SuperMac Thunder II 1600 Unboxing

David Cook

Well-known member
I just received a new-old-stock SuperMac Thunder II 1600 video card. It is still sealed in the original shrink wrap and the box's factory tape is intact.

(Please note the "Free Software Offer!" sticker for later in this posting)

Thunder II GX 1600 box top.jpg

I paid $350 for this. Ouch.

The seller said they had another one. Would I like it as well for $350 but I'd save on shipping? I politely declined. It just sold for $810!

The back of the box. Interestingly, this is a big sticker. I guess this allowed them to update the marketing and customize the box for the GX 1600.

Thunder II GX 1600 box bottom.jpg
Thunder II GX 1600 box side.jpg

The end cap label says "Rev D". I don't see anything on the card that indicates this.

Thunder II GX 1600 box end.jpg


SuperMac Thunder II sticker.jpg

Upon opening the box we are greeted by two 13W3 video cables. Sadly, they do not have any branding (no SuperMac logo).

One cable connects directly to 13W3 monitors (13W3 male-to-male). They recommend continuing to use Apple's cable for the Apple 21" Color Display.

13W3-cables-and-adapters.jpg

The other cable adapts the card output to a standard Macintosh monitor connector (13W3 male to DB15 female). This is critical as the SuperMac Thunder II has a 13W3 output port, but all of my modern monitors do not.

13W3-output-port.jpg

Next we have warranty cards and envelopes for USA, Japan, and Europe.

Warranty-cards.jpg

Next, software/installation manuals and disks. This is SuperVideo 3.0.2 and IPA GX 2.57. Disks are attached to this post.

SuperMac software.jpg

Next we get some additional printed instructions.

Instruction.jpg

Hey! Where is my free software offer that the sticker on the box claimed? Looking more closely, this seems like some sort of software offer, but I can't read Japanese.

Japanese-software-offer.jpg

If I could read Japanese, it would look something like this:

Translated-to-English.jpg

And now, most importantly, we have the graphics card.

Card-in-antistatic-material.jpg

SuperMac-Thunder-II-1600.jpg

Bodge capacitor on U226

U226-capacitor-bodge.jpg

SuperMac-Thunder-II-1600-card-and-module.jpg

Weird spacer or brace atop the daughter card. Solid -- not squishy.

Spacer.jpg

The card works. It says SuperMac Thunder II 1600 v3. ROM Rev 3.0.3.

ROM 3.0.3.GIF

A downside of such a powerful card is that it doesn't support 4, 16, or thousands of colors. This is a problem if you have games or other software that depends on these modes.

Does not support thousands of colors.GIF

The printed leaflet warns that Modern Memory Manager must be enabled in PowerPCs. And, this card is not compatible with the Radius Rocket.

I am slightly disappointed that there is no documentation included that brags about how much memory this card has or all the resolutions it supports.

Condition

The box and papers inside were slightly damp. The outside back of the antistatic bag had visible moisture on it. The cables have a hint of white mildew (?).

Mildew-on-connector.jpg

However, there are no signs of corrosion on the graphics card and the floppy disks were readable. The board does not have any electrolytic capacitors to worry about.

All in all, I feel very fortunate to have this card and all the original materials. Let me know if there is something you want a closer look at.

- David
 

Attachments

  • IPA GX 2.5.7.sit.hqx
    645.6 KB · Views: 1
  • SuperVideo 3.0.2.sit.hqx
    321.7 KB · Views: 1

dcr

Well-known member
The back of the box. Interestingly, this is a big sticker. I guess this allowed them to update the marketing and customize the box for the GX 1600.
It looks like everything that says "GX • 1600" is a sticker. I wonder if it was to cover the printing on the box for a previous version.
 

David Cook

Well-known member
It looks like everything that says "GX • 1600" is a sticker.

Good eye. I do have three other SuperMac boxes: Thunder, Spectrum V, and Spectrum SI. They all have full page stickers on the back. However, they also all share the same printed box. So, it seems like SuperMac had a pattern of printing bulk boxes and then using stickers for details.
 

dcr

Well-known member
Good eye. I do have three other SuperMac boxes: Thunder, Spectrum V, and Spectrum SI. They all have full page stickers on the back. However, they also all share the same printed box. So, it seems like SuperMac had a pattern of printing bulk boxes and then using stickers for details.
Maybe it was a common practice back then. I recall a box for something computer-related that also has a big sticker on the box. I'll have to report back what it is if I come across it again.
 

olePigeon

Well-known member
A downside of such a powerful card is that it doesn't support 4, 16, or thousands of colors. This is a problem if you have games or other software that depends on these modes.
That's precisely why I sold mine. I have several games that require 16 colors.
 

LaPorta

Well-known member
Very interesting. Here, I thought 4 and 16 colors disappeared with Power Macs. Apparently with 3rd parties they never existed!
 

Arbee

Well-known member
Very interesting. Here, I thought 4 and 16 colors disappeared with Power Macs. Apparently with 3rd parties they never existed!
The first-gen PowerMacs supported 2, 4, 8, 16, and thousands of colors on their motherboard video (which is actually borrowed from the LC III).
 

David Cook

Well-known member
Can you read the part number off the U226 below the cap? ICS1562AM?

Also curious to know what's before the -001, if you can see it.

Yes. Good eye.

ICS1562AM.jpg

My other Thunder II 1600 (obtained a while back unrelated to this purchase) has ICS1562AM, 9424-001, AN172551, also ROM 3.0.3
 

eharmon

Well-known member
Yes. Good eye.

View attachment 82530

My other Thunder II 1600 (obtained a while back unrelated to this purchase) has ICS1562AM, 9424-001, AN172551, also ROM 3.0.3
Thanks! Just a date code before the 001 then. That indicates it's the parallel version. I'll pull some info into the other thread, but here's the B-rev datasheet: https://www.renesas.com/en/document...L3BeAPUZ7ONOKFfxSAQnSwKVGSBT90tUDrgEEKe-Ti17S

Seems like just a decoupling cap, wonder if it was catching static shocks from the connector.
 

Joopmac

Well-known member
Sorry, I bid on that also :) increased your buying price

Such a nice kit in box

Do you know if this card supports 1280x1024?
 

David Cook

Well-known member
Do you know if this card supports 1280x1024?

No, it doesn't seem like it. Here are the resolutions listed in the ROM.

512x384
640x480
640x870
768x576
832x624
1024x768
1152x870
1152x882
1152x819
1280x960
1360x1024
1600x1200
HDTV interlaced (not sure how to trigger)
HDTV non-interlaced (not sure how to trigger)

This last two are interesting. This would be analog HDTV, rather than the digital standard that was adopted later. Not sure of the resolution.
 

David Cook

Well-known member
Looks like the person who bought it for $810 now has it listed for $1200!

Yes, I saw that! Pretty good return on a flip.

I don't feel bad about opening mine. My happiness comes not from museum pieces or making money off my hobby, but from rediscovering lost information and from getting old technology running again. To each their own.

I've seen the bottom fall out of beanie babies, comic books, and postage stamps. My mother had a collection of antique dolls (and even published a collectors guide), that had a significant value at one time, only to be nearly worthless as her generation passed away. To me, the sweet spot is for Macintosh computers to be worth enough to list on auction sites so they aren't thrown away, but not enough for them to attract speculators.
 

jmacz

Well-known member
I don't feel bad about opening mine. My happiness comes not from museum pieces or making money off my hobby, but from rediscovering lost information and from getting old technology running again. To each their own.

I feel the same way, I would have totally opened it. :)
 

Unknown_K

Well-known member
Yes, I saw that! Pretty good return on a flip.

I don't feel bad about opening mine. My happiness comes not from museum pieces or making money off my hobby, but from rediscovering lost information and from getting old technology running again. To each their own.

I've seen the bottom fall out of beanie babies, comic books, and postage stamps. My mother had a collection of antique dolls (and even published a collectors guide), that had a significant value at one time, only to be nearly worthless as her generation passed away. To me, the sweet spot is for Macintosh computers to be worth enough to list on auction sites so they aren't thrown away, but not enough for them to attract speculators.
There are comic books, stamps, baseball cards etc. that have kept their value or grown over the years, but they are the very early ones in good condition. Anything mass produced and modern is worthless.

It's the old original Star Wars action figure dilemma; do you open the box and play with them or just keep them intact hoping they will be worth something someday.

Back in the day when I started collecting, I opened up tons of NIB hardware and software to use it not caring about future value. The only item I never took out of the shrink-wrap was my AWS95 AU/X stuff because I already had an opened version to use.
 
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