STB Virge/GX 3D PCI
Graphics Accelerator
User's Guide

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Specifications Specifications are subject to change without notice or obligation. Memory 2MB EDO (Extended Data Out) DRAM or 4 MB EDO DRAM Performance Up to 79.0 Million WINMARKS in 1024 x 768, 65,000 colors at 75 Hz on a P5-200MX running Winbench ‘97 Business Graphics Winmark (4MB Card) Bus 32-bit PCI local bus; 64-bit acceleration Accelerator S3 Virge/GX Resolution, color depth, vertical refresh 4MB Card 1600 x1200, up to 60 Hz refresh, up to 256 colors 1280 x 1024, up to 85 Hz refresh, up to 65 thousand colors 1152 x 864, up to 60 Hz refresh, up to 65 thousand colors 1024 x 768, up to 100 Hz refresh, up to 16.7 million colors 800 x 600, up to 120 Hz refresh, up to 16.7 million colors 640 x 480, up to 140 Hz refresh, up to 16.7 million colors 2MB Card 1600 x1200, up to 60 Hz refresh, up to 256 colors 1280 x 1024, up to 85 Hz refresh, up to 256 colors 1152 x 864, up to 60 Hz refresh, up to 65 thousand colors 1024 x 768, up to 100 Hz refresh, up to 65 thousand colors 800 x 600, up to 120 Hz refresh, up to 16.7 million colors 640 x 480, up to 140 Hz refresh, up to 16.7 million colors Connector Standard 15-pin video Software platform support DOS, Windows Drivers Windows NT, Windows 95 Monitor support Standard VGA 640 x 480 analog monitors or better Power Approximately 5W Many Gateway 2000 products are custom engineered by our suppliers to Gateway 2000 specifications, and may vary with similarly marketed products.   Introduction Your system contains an STB ViRGE/GX 2MB/4MB 3-D 64-Bit PCI Graphics Accelerator, an advanced computer graphics video display adapter. The STB ViRGE/GX 2MB/4MB 3-D 64-Bit PCI Graphics Accelerator extends performance beyond the scope of other graphics technologies, and it remains VGA/VESA register-level compatible. The card has power-saving features that support the EPA’s Energy Star program. To maximize the power and versatility of this card with your applications, special enhanced drivers have been included for: Windows NT Windows 95 The STB ViRGE/GX 2MB/4MB 3-D 64-Bit PCI Graphics Accelerator is also supported by the VGA driver included with most software applications available today.   Card layout Mounting bracket Feature connector Accelerator chip Video memory Video cable connector (end view) Analog video output PCI local bus connector System ROM BIOS Mounting bracket Feature connector Accelerator chip Video memory Video cable connector (end view) Analog video output PCI local bus connector System ROM BIOS Note: In our effort to provide you with the latest developments in video card technology, we seek the most recently updated hardware available. This means the video card illustrated in this manual may not match the card that shipped with this manual exactly. The location of the cards’ components, such as memory chips, is the only difference. Because these cosmetic changes do not affect the functionality of the cards, the rest of the information in this manual is accurate for your card. Before opening your system case, read and follow these preventions and precautions to prevent damage from static electricity. Caution! Preventing Static Electricity Damage The components inside your system are extremely sensitive to static electricity, also known as electrostatic discharge (ESD). Static electricity can cause irreparable damage to your system; however, if you follow these preventions and precautions, you should prevent such damage. Static Electricity Preventions 1. WEAR A GROUNDING WRIST STRAP (available at most electronic stores). 2. Turn off the system power. 3. Touch the back of the power supply fan, located on the back of the case. 4. UNPLUG ALL CORDS FROM WALL OUTLET. 5. Remove the system case cover. Static Electricity Precautions • Avoid static-causing surfaces such as plastic and styrofoam in your work area. • Remove parts from their antistatic bags only when you are ready to use it. Do not lay parts on the outside of antistatic bags since only the inside provides antistatic protection. • Always hold cards by their edges and their metal mounting bracket. Avoid touching components on the cards and the edge connectors that connect to expansion slots. • Never slide cards or other parts over any surface.   To install the video card: Exit Windows. Shut down the system, discharge your body’s static electricity, and unplug the power cord. Remove the screws from the back of the case and slide the case off the system unit. Unplug the cable from the old video card. Remove the screw that holds the old video card in the system and keep it. Pull out the old video card by carefully rocking it back and forth to extract the card. Remove the new video card from its antistatic packaging. Do not touch the connectors that plug into the expansion slot. Press the card into a PCI slot on the system board. You can rock the card end to end as you insert it, but do not bend the card sideways. Note: Do not install the card into any slot except a PCI local bus slot. Refer to the technical reference that shipped with your system if you have any doubt about which slots are PCI slots. Store the old video card in the antistatic packaging left over from the new video card. Use the screw from Step 3 to secure the new video card’s mounting bracket to the system unit. Reattach the video cable to the video card’s connector. Replace the cover and plug in the power cable. Proceed to "Installing the video card software."   Installing the video card software If you purchased this video card with your system, you can skip the To install: software instructions. If you need to reinstall the software, refer to the To reinstall the software: instructions.   To install the software: Power up the system. The Windows 95 system automatically detects the new piece of hardware. A dialog box appears with the message New Hardware Detected. The Update Device Driver wizard appears. Place the STB 2MB/4MB driver diskette in the floppy drive (usually the A: drive). Click the Next button. Note: If you purchased your system with a CD-ROM drive installed, you received the System CD. If you did NOT receive the installation diskette referred to in these instructions, the files are on the CD. The Update Device Driver wizard reappears. If prompted, choose the A: drive. Click OK. Finish the installation and restart your computer when prompted.   To reinstall the software: Click the Start button, Settings, and Control Panel. The Control Panel now appears. Double-click on the Display icon. The Display Properties window appears. In the Display Properties wizard, click the Advanced Properties button. The Advanced Display Properties window appears. Click the Change button in the Adapter tab. The Select Device window appears. Click the Have Disk button. The Install From Disk window appears. Make sure that the STB 2MB/4MB for Windows 95 driver diskette or the System CD is in the appropriate drive. The Select Device window appears again. Highlight English: STB Nitro 3D, with STB Vision 95. Click on OK to install the driver. The installation program prompts you to reboot your system for the video drivers to take effect. Reboot the system to enable the new video card.   Using the STB Vision 95 utilities Once your card is installed and functioning properly, you should have no reason to reconfigure the card. However, if for some reason you decide to change the settings, the STB Vision 95 Control Panel makes this a quick and easy process. Power up your system and enter Windows 95. Click on the STB Vision 95 Control Panel button located next to the Start button in the bottom corner of the Windows 95 desktop to access the STB Vision 95 Control Panel.   Display settings The Display Setting area of the STB Vision 95 Control Panel allows you to modify: Color palette Desktop area Resolution Font size   Features In the Features area of the STB Vision 95 Control Panel you can access the: Bird’s eye window Zoom window Monitor options   Monitor options To change or modify the monitor settings, click on the Monitor Options button in the Features section or the Icon toolbar. The STB Vision 95 Monitor Option window appears. In this window, you can change the refresh rates for the installed monitor. The Relaxed DDC (Display Data Channel) Mode allows for more flexibility for setting monitor refresh rates at different resolutions. The default setting is enabled.   Bird’s Eye window The Bird’s Eye window shows a reduced representation of your entire virtual desktop. You can click within the Bird’s Eye window to pan a selected area of the virtual desktop. You can also use the Bird’s Eye window to get a quick overview of where your windows are located on your virtual desktop. The Bird’s Eye Options screen allows you to choose different configuration options for the Bird’s Eye window. In Popup mode the Bird’s Eye appears centered on the pointer location when the Popup mode is started, and it minimizes when you click in to pan to a new location in the virtual desktop. In Persistent mode, the window pops up centered on the pointer location, but it does not minimize when you click in it to pan to a new location. It stays in place, ready for you to click and pan again. Fast draw accelerates the drawing of the Bird’s Eye window client area by using an approximate representation of the virtual desktop showing open windows as rectangles. Without Fast draw, the representation of the virtual desktop is more detailed, but it takes longer to draw. Always on top controls whether the Bird’s Eye window always appears on top of most other windows on your desktop. If this item is not selected, other windows can overlap the Bird’s Eye window. The HotKey edit box allows you to assign a hotkey to directly invoke the Bird’s Eye window. Pressing the hotkey sequence when the window is minimized or hidden makes it visible. Pressing the hotkey sequence when the Bird’s Eye window is visible minimizes or hides the Bird’s Eye window. To specify the hotkey key sequence, click in the HotKey edit box, then press any combination of modifier or prefix keys (Alt, Ctrl, or Shift) followed by a terminating key (A-Z, 0-9, or F1-F12). If you attempt to assign a hotkey that conflicts with another STB Vision hotkey, an error box appears when you select OK. Either assign a non-conflicting hotkey or delete the conflicting hotkey. Delete a hotkey by clicking in the HotKey edit box and then pressing the Backspace or Delete key.   Zoom The Zoom function places a window on the screen that shows an enlarged view of the region immediately around the pointer. To set the options for the Zoom window, click the Zoom icon in the upper left corner of the Zoom window to open the Zoom options; the Zoom Options window follows: .The Mode box controls whether the Zoom window is in dynamic mode, in static mode, or off. Dynamic enables the Zoom window feature in dynamic mode. When the Zoom window is in dynamic mode, the contents of the Zoom window client area are dynamically updated as the mouse cursor moves across the display. Static means the contents of the Zoom window don’t change as you move the pointer. To use this mode, click in the client area of the Zoom window. The pointer changes to a rectangle. Move the rectangle to the area you want to zoom in on, then click again. Off disables the Zoom window feature. When the Zoom window feature is off, the Zoom window is not available and cannot be invoked. The selections in the Position Type group box control the type of position information displayed in the status area. Enable or disable the status area in the Window Options group box, described later, based on the type of information you wish to have displayed. Absolute position is relative to the upper left corner of the display, considered to be at x,y position 0,0. Relative position is relative to a pixel position you specify. Set the relative position origin (the 0,0 position) by pressing the Ctrl key with the pointer at the desired pixel position. It is not necessary to click when you press Ctrl, but the Zoom window must be the active window. Client position is relative to the upper left corner of the client area of the window the pointer is currently over. The upper left corner of the client area is considered to be at x,y position 0,0. The Window Options box controls the appearance and behavior of the Zoom window. Always on top controls whether the Zoom window stays on top of most other windows on your desktop. Highlight controls whether the pixel at the center of the selected area is highlighted in the Zoom window client area. If this item is selected, the pixel is highlighted with a box of contrasting color drawn around it. If this item is not selected, the pixel is not highlighted. Grid controls whether a grid is drawn between adjacent pixels in the Zoom window client area. Status controls whether the status area is displayed at the bottom of the Zoom window client area. If this item is selected, a status area showing the position and color of the pixel at the center of the current selected area and the current zoom factor appears at the bottom of the Zoom window client area. The HotKey edit box allows you to assign a hotkey to directly invoke the Zoom window. Pressing the hotkey sequence when the Zoom window is minimized or hidden restores the Zoom window. Pressing the hotkey sequence when the Zoom window is visible minimizes or hides the window. To specify the hotkey key sequence, click in the HotKey edit box, then press any combination of modifier or prefix keys (Alt, Ctrl, or Shift) followed by a terminating key (A-Z, 0-9, or F1-F12). If you attempt to assign a hotkey that conflicts with another STB Vision hotkey, an error box appears when you select OK. Either assign a non-conflicting hotkey or delete the conflicting hotkey. Delete a hotkey by clicking in the HotKey edit box and then pressing the Backspace or Delete key.   Notices   All rights reserved This publication is protected by copyright and all rights are reserved. No part of it may be reproduced or transmitted by any means or in any form, without prior consent in writing from Gateway 2000. The information in this manual has been carefully checked and is believed to be accurate. However, Gateway 2000 assumes no responsibility for any inaccuracies that may be contained in this manual. In no event will Gateway 2000 be liable for direct, indirect, special, exemplary, incidental, or consequential damages resulting from any defect or omission in this manual, even if advised of the possibility of such damages. In the interest of continued product development, Gateway 2000 reserves the right to make improvements in this manual and the products it describes at any time, without notice or obligation.   Trademark acknowledgments AnyKey, cow spot motif, CrystalScan, Destination, Field Mouse, Gateway 2000, GW2K, HandBook, TelePath, Vivitron, stylized "G" design, and motto "You’ve got a friend in the business" are registered trademarks and EZ Pad, Family PC, and Gateway Solo are trademarks of Gateway 2000, Inc. Intel, Intel Inside logo, and Pentium are registered trademarks and MMX is a trademark of Intel Corporation. Microsoft, MS, MS-DOS, and Windows are trademarks or registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. All other product names mentioned herein are used for identification purposes only, and may be the trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies. Copyright © 1997 Gateway 2000, Inc. 610 Gateway Drive, N. Sioux City, SD 57049 USA   Regulatory Compliance Statements American users: This device has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class B digital device, pursuant to Part 15 of the FCC rules. These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful interference in a residential installation. This equipment generates, uses and can radiate radio frequency energy and, if not installed and used in accordance with the instructions, may cause harmful interference to radio or television reception. However, there is no guarantee that interference will not occur in a particular installation. If this equipment does cause interference to radio and television reception, which can be determined by turning the equipment off and on, the user is encouraged to try to correct the interference by one or more of the following measures: Reorient or relocate the receiving antenna Increase the separation between the equipment and receiver Connect the equipment into an outlet on a circuit different from that to which the receiver is connected Consult the dealer or an experienced radio/TV technician for help. Warning! Change of modifications not expressly approved by the manufacturer could void the user’s authority to operate the equipment. Canadian users: This digital apparatus does not exceed the Class B limits for radio noise emissions from digital apparatus as set out in the radio interference regulations of Industry Canada. Le présent appareil numérique n’émet pas de bruits radioélectriques dépassant les limites applicables aux appareils numériques de Classe B prescrites dans le règlement sur le brouillage radioélectrique édicté par Industrie Canada. European users: This Information Technology Equipment has been tested and found to comply with following European directives: [i] EMC Directive 89/336/EEC amending directive 92/31/EEC & 93/68 EEC as per - EN 50081-1:1992 according to EN 55022:1995 Class B EN 61000-3-2:1995 or EN 60555-2:1986 EN 61000-3-3: 1995 - EN50082-1:1992 according to EN 61000-4-2:1995 or IEC 801-2:1984 ENV 50140:1994 or IEC 801-3:1984 EN 61000-4-4:1988 or IEC 801-4:1998 [ii] Low Voltage Directive (Safety) 73/23/EEC as per EN 60950: 1992 Japanese users: This equipment is in the Class 2 category (Information Technology Equipment to be used in a residential area or an adjacent area thereto) and conforms to the standards set by the Voluntary Control Council for Interference by Information Technology Equipment aimed at preventing radio interference in such residential area. When used near a radio or TV receiver, it may become the cause of radio interference. Read instructions for correct handling. Australian and New Zealand users: This device has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class B digital device, pursuant to the Australian/New Zealand standard AS/NZS 3548 set out by the Spectrum Management Agency. Caution! Disconnect power before servicing. Attention! Couper le courant avant l’entretien.