Genoa 8500VL Rev A VLB VGA Card Cirrus Logic CL-GD5428-80QC-A WindowsVGA 24

Genoa 8500VL Rev A VLB VGA Card Cirrus Logic CL-GD5428-80QC-A WindowsVGA 24

The Genoa Systems 8500VL is a VESA Local Bus (VLB) VGA graphics card built around the Cirrus Logic CL-GD5428-80QC-A controller. Marketed under Genoa's WindowsVGA 24 branding, it was designed to deliver accelerated 2D graphics performance for DOS and early Windows on 486-class systems. This is Revision A of the board.

Specifications & What's Included

• Manufacturer: Genoa Systems
• Model: 8500VL
• Revision: Rev A
• Product Line: WindowsVGA 24
• Main Chipset: Cirrus Logic CL-GD5428-80QC-A
• Bus Interface: VESA Local Bus (VLB / VL-Bus)
• Video Output: DB-15 analog VGA connector
• Memory: onboard DRAM memory chips (4 visible on front, additional chips on reverse)
• Form Factor: full-length card
• PCB: green, Made in Taiwan

Applications

The Cirrus Logic GD5428 was one of the most widely used VGA accelerator chips of the early-to-mid 1990s, found across a broad range of budget and mid-range VGA cards. The VESA Local Bus standard emerged around 1992–1993 as a high-bandwidth local bus for 486 processors, giving graphics cards near-direct access to the CPU bus and dramatically improving Windows 3.x performance over ISA-based VGA cards. The Genoa 8500VL targets 486 VLB motherboards running DOS 6.x and Windows 3.1/3.11, environments where the GD5428's BitBLT acceleration made a tangible difference in Windows desktop and productivity applications. Today these cards are sought by collectors and enthusiasts restoring 486-era PCs, particularly those running period-correct DOS games and early Windows software where VLB VGA cards provide both historical accuracy and genuine performance advantages over ISA alternatives.