5 ms·

> some unnamed AGP video card Do you mean VGA rather than AGP? AGP came much later than the 386 and wouldn’t have been supported by its motherboard chipsets.

zubiaur 1y ago
ISA slot, likely.
- MBCook 1y ago
  Is it possible it could’ve been EISA and that’s why it seemed different? I can’t remember if those were available on 386s or started in the 486 era.
  - Zardoz84 1y ago
    A Local bus ? The VESA Local Bus (VLB) was a thing in 486 boards and, I think, early Pentium boards. but was predated by privative local buses. I don't know if there was one on 386 boards.
  - TheAmazingRace 1y ago
    EISA was typically reserved for higher end server and workstation type motherboards. Consumer-grade PCs never really got to experience EISA.
devmor 1y ago
Probably correct, though I think I had a 486 board with an AGP slot? I didn’t have anything newer than that until the Core 2 Duo came out.
- deleted 1y ago
  [deleted]
- kbolino 1y ago
  AGP came too late for the 486. It may have been VLB, a short-lived step between ISA and PCI (and then AGP).
  - devmor 1y ago
    I just looked up a few old motherboards and I think you are correct! I remembered it was a brown PCI-looking bus and incorrectly assumed the only thing that matched was AGP - the VLB looks exactly like what I remember.
gruturo 1y ago
Same size as a normal ISA connector but "deeper" (2 rows of contact if you could inspect them)? EISA Full ISA connector (potentially missing the bit in the middle) and then a further piece? VLB Shorter than ISA but higher density? AGP (it's even a bit shorter than PCI) Was it at least a Pentium? Can't be AGP otherwise. Going to ignore PCI-X, PCIE and obscure AGP variants
- bartread 1y ago
  I was talking about what was on the card itself rather than the interface, because the poster I was responding to mentioned the card, but your point about interfaces is well made. Back in the day - late 80s, very early 90s - I’d see Amstrad (ugh!) 286-based desktop systems on sale in our local branch of Dixon that included graphics cards fitted with VGA chipsets, but cards compatible with the AGP interface on then newer motherboards didn’t cross my radar until the second half of the 90s.

zubiaur 1y ago

ISA slot, likely.

MBCook 1y ago
Is it possible it could’ve been EISA and that’s why it seemed different? I can’t remember if those were available on 386s or started in the 486 era.
- Zardoz84 1y ago
  A Local bus ? The VESA Local Bus (VLB) was a thing in 486 boards and, I think, early Pentium boards. but was predated by privative local buses. I don't know if there was one on 386 boards.
- TheAmazingRace 1y ago
  EISA was typically reserved for higher end server and workstation type motherboards. Consumer-grade PCs never really got to experience EISA.

devmor 1y ago

Probably correct, though I think I had a 486 board with an AGP slot? I didn’t have anything newer than that until the Core 2 Duo came out.

deleted 1y ago
[deleted]
kbolino 1y ago
AGP came too late for the 486. It may have been VLB, a short-lived step between ISA and PCI (and then AGP).
- devmor 1y ago
  I just looked up a few old motherboards and I think you are correct! I remembered it was a brown PCI-looking bus and incorrectly assumed the only thing that matched was AGP - the VLB looks exactly like what I remember.

gruturo 1y ago

Same size as a normal ISA connector but "deeper" (2 rows of contact if you could inspect them)? EISA Full ISA connector (potentially missing the bit in the middle) and then a further piece? VLB Shorter than ISA but higher density? AGP (it's even a bit shorter than PCI) Was it at least a Pentium? Can't be AGP otherwise. Going to ignore PCI-X, PCIE and obscure AGP variants

bartread 1y ago
I was talking about what was on the card itself rather than the interface, because the poster I was responding to mentioned the card, but your point about interfaces is well made. Back in the day - late 80s, very early 90s - I’d see Amstrad (ugh!) 286-based desktop systems on sale in our local branch of Dixon that included graphics cards fitted with VGA chipsets, but cards compatible with the AGP interface on then newer motherboards didn’t cross my radar until the second half of the 90s.