Matrox G400 - TV or not TV?

[Newbie]

Hi,
I have a few questions for all you Marvel G400TV owners out there.

I'm a graphic artist who works with some pretty huge photoshop & Illustrator files. I'm looking to buy a dual monitor display card & get into digital video editing.

My choices are: Millennium G400MAX + Rainbow Runner G-series or Marvel G400TV.

Can the Marvel's 16MB of RAM handle working on demanding graphic files in dual display mode? Or should I go for the G400MAX + RRG with 32MB RAM?

The reason I'm concerned is that the Millennium G200 (8MB RAM) I use now has trouble with screen redraws in Illustrator, forcing me to minimize then maximize the file window to force it to redraw correctly from time to time.

I'm not into gaming, so super fast redraws are not a consideration for me, only accurate redraws for complex files.

Do any Marvel owners out there work with huge Photoshop or Illustrator files?

Cheers!

[DrMordrid]

I use Photoshop with moderately huge files (32-100+ megs) for photo restoration projects.

I've used both a 16 meg Marvel G400-TV and a 32 meg G400 on my 19" KDS/Trinitron. With a custom monitor driver (moderately easy to set up) the G400/32 meg can do 1920x1200x32bit.

To keep it short you should have no problems with a 32 meg G400. That way you can have large format screens and 32 bit if you need it.

I'd advise the G400 MAX 32 meg + RR-G and a ****load of system RAM. I use 256 megs.

Dr. Mordrid


[This message has been edited by DrMordrid (edited 18 December 1999).]

[Newbie]

Dr. Mordrid,
Thanks for the info.

So the Marvel doesn't come close to doing 1920x1200x32bit? I've got a 21" Viewsonic P810 so I'll be putting my card through it's paces.

Newbie

[DrMordrid]

If you're going to use 32 bit at the higher rez's the more RAM the better. At the real high rez's 16 megs just isn't enough.

Dr. Mordrid

[Newbie]

Great!
Thanks, that really helped me come to a conclusion. Now I just have to find a Rainbow Runner G-series. The G400 MAX is easy enough to find here in Canada, but the RRG? Not!

I wonder if Matrox is even producing them anymore? Since the video image quality is better on the "new & improved" Marvel hardware codec, (or so I've been told) I wonder if Matrox is working on a "new & improved" RRG codec? That might explain why RRGs are so scarce these days.

Anyway, thanks again.
Cheers.