Diamond SpeedSTAR / SpeedSTAR VGA
The original SpeedSTAR VGA graphics card was the very first card to use the Sierra Semiconductor HiColor RAMDAC, though a simpler 8-bit (256-colour) RAMDAC could also be installed during final assembly.
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Released | April 1991 |
| Bus | ISA 16-bit | |
| Chipset | Tseng Labs ET4000AX | |
| Standards | Hercules, CGA, EGA, VGA | |
| Memory | 512 KB or 1 MB DRAM | |
| Ports | 15-pin DSUB (video out) 26-pin VGA Feature connector |
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| RAMDAC | Music Semiconductor TR9C1710 or Sierra Semiconductor SC11486CV | |
| Part # | ||
| FCC ID | FTUTENTIMB (original?), FTUSPEEDC / FTUSPEEDB (Plus) | |
| Price | At launch: $445 (512 KB) or $465 (1 MB), Dec 1991: $179-189 (Plus), Apr 1992: $175 (Plus) | |
| See Also | SpeedSTAR 24, SpeedSTAR 24X |
The SpeedSTAR VGA was heralded for its excellent picture quality, though it was the second slowest board in the line-up (only the Trident was slower) - the fastest in this group were the Orchid ProDesigner II and STB Powergraph ERGO-VGA. Overall, the SpeedSTAR is considered to have good VGA performance for the 2D era.
Back in 1992 you could upgrade your Diamond SpeedSTAR to a SpeedStar 24 (non-"X") by purchasing the SpeedStar 24's TrueColor RAMDAC and BIOS chips.
A SpeedSTAR Plus variant was also sold. There is little known about this variant's differences over the SpeedSTAR, except that it came with a HiColor DAC from Sierra Semiconductor, supported 1,024 by 768 resolution non-interlaced with a 72 Hz maximum vertical refresh rate, and that a 1 MB version with fast 70ns video RAM certainly existed. I have seen cards with just 512 KB onboard.
The SpeedSTAR Plus shipped with ZEOS 386-33 and ZEOS 486-33 desktop PCs in late 1991 and early 1992 with the full 1 MB. Other desktop PC OEMs who offered the 1 MB Plus was Gateway 2000 on their 386DX and their 486 EISA systems, Ariel Design 486SX2-50 and the Ares Microdevelopment 486DX2-50 Sonic III which usually came as standard with an S3 86C911 chipset-based graphics accelerator but offered the Plus as a lower-cost swap-out.
Board Revisions
There were at least three revisions of the SpeedSTAR: 4, A4 and C6. The BIOS chips used on these cards were typically the Texas Instruments 27C256 or ST Microelectronics M27C256B , both 32 KB EPROMs.
In all these cards, memory was held in two banks. Bank 0 was always populated, and was the lowermost and second-from-top pair of DRAM ICs. These are soldered-in. Bank 1 was populated on 1 MB cards only, and was the top pair and third-from-top pair of DRAM sockets.
Competition
The SpeedStar VGA, with its 1024x768 in 256 colours, went head-to-head with a number of other new Super VGA cards in early 1991, including the Everex Viewpoint VRAM, Orchid ProDesigner II, STB Powergraph ERGO-VGA, Trident Impact III, Video Seven VRAM II and Sigma Designs VGA Legend. These cards also hosted the same ET4000 apart from the Trident and Video Seven cards who used their own.
The SpeedSTAR Plus was a competitor of the ATI VGA Wonder XL.
In the Media
Byte's Essential Guide to Windows, 1992
Setting it Up
The four DIP switches have the folllwing meanings:
| SW | Description | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| SW1/2 | Video memory speed | ON/ON = Turbo video memory OFF/OFF = Normal video memory |
| SW3 | 16-bit BIOS enabled | ON = 16-bit BIOS OFF = 8-bit BIOS |
| SW4 | Turbo BIOS | ON = Turbo BIOS OFF = Normal BIOS |
Downloads
Operation Manual Get in touch if you can provide this missing item! |
Original Utility Disk Get in touch if you can provide this missing item! |
VGA BIOS ROM Get in touch if you can provide this missing item! |
VGA BIOS ROM Get in touch if you can provide this missing item! |
VGA BIOS ROM Get in touch if you can provide this missing item! |
VGA BIOS ROM Get in touch if you can provide this missing item! |
Windows 3.1 Drivers
Windows 3.1 display drivers with support for up to 1280x1024 in 16 colours, 1024x768 in 256 colours, and 800x600 in 65536 colours. |
Drivers & Utilities Disk Includes Windows 3.0 display drivers and DOS drivers for GEM, Lotus 1-2-3, and WordPerfect 5.0/5.1, plus FASTBIOS.SYS, SETMODE utility and several others. |
More Pictures
A SpeedSTAR VGA Rev.4
