Good 2D card

Discussion in 'Video Cards, Displays and TV Tuners' started by jermy4, Apr 28, 2005.

  1. jermy4

    jermy4 Geek Trainee

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    I'm looking for a nice 2d card that can support 1680 x 1050 over DVI for my Dell 2005FP display. I don't play games so I'm not looking for a gaming card. I just need a card that will work well with Windows, has good image quality, and can play DVDs pretty well.

    Suggestions???
     
  2. zRoCkIsAdDiCtInG

    zRoCkIsAdDiCtInG HWF Guitar Freak

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    still dvds do require some performance if ur not a gamer but are into tv tuning and dvds and all that id reccomend an all in wonder card, but wat budget are we looking at here?
     
  3. jermy4

    jermy4 Geek Trainee

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    ~ $100

    Image/desktop/text quality is more important to me than performance. As long as DVDs play I'll be happy with it.
     
  4. Exfoliate

    Exfoliate Geek Trainee

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    With his budget and needs the 9600 might even be more than he'll want, perhaps the 9000 All in Wonder if you can find it? Otherwise go with something like the ATI Radeon 8500 or 9000 (not 9000 Pro).
     
  5. Big B

    Big B HWF Godfather

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    Might even look at a Matrox G450 or G550 card, especially since you're not gaming.
     
  6. Nic

    Nic Sleepy Head

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    I have the radeon 9600 pro and it would be excellent for what you need it for.
     
  7. jermy4

    jermy4 Geek Trainee

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    I was actually going to get a G550 but according to Matrox it does not support 1680 x 1050 over DVI.

    I can get a G550 for really cheap on fleabay.
     
  8. Anti-Trend

    Anti-Trend Nonconformist Geek

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    Absolutely, Matrox has the best 2D performance and clarity of any name in the industry. Also a great dual-head solution, and their MPEG2 accelleration is excellent. If you can get a Matrox for sub-$100, I say go for it.
     
  9. jermy4

    jermy4 Geek Trainee

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    I'm not sure which one I should get. The Matrox cards that are in my price range don't appear to support 1680 x 1050 over DVI. At least the Matrox drivers do not support this. I guess it might be possible to use power strip but I'm not sure it would work properly.
     
  10. Anti-Trend

    Anti-Trend Nonconformist Geek

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    Well, you'd need to get a Parhelia-series card, not an MGA.
     
  11. jermy4

    jermy4 Geek Trainee

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    Those cards are much more expensive ...
     
  12. Anti-Trend

    Anti-Trend Nonconformist Geek

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    If you don't want to shell out the bucks, look for an MSI or Gigabyte card with a Geforce FX chipset, such as a 5200. Or, for a few bucks more, check out the AGP versions of the 6200 -- very good bang for buck!
     
  13. zRoCkIsAdDiCtInG

    zRoCkIsAdDiCtInG HWF Guitar Freak

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    i agree with anti trend, if you want good performance on cheap get an FX card or an agp 6200

    damn anti trend u already got 13 times helpful?
     
  14. Anti-Trend

    Anti-Trend Nonconformist Geek

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    I try hard :p
     
  15. jermy4

    jermy4 Geek Trainee

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    I forgot to mention that my motherboard only supports AGP4X/AGP2X. Does that make much difference for these cards?

    Also, I'm assuming that the FX5200 & 6200 have good 2d output? I have a MX200 now that is not very sharp with my LCD. It only has analog output which might be why.
     
  16. Anti-Trend

    Anti-Trend Nonconformist Geek

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    Yeah, the MX-series were all around poor cards. Bad image quality, weak performance, didn't support many effects. The only thing they really had going for them was price.
     
  17. ninja fetus

    ninja fetus I'm a thugged out gangsta

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    As long as the cards are agp8x, they are 4x backwards compatible which works with your motherboard.
     
  18. jermy4

    jermy4 Geek Trainee

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    Why should I stay away from the 9000 pro?
     
  19. Anti-Trend

    Anti-Trend Nonconformist Geek

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    Actually, the 8500 is better than the 9000 or 9000 pro. ATI has very confusing naming conventions. :)
     
  20. Exfoliate

    Exfoliate Geek Trainee

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    For some odd reason the 9000 pro showed up at more than $100 on Newegg, go figure, also surprisingly enough as AT said the 8500 proves to be a better card too, ATI went all out when they made that one.
     

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