probably win out even with basic QuickDraw acceleration. A ROM upgrade might help with some compatibility if you want to run later version of Mac OS, but unlikely to boost performance.

 

[jasa1063]

Nubus is never as fast as onboard video, but at higher resolutions and colour depths the Nubus card will probably win out even with basic QuickDraw acceleration. A ROM upgrade might help with some compatibility if you want to run later version of Mac OS, but unlikely to boost performance.

Thanks for that information. I made a few adjustments to the SuperVideo Control Panel and it seems to have helped.

 

[volvo242gt]

When I had one in my previous IIci, it felt pokey. Found myself using either the built-in VampireVideo or using the Radius 8xj that came with it. In my old IIfx, the video didn't seem so slow, due to the faster machine, etc. Games like Super Tetris (same game displayed in my avatar) actually felt normal in response.

 

[jasa1063]

I finally tracked down why the video performance of this card was below what I was expecting. In the Mac IIci I had a Radius Rocket Stage II, the SuperMac Spectrum/8*24 PDQ video and an Astante Ethernet card. I removed the Astante Ethernet card and the performance and behavior of the video card is now what I was expecting. I don't if having 3 NuBus cards was the problem or there was some interference being cause by the Astante Ethernet card. Eitherway, I really don't need networking as I can just use may SCSI2SD portable to transfer files very easily on Mac IIci. I am just glad I solved the problem!

 

[Unknown_K]

Everything shares the Nubus bandwidth so the more cards working the less speed you get.

 

[jasa1063]

Everything shares the Nubus bandwidth so the more cards working the less spedd you get.

I checked with the SuperMac Spectrum/8*24 PDQ as the only NuBus card installed. It made no difference in performance, it was only when the Astante Ethernet card is plugged in that things really slowed down.

 

[jasa1063]

I did some benchmarking of the card and all is working as it should. What put me down this path is some of the After Dark 4.0 modules were extremely slow, in particular Satori. It turns out that is the only real issue with the card. I don't know why the modules are as slow as they are in some cases, but that being the only real issue, I can live without the affected After Dark 4.0 modules as screen savers.