Identifying ATI Products
by Direct (Visual) Inspection

Content by ATI Technologies Inc.(original archived HERE). Edited by Major Tom.


The most accurate and reliable method of determining EXACTLY which ATI hardware you've got is to LOOK AT IT.

Power off the system and open it up. Ensure that you ground yourself on the case or power supply before touching any components.

If your graphics controller is a plug-in CARD, you may need to remove it from the system to inspect it properly.

Examine the LARGER chips on your board (or motherboard).   ATI chips you are likely to encounter are listed below, in the following sections:

Graphics Controllers
BIOS Chips
Other ATI Chips

Locate your ATI chip in the tables below, using the "Image" and "Chip Markings" columns. Then read off your chip name from the column on the right.

Note: The images shown here are only EXAMPLES. The EXACT markings on your chip may differ.


Graphics Controllers

Image Chip Markings ATI Chip
chip-Rage128GL.jpg (3984 bytes) RAGE 128 GL
215R4Gxxxxx

Note: ATI "Retail" board level products will have a heat sink attached to the graphics controller and you won't be able to read anything.  DO NOT TRY TO REMOVE IT.
Click here for further instructions.

Rage 128
chip-Rage128VR.jpg (3355 bytes) RAGE 128 VR
215R4Bxxxxx
Rage 128
3D RAGE PRO (jpg 3KB) 3D RAGE PRO xxxxx
215R3xxxxx

-some versions are marked "RAGE PRO TURBO"
-some versions are marked "PCI" or "AGP"
-some versions are marked "2X" or "1X"

Rage PRO
chip-rageltproagp.jpg (7222 bytes) 3D RAGE LT PRO xxx
215LT2xxxx or 215LT3xxxx or 215LT4xxxx or 215LT5xxxx

-some versions are marked "PCI" or "AGP"

Rage LT PRO
chip-rageiicpci.jpg (7776 bytes) 3D RAGE IIC xxx
215R2xxxxx

-some versions are marked "PCI" or "AGP"

Rage IIc
3D RAGE II + DVD (jpg 4KB) 3D RAGE II + DVD or 3D RAGE II +
215GT2Uxxx
Rage II/II+
3D RAGE II (jpg 5KB) 3D RAGE II
215GT2Cxxx
Rage II/II+
3D RAGE (jpg 4KB) 3D RAGE or MACH64
215GT1xxxx or 215GT22200
Rage I
chip-mach64-vt.jpg (7410 bytes) ATI-264VT2 or MACH64
215VT2xxxx or 215VT3xxxx or 215VT4xxxx
mach64 VT
chip-mach64-CT.jpg (7385 bytes) ATI-264CTx or MACH64
215CTxxxxx
mach64 CT
mach64-GX (jpg 6KB) mach64
210888GXxx
mach64 GX
mach32 (jpg 6KB) mach32
220068800x or 21068800x
mach32
mach8 (jpg 2KB) ATI 38800-x mach8

see note

chip-28800.jpg (4854 bytes) ATI 28800-x or PN220028800x VGAWONDER

see note

chip-18800.jpg (4977 bytes) ATI 18800 early VGAWONDER

Note: Some products have TWO graphics controllers on them - a mach8 accelerator and a VGAWONDER SVGA display controller.   These are "mach8 combo cards" such as the Graphics ULTRA or Graphics VANTAGE.


BIOS Chips

The ATI BIOS Part Number can be used to identify a product, and is also extremely useful to ATI Technical Support in troubleshooting a problem.

To use the BIOS Part Number to identify your product, record the information from the BIOS Chip, and read "Using the BIOS Part Number to determine which ATI CHIP is on Your Product".

Image Chip Markings ATI Chip
Square Version The BIOS Part Number shown in this example is 113-51803-xxx.

Note how "113" and the "version code" (xxx) are omitted.  To obtain the "version code" for the BIOS use the ATI Info utility provided with the card.  The current version of utilities for Rage 128 products are available for download from our Rage 128 driver pages.

This is a "small square" BIOS chip, found on some of our recent ATI Rage 128 graphics cards.
Square Version The BIOS Part Number shown in this example is 113-44607-100.

Note how "113" is omitted and the "version code" (100) is on a separate line.

This is a "small square" BIOS chip, found on some of our recent ATI graphics cards.
Rectangular Version The BIOS Part Number shown in this example is 113-38501-101. This is an older "large rectangular" BIOS chip, found on many earlier products.

Other ATI Chips You May Encounter

Image Chip Markings ATI Chip
68860 DAC (jpg 4KB) ATI-68860
2146886000
This is an ATI "Spectra DAC" - keep looking for the graphics controller
68875 DAC(jpg 6KB) ATI68875 This is another DAC - keep looking for the graphics controller
688980 Capture Chip (jpg 5KB) ATI-68890
2136889000
This is an ATI Video Capture Chip, found on older (Windows 3.1) capture products such as the "Video-It!" and "Video-Basic".  These boards have no DISPLAY capabilities, and software is not provided for Windows 95 or Windows 98.

Content created and/or collected by:
Louis F. Ohland, Peter H. Wendt, David L. Beem, William R. Walsh, Tatsuo Sunagawa, Tomáš Slavotínek, Jim Shorney, Tim N. Clarke, Kevin Bowling, and many others.

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Last update: 09 Dec 2024 - Changelog | About | Legal & Contact