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ShaBLAMM! NiTro-VLB
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<h2 id="characteristics">Characteristics</h2> <p>The NiTro-VLB is notable for various unique characteristics among personal computer accessories. For example, although the system was marketed as an "upgrade" for computers already using a 486 processor, the NiTro-VLB was in fact of an entirely different architecture (specifically, the <a href="/facts/MIPS_architecture/efV4KgK4">MIPS architecture</a>) from the <a href="/facts/IA32/7yTv1aHH">IA32</a>-based 486. Further, as a "parasitic" or "symbiotic" <a href="/facts/Coprocessor/WsVXzAGo">coprocessor</a>, the NiTro-VLB was designed to co-opt the host 486 processor from running, and used four megabytes of the host 486 motherboard's system memory as a <a href="/facts/Direct_memory_access/DWuVgclV">DMA</a> buffer (although the NiTro-VLB required its own separate <a href="/facts/DRAM/koI9FGo5">DRAM</a> <a href="/facts/Main_memory/wPHKFpdx">main memory</a>, in addition to any memory installed on the host 486 motherboard). </p><p>This is a type of "parasite"/"host" upgrade card configuration, in which an entire motherboard and processor are implemented on an expansion card designed to connect to a host motherboard's expansion slot. Such configurations are rare among computer systems designed to run <a href="/facts/Microsoft_Windows/bwhAhuSL">Microsoft Windows</a>. </p> <h2 id="specifications-and-benchmarks">Specifications and benchmarks</h2> <p>The NiTro-VLB's QED <a href="/facts/R4600/DVvLoKjW">R4600</a> processor, running at 100 MHz, was rated at 73.8 SPECint92 and 63 SPECfp92 (which are similar figures to the first-generation <a href="/facts/Intel_P5_(microarchitecture)/dqChAmxz">Pentium</a> running at 66 MHz). Faster and costlier versions were designed to run at 133 MHz or 150 MHz. </p> <h2 id="sales">Sales</h2> <p>Initially, the NiTro-VLB system was priced at $1,095 for a 100 MHz card with no main memory, $1,995 for a 100 MHz card with 16 MB of main memory and a copy of Windows NT, and $2,595 for a 150 MHz card. </p> <h2 id="see-also">See also</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/DeskStation_Tyne/v487nonb">DeskStation Tyne</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Jazz_(computer)/xn6WHfHY">Jazz (computer)</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/MIPS_Magnum/hLu1DHtE">MIPS Magnum</a></li></ul> <h2 id="external-links">External links</h2> <ul><li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20041210001838/http://www.byte.com/art/9407/sec4/art9.htm">A BYTE magazine article detailing the ShaBlamm! Nitro-VLB</a></li></ul>