ATi XPERT 2000

A boxed version of the ATi Rage 128. It's marketed with it's 32MB of RAM and DVD playback capability.

I wonder about it's performance. It won't be up to the standard of 3dfx and nVidia cards, but according to Wikipedia the XPERT 2000 should have the ATi Rage 128 VR chip with 64-bit memory bus. My XPERT 2000 has the GL chip which should be able to communicate over a 128-bit line (EDIT: but indeed probably doesn't on this card).

Specifications

Chipset
PCB date
0010
Chip date
9943
RAM
32MB SDR 8NS (MT)
Interface
Condition
Boxed
TV functions?
Yes
Engineering sample?
No
RAMDAC
Integrated
Board revision
?

Drivers

Driver nameRelease dateOperating systemDownloadInfo
Rage 128 / Rage 128 Pro 4.13.71922001-09-22

Win98 Win98SE WinME WMER1284137192.exe...Link
15 April 2022 16:58

Nope, it can have 64-bit memory bus, even despite it has Rage 128 GL chip.
Both Rage 128 VR and Rage 128 GL can be connected through 64-bit or 128-bit memory bus.
The memory bus is indetendant of the chip, and it depends on the card itself, how it connects the memory. So you can theoreticaly make even 128-bit VR Rage 128. But in reality, noone did it. As VR was budget solution.
Everyone would 128-bit spare only for GL. But... for some budget cards, they could use GL chips, and still use 64-bit bus, while nowhere to mention it. This was common dirty practice among card makers, because they could charge more for these cards, as they were considered in "higher" cathegory.
Nvidia "allowed" this also, with FX5200 and MX440 cards. So, in reality, card manufacturer decided to make (e.g Asus, Gigabyte, Sparkle, Inno3d etc..) Chip only allowed it. Nvidia gave freedom to card manufacturers.
But to the Ati... they've of course decided to it by their own. They did dirty practicing from begining (e.g Rage Pro and Rage Pro Turbo scandal, which was only renamed 2x chip with newer drivers, tweaked the way, so they gave more ratings in some benchmarks and Quake game, to get better scores in (mostly) PCMAG, where they were using these benchmarks... also Anadtech often tested only Quake/ Quake 2 only)


17 April 2022 07:03

Thanks for your reply. I mentioned the GL-chip should be able to communicate over a 128-bit bus ;). But you're right: it's a budget card that probably only has a 64-bit memory bus. The same trick as with many FX5200's indeed. The initial reviews were often done with 128-bit models but the market was flooded with dreadful 64-bit versions.

I haven't tested this particular card yet but did test the ATi Rage 128 that does have a VR-chip: benchmars are here :).

12 November 2023 01:43

Hello. I think it's not Xpert 2000, it's the card which has cut-off PCB (as you can see at the back of the box).
In first photos, I see other card, not sure what's its name.

05 December 2023 15:34

On the back of the box you can indeed see the PCB which has been cut off. People often refer to an 'L-card' with this style of card. Most photo's I can find online are indeed the so called L-card. However, my box has a sticker on the front that states 'Incl. TV-OUT' which indicates that the card in the picture really is the correct card for this box since the L-cards don't have room for TV-Out connectors :).

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