AV Card / Performance
For starters,
the AV card is slow for graphics. With the AV card installed, the Mac uses a 32 bit path to video. With either DRAM-based video or the HPV card, the Mac uses a 64 bit path. This is all confirmed by Apple itself /
In terms of day-to-day usage,
my AV card definitely scrolls slower than the on-board video or the HPV card.
HPV Card
The name is a bit of a misnomer / The card is also referred to as the VRAM Expansion card, which is probably more appropriate. /
Despite its name, the HPV card does not have any high-performance hardware. / It's just a repository for VRAM. The reason it's a high performance card is that it's faster than DRAM video. Which isn't saying much. But if you own a 6100 (like me), anything to add a little performance is a welcome addition.
/
I have had absolutely zero compatibility issues with these cards. There are no drivers or additional software to install. / The Mac automatically senses the presence of the card, the amount of VRAM, and makes the appropriate resolutions available.
Conclusions:
• The stock 6100/60 exhibits really slow graphics performance.
• While it doesn't include any QuickDraw acceleration, the HPV card is still significantly faster than the built-in DRAM video. /
• Benchmarks and numbers aside, adding one or both
{cache} of the above will result in your machine feeling zippier. It's hard to describe, but you'll just feel better about your machine.
/ a fellow with a 1 MB Level 2 cache, who says that at 640x480/8 bit, the entire video page can be cached, resulting in very fast text scrolling that outperforms the HPV card. I can't duplicate his results, since I don't have a 1MB cache, but it certainly sounds logical.
