ISA / PCI cards Controlled by a pic ?

Hi all,

I'd like to control a VGA card, or sound card etc using a pic.

I figure rather than trying to get a pic to generate vga signals (or sound etc) why not just drive a isa/pci card.
( why should i waste time hunting for the chip(sets) and build them up, when theyre all around me for $5 a piece ;-)

For the moment, i'm happy to drive simple 8/16 bit isa cards, but i have even been asked if the vga card could be a 3dfx card, so the resulting output (onscreen menus etc) may even have some nice shading & 3d effects, and this is something the vga card should do, not the pic ;-)

thanx in advance for any forums, links, projects that you can provide.

Marty (downunder Oz)

Marty,

I have seen a few projects with an NE2000 Ethernet card connected to a PIC. (unfortunately I have lost the links)
but if you do a serch for PIC & NE2000 on the web I'm sure you'll find some examples of how to interface an Ethernet-Card.

For 3D VGA or Sound I'm wondering how you want to transfer the required amount of data to the VGA or Sound-Card
given only the small memory and "low" speed of the PIC.

regards