@geennaam
Thanks for the valuable info.
And yes "I am the friend" in question. So if either me or or him use the expression "my friend" we are not using a common low security phrase to describe ourselves.
It's funny that I initially had my long post here then thought I should separate it. I might as well kept it here. Or posted it to the stuttering thread.
In research I've actually found a 5450 PCI card. Perhaps good also for the XE as it may be a good way to upgrade if it works. While useful for use on a PCI system it's limited in power these days.
So possibly any card from 4 to the 6 series would be good. But, despite being popular in the X1000 era, they lack support for 3d. I purchased an XFX 4890 for my X1000 back in the day which is a monster. But really was wasted on my system if it wasn't used for 3d, which wasn't popularised on OS4 like it is now, and I didn't use it for any Linux 3d gaming either.
What's confusing is the cards work in UBoot which gives the impression it has enough power. So would this mean it only used low power in basic VGA modes? And for opening a real screenmode in 32 bit HD it needs more power to do so?
On the subject of the PEX8111/PEX8112 are there any HD cards that do work on this chipset? Mind you that means getting into the high end one you widen it from HD 7xxx to R9. It would be rather disappointing if the driver was holding it back and preventing the PEX8111/PEX8112 from working if it could. That would mean possibly working hardware rendered useless by a driver quirk.
The common example for the PI7C9X111SL chipset is the StarTech card. Unfortunately this means another expensive add on is needed. Of course this is the result of using legacy technology in PCI. It's getting closer to a Classic Amiga at this stage, with the PCI add ons, where you needed expensive PCI bridges just to add an old or cheap PCI card.
It also looks "inferior" to the PEX based one as it only has 1x lane where as the PEX one has full 16x lanes. So you pay more for less. Neither one has a power input necessary to fulfil the PCIe power standard.
BTW I did find a PCIe power injector. Looks expensive. Riser card may be better as it's common and cheap to get. Plus if it can only work with 1x PCIe bridge no point with a full slot. Otherwise a possible PCI power injector may have solved that as well. That less likely to exist.
https://quarch.com/products/gen3-pcie-power-injection-fixture/