Advice for new "non-gamer" video card

guy gadbois · August 21st, 2003, 12:31 AM

Its been several years since I've 'gamed'..

.. (as in when Tribes came out)... and although I've upgraded every other aspect of my computer, I am still running a Voodoo3 3000 with 16Mb on it.....

Yes, I know that is SAD..... but I need your help. I need advice on a great (but cheap) video card. I mainly am dealing with digital photography and video encoding, so large images and manipulation in Photoshop.

I definitely want 64Mb at least, or 128 if the price is right. I DON'T game anymore, but it seems like everything is marketed towards gamers...

Can anyone advise a great card for my needs? I'm looking at $100 or less range and up to 8x AGP......

Thanks for all the advice in advance!

slinky · August 21st, 2003, 12:45 AM

$100 or less would either be the MX (or FX5200) series or the Ti 4200.

guy gadbois · August 21st, 2003, 12:48 AM

Oh, one other thing was I need to have a DVI connection as well for that 19" LCD I hope to get soon!

Yes, I had been looking at the FX5200 cards mainly, but then read some stuff saying the Ti4200 might be better for my application.

What about the Radeon cards?? Like a 9200 SE?

slinky · August 21st, 2003, 12:59 AM

9200 is horrible.. i have to say, u would be better off with a 5200 instead of that. make sure the memory bus width is at least 128-bit. also pretty much every 5200 has dvi+vga so no worries.

super gerbil · August 21st, 2003, 01:17 AM

I got my Radeon 9000 64 mb at newegg for about $75

Prexaspes · August 21st, 2003, 01:32 AM

Look into the 9100 series cards. They are faster than the 9000 and 9200. At www.newegg.com, a 64 mb version with DVI will cost you ~$65, a 128 mb version will cost ~$75.

They are the same chip as the 8500 LE.

The 2d quality will most likely exceed that of the nVidia cards.

Matrox would be ideal, but their most desirable cards are all little expensive. Their G450 and G550 cards are good, but I would like to see their prices lower, given their age.

The 9100 will play games well. It just happens to be cheap and capable of good 2d graphics.

There are also Radeon 7500s that would do well. There's a Radeon 7500 with 128 mb DDR and DVI for $69 at newegg.

If I were you, I would probably go with one of the Radeons.

Kruzin · August 21st, 2003, 01:37 AM

Matrox P650 Millennium.
Costs a bit more, but WELL worth it for those demanding the highest video quality.
Plus, it's dual-DVI, so if you want to upgrade to 2 flat panels later, you can. In the mean time, it could run your flat panel, and CRT, or a TV.
http://shopmatrox.com/usa/products/datasheet.asp?ID=385

If you can't go to that price range, the G550 Millennium is a bit cheaper, has one DVI, one CRT, and still carries Matrox's legendary 2D quality.
http://shopmatrox.com/usa/products/datasheet.asp?ID=258

goldenbuddha · August 21st, 2003, 01:38 AM

Actually, IMO for a non gamer who wants great 2D and color, I'd go for a Matrox card.

Kruzin · August 21st, 2003, 01:42 AM

Here's a testimonial for the P650 from someone who dumped their Radeon 9600 pro for better graphics...
http://forums.matroxusers.com/showth...threadid=43864

Prexaspes · August 21st, 2003, 01:45 AM

Kinda breaks his $100 budget...