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Community Newsletter: Q&A: 9/15/06 Nongamer needs recommendations for video cards
- 9/14/06 5:12 PM
Viedo card
by oshkoshgeneral - 9/15/06 3:45 PM In reply to: 9/15/06 Nongamer needs recommendations for video cards by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I can offer a suggestion:
Try the MATROX G-450 this is a dual monitor video card. You can run 2 monitors off one computer in CLONE SCREEN mode or SPLIT SCREEN mode. Also I might add you can use a single moniter. The graphics are quite good.
The best part of the deal is they can be purchased from 3Btech.com for 10.99 delivered to your front door with the CD rom drivers included with factory support. I run these video cards in all my computers with no problems. When first introduced these cards were close to 200.00-250.00.
Graphics Card
by Gard - 9/15/06 6:58 PM In reply to: Viedo card by oshkoshgeneralI'm with oshkoshgeneral.
Matrox are excellent 2D graphics cards and do a good job at 3D, too, though they are not gaming cards. Matrox specializes in the business-medical-science market. Their high-end products are seriously geared for multiple displays - see http://www.matrox.com/video/home.cfm
Oshkoshgeneral mentions the G450 will handle two monitors. There is also a single port version (two connects but one inactive) so I expect that will be cheaper again - if it's still available. One special feature of Matrox cards is their clarity, especially text, and the G450 has been a great buy, in this respect, for quite a few years now. I've personally compared it with many competitors. However, I would heed the warnings from several other posters who mention Vista and the Aero GUI. If you're interested in this (why not?) the G450 will probably fall short. In any case, as mentioned, card drivers will be an issue for Vista and you may
find Matrox won't release one for the G450. But if you plan to run XP for a couple of years while Vista 'settles' the G450 will work wonderfully. I'm running two on separate PCs with good old Sony 21'' Trinitrons @1280 x 1024 res (my preference.)
My personal opinion re, Vista, graphics cards/and building a PC - the point about 'settling' applies: I will use the new OS but not before I've taken time to consider the fallout.
How are they with pictures and images?
by 70441.2227 - 9/15/06 9:02 PM In reply to: Graphics Card by GardThanks,
Bob
Non Gamer Needs Help with Video
by mipowers - 9/15/06 7:07 PM In reply to: 9/15/06 Nongamer needs recommendations for video cards by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Overall I think the suggestion a mid line card will work well is dead on. Some cards have two or three year guarantees. Many do not.
One suggestion is to go ahead and pick a motherboard with the PCI Exp slot, you might want to avoid AGP slot MB as those are phasing out. The SLI or Crossfire feature requires a dual PCIexp slot MB and really is overkill for mid level graphics you require. No need to pay for the high end MB if the feature is not needed .
The other has to do with MB chipset "compatibility".
There are AMD purists who only use nVidia video chipsets, there are Pentium purists who only use Radeon chipsets for their video. Or did I get it backwards ?
The beauty is you can buy last years $300 chip set card for about $99-$129 with plenty to spare.
"Pipelines" are one measure of capacity in a video card along with memory. You will see cards with 4, 8, 12 or 16 pipelines and all have 128 or 256mb memory. Think of pipelines like lanes on the highway.
Clock speed can vary as well from 350 on the low end to 600 on the high end in the $100 price range.
You can probably find a namebrand card for $99 to $129 with 500-600mhz clock and 12-16pipes with 256mb.
Nongammer
by sgychev - 9/15/06 7:34 PM In reply to: 9/15/06 Nongamer needs recommendations for video cards by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I would listen to PeteZ. He seems to have it together.
Pay attention to the planning ahead advise. I'm making some real changes in that area. I've heard that analog cable could be out as early as 2010.
Also, your monitor is a big deal and the full GB of ram seems to have solved a great many of my problems.Thatpart is not expensive and is fairly easy to do.
All in all, it wa a great summary and an excellant 'nut shell' review onthe available technologies. Good luck and have fun.
Gary S.
Amarillo, Tx.
Best budget solutions for your requirements. AGP or PCI-E.
by billyfox53 - 9/15/06 9:51 PM In reply to: 9/15/06 Nongamer needs recommendations for video cards by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Here are my opinions for budget solutions AGP or PCI-Express.
Assuming you need an AGP card here is one I just found for my current Media Center PC build. It's a 6200 Nvidia card with 128MB of memory, DVI and VGA and S-video outputs, with a HDTV decoder, Supports DirectX 9 for the latest games, and has Nvidia Purevideo for good media playback. Also, and one of the BIG reasons I chose it myself is it has a passive non-fan heatsink so it would be silent, and without gaming use should be more than adequate for your cooling requirements. Price is only $33.00 bucks! http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814133177
If you have a PCI Express port motherboard this shares many of the same attributes, but better Processor 6600 with double the memory and 128bit at that, plus 8 pixel pipelines, it is however a fan cooled card, but would perform better for all applications, should you want to quiet it down (try it first and see how it is), I would recommend an add-on VGA cooler like a Zalman, or equivalent. My gaming box card has a Zalman VGA cooler's adjustable fan, it stays cooler and nearly silent with the minumum whisper speed setting, than the stock fan did racing full bore like a jet engine with its noise @ 3X of the Zalman. The Zalman had great documentation and install easy as pie. Here is the link for this card, priced currently at $59.99 at newegg, more detail and specs are available there.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814133154
THE MOST important accessory for a video card...
by revstar - 9/15/06 11:11 PM In reply to: 9/15/06 Nongamer needs recommendations for video cards by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
is at least 1.5 Gigs of DRAM. Neither of the cards I've had, an fx5200 and a 6600GT work at anywhere near their peak performance with less memory than that.
CPU power does not seem to be much of a factor, a setup with and old AMD 1800+ vs another with an Intel P4 2.8 ghz were compared.
I have actually tried three memory memory annd CPU combos on each of the two cards - .5, 1.0 and 1.5 gigs.
At 1 gig each of the cards loaf along. There was very little visible performance difference between the two cards except for better color rendition.
Dump in the right amount of memory, though, and the cards fly.
Watching TV
by yenaro - 9/16/06 5:46 AM In reply to: 9/15/06 Nongamer needs recommendations for video cards by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
A TV-VideoCard is what you want, like Terratec. You can watch television on PC and transmit it over yahoo-webcam at your chat YAHOO-friends. So I let yahoo users in Africa watch european television. It is very appreciated. The PC is connected with the television antenna or cable TV over an audio-video-TV cable. It costs 50-100 $. I have a pocket video camera from Logitech, this videos are saved on a SD card and put into the PC and I let it go over the TV and record it with the video recorder on tape.
I have sattelite TV...
by 70441.2227 - 9/16/06 11:00 AM In reply to: Watching TV by yenaroWill it work with the video card you suggested? How about the hook-up? Are their instuctions with the card? Any instructions you could give me? Any and all information is appreciated.
Thanks,
BobC
TV tuner cards
by johnbiest - 9/16/06 7:05 PM In reply to: I have sattelite TV... by 70441.2227I'm back. I just can't stop giving advice.
Tuner cards are separate from your video card, usually. You do not need an add-in video card for them to work - onboard video is just fine. ATI All-In-Wonder cards, though, pile everything into one add-in card. I think they use a big gang-connector that hangs off the back of your computer, since fitting all of those connectors on the back of one card would be tough.
TV tuner cards are just like cable-ready TVs. They are able to tune in over-the-air stations, and they can also tune in analog cable.
The hookups on the back of the card usually include a coaxial in; S-video OR composite video in; audio out; and some proprietary hookup for the remote detector.
The ones I have never give me a perfect picture. (Apparently, there's lots of interference inside a computer case - who would have thought?) If I were to ever buy another, I'd try one of those external USB boxes, in hopes of eliminating the interference problem.
Beg to differ
by daigu - 9/16/06 7:12 AM In reply to: 9/15/06 Nongamer needs recommendations for video cards by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
If Bob uses Photoshop CS2 in any way beyond simply puttering around he needs a mid to high end graphics card. I would recommend PCI express, 256 to 512 memory (ATI 800XL is an adequate lower end). Monitor 20 inch or better (check out the Gateway!) with as high a resolution as you can afford. If you aren't a gamer it's "mps" you don't need to worry about in your monitor, not pixel counts in your card. By the way, forget doing serious graphics work on a laptop.
Answer for Bob C.
by chrisk1965 - 9/16/06 12:35 PM In reply to: 9/15/06 Nongamer needs recommendations for video cards by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Hi Bob,
As far as a specific video card, I would suggest a GeForce 7300 GT OC (overclocked) Its an Nvidia card, made by several makers...I have one from BFG...it comes with a lifetime warranty, its under $100.00 It will do everything you plan to throw at it, and much more! Another really nice feature of the card is called Turbocache. The card is a 256mb card, but if its in a system with 1gb or more of memory, the video memory is doubled! (without any affects to your system memory!)
There are a ton of video cards out there...most are outrageously priced, but believe me, I have done all the homework. I bought this card, and it does an amazing job!
Chris...
Sounds....
by 70441.2227 - 9/16/06 9:34 PM In reply to: Answer for Bob C. by chrisk1965Sounds great! Thanks for the information. Who is BFG?
BFG Tech
by chrisk1965 - 9/16/06 10:30 PM In reply to: Sounds.... by 70441.2227www.bfgtech.com They are the vendor (maker) of the video card I bought. Understand...there are 2 major players in the gpu (graphics processor unit) production biz. Nvidia (Geforce) and ATI (Radeon). But then there are a million differnt companies who then build the vidoe cards using the gpu's from these 2 companies. BFG is one of them...which I like because of the lifetime warranty. I assure you, this card I mentioned gives you THE MOST bang for the buck! I did alot of research before settling on this one.
Hope this helps...and good luck with your decisions...and building project. (always do your homework, and think of the future when making decisions regarding hardware.) Compare compare compare....!!!
(NT) Great answer thank you.
by varita - 9/17/06 10:07 AM In reply to: 9/15/06 Nongamer needs recommendations for video cards by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
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