PowerMac 6100 Graphics Upgrades

The default video configuration of the 6100 series is very limited, but fortunately there are upgrade options. They are very poorly documented by Apple, but they exist. You can increase the graphics performance, get more resolutions, more colors or add video input and output by adding a video card. The following table describes the options you'll have with each of those options. The column entitled "None (640K)" describes what's provided by the built-in video which is always available, whether or not you've added an additional card:

Optional card/ frame buffer size:	None (640K)	PDS cards					Nubus (Various)
		7100 HPV		8100 HPV		AV Card (2 MB)
		1 MB	2 MB	2 MB	4 MB
Maximum resolution	832x624 8 bits	1152x870 8 bits	1152x870 16 bits	1152x870 16 bits	1152x870 24/32 bits	1152x870 16 bits	Varies*
Data path	64 bits	64 bits	64 bits	64 bits	64 bits	32 bits	????
Hardware acceleration	No	No	No	No	No	No	Possibly*
Dual monitors	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Video I/O	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	Possibly*
Compatible w/most recent Mac OS	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Unknown**
Compatible w/MkLinux	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Compatible w/Newer G3 card	Yes	Yes***	Yes***	Yes***	Yes***	Yes	No
Compatible w/Sonnet G3/G4 card	Yes	Maybe****	Maybe****	Maybe****	Maybe****	Yes****	No
Compatible w/DOS card	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No

* Depends on the specific Nubus card. There are several.
** Requires non-Apple drivers which may break under recent OS versions.
*** Not officially supported, but it generally works quite well. See Newer's unofficial statement on HPV compatibility.
**** Sonnet previously advertised AV card compatibility in the 6100, but this has been removed from their product description page. Via email, Tech Support has confirmed that the AV card is supposed to work anyway. I've had mixed email response on this one. The HPV card was never officially supported, but did work in certain configurations. See Sonnet's various statements.

Each of these options has different features and tradeoffs, so this section of the site is quite a bit longer than the other sections. Thus, it's broken out into sub-pages:

• Hardware--Describes the stock video hardware of the 6100 family
• The HPV card--The High Performance Video card, aka HPV card, aka VRAM Expansion Card
• The Apple AV Card--The AV card, providing video input and output
• Nubus video cards--I know very little about these. Please send data.
• Installation--Installing an upgrade card
• Test Results--Methodology, MacBench results, and Marathon 2 frame rates.
• Other benefits of Expansion Cards--Explains support for a second monitor and more resolutions.
• My conclusions--The quick and dirty low-down.

Back to the 6100 Upgrade Page

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Last updated: 5/11/99

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