I have the local bus card also, and don't have any such problems with it
now, but this is the second card I've gotten - the first card didn't work
in VGA mode correctly.  Maybe they still have some quality control problems.
I would suggest checking with ATI (I went through the vendor I bought the
card from since the problem showed up immediately).  I never was able to
get through to ATI's technical support number.  

I sure like the way the card performs though.  I have the 2MB ATI ultra
pro - local bus, and it is fast even in 1024x768x16bpp mode.


Cheers,
Phil

