Riva 128 PCI
PCI RIVA 128 variant for systems that needed NVIDIA's first mainstream 2D and 3D accelerator without AGP.
Key Metrics
- Launch Date
- 1997-04-01
- Memory
- 4 MB SDR
- Memory Bandwidth
- 1.6 GB/s
- TDP/TBP
- 4 W
- Interface
- PCI
- Process Node
- ST 350 nm
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Why It Mattered
Riva 128 PCI brought NVIDIA's first broadly successful 2D and 3D accelerator into non-AGP systems. It is historically useful for documenting the bridge between older PCI-only PCs and the first wave of AGP graphics cards.
Collector Notes
Record board vendor, PCI revision, memory chips, BIOS label, VGA output, optional TV-out, and driver disk. PCI RIVA 128 boards are useful for builds where AGP is unavailable, but the exact board partner still matters.
Common Failure Points
Typical problems are driver-era compatibility, weak late-game OpenGL expectations, and sellers confusing RIVA 128, RIVA 128ZX, and later TNT cards. Some boards may need period drivers to behave correctly.
Compare with
Riva 128
RIVA 128 was NVIDIA's first mainstream success, combining 2D, 3D, and video acceleration for late-1990s PCs.
Riva 128ZX
RIVA 128ZX refined the RIVA 128 family with later memory and AGP-oriented board options.
CMP 100HX-210
CMP 170HX 10 GB
Sources
Primary / manufacturer sources
- DOS Days RIVA 128 SeriesBoard examples, memory notes, clocks, and period contextOpen source
Independent reference sources
- TechPowerUp Riva 128 PCI GPU SpecsModel-level specification referenceOpen source
Other sources
- RIVA 128 128-bit 3D multimedia accelerator datasheetProduct-level feature and memory-interface referenceOpen source
- 86Box RIVA 128 architecture historyTechnical history and emulator-oriented architecture contextOpen source
Photo sources
- Videocard Virtual MuseumPhoto: Diamond Viper V330 Riva 128 PCI 4 MB board (Front)Credit: Videocard Virtual MuseumLicense: CC BY (version unspecified)Source claim: Archive page footer states Creative Commons Attribution for museum photos; version unspecified.Modified: Resized to 960 px maximum dimension and JPEG recompressed; no crop.Board identity: The exact photographed board or chip is identified on its source page.Configuration: The pictured Diamond card is a 4 MB PCI Riva 128 implementation.Original museum gallery