JC 2002-01-16 05:35
I am looking build a trading PC with two now and maybe three montiors later. I do my hard core gaming on my xbox and will on do light gaming on this machine. I would like at least basic gaming functionality but am most concerned about super crisp 2D graphics (stock charts, powerpoint) and text (MS word, web, Outlook) at 1280 X 1024 on both of my identical 19" .26mm monitors (which claim to be capable of 1600 X 1200 at 75Hz).
Current PC has PCI slots but not an AGP port. I am currently running Windows 2000 but expect to upgrade to the XP home edition within a year.
I have read many of the posts regarding trouble with with Windows 2000 and also weak support for clear text and 2D graphics from the gaming cards. Very few video card reviews assess the quality and speed of 2D and business graphics performance. Between the Windows 2000 issues and lack of good 2D card reviews I am let confused.
What video card (cards) should I choose?
Thanks much,
JC
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Christian Studer 2002-01-16 05:59
I would recommend the Matrox G450 PCI. It has excellent 2D quality and works fine on both Windows 2000 and XP.
3D performance isn't the best (approximately the same as a Nvidia TNT2), but depending on which games you play this may still be good enough. If you do need better 3D performance, take a look at the PCI version of the ATI RADEON.
See my review of the G450 for more information.
Christian Studer - www.realtimesoft.com
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JC 2002-01-16 07:01
Thanks much for the reply. I thought your review of the 450 was good and I was headed that direction except it looks like the Matrox 450 only supports a screen resolution of 2048 x 1536, which I belive is only 1024 X 768 per screen. Is this assumption correct?
Do I need to go to one card per screen to get higher resolutions?
I have read that ATI's 2D graphics are much sharper than nvidias but I have not yet found a hi-res dual PCI solution. Is there an ATI option I should look at?
Thanks Again,
JC
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Christian Studer 2002-01-16 07:07
The G450 supports up to 2048 x 1536 on the primary monitor, and up to 1600 x 1200 on the secondary.
On Windows 2000, make sure you install support for different resolutions on each monitor when installing the drivers.
I wouldn't recommend ATI dualhead cards for Windows 2000 (no true multi-monitor support).
Christian Studer - www.realtimesoft.com
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JC 2002-01-16 08:10
Christian,
Your knowledge is quite helpful. I spent more time reviewing the 450 specs. I noticed that the PCI version only has 16MB of DDR memory.
http://www.matrox.com/mga/products/comp_chart/g450_vs_g550.cfm "G450 PCI is available only with 16 MB DDR memory." This makes me think I may not want the 450 as my primary card long term.
Should I consider just going with a cheapy second card right now and then think about a ATI Radeon 7500 when I upgrade my PC to a MOBO with a AGP port?
Will Windows 2000 or Windows 2000/Multimon support a two adapter setup well?
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Christian Studer 2002-01-16 08:28
Sounds good, just make sure the card works fine as secondary with Windows 2000. See the shopping guide for some suggestions.
Christian Studer - www.realtimesoft.com
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sam 2002-01-16 09:38
whichever brand of video card you go with, i would reccomend getting a motherboard with an AGP slot. It makes a huge difference and agp versions of cards are cheaper than PCI versions. Also, not even light gaming is possible with PCI video cards, it is much too choppy.
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Nick 2002-03-07 04:27
Hey guys,
Sorry to but in but I am in the same boat, (with a couple of hardware differences), Ive got an ATI radion 7000 vid card with a s-cable out, a digital out and a SVGA out.
I can run run too monitors fine and can configure to run any combination of the three but cant get it to run all three.
I think that I might need another vid card but I suspect that I might not. Windows does not offer me the option of the third.
Nick
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