Rant Mode nVidia ... On

[Jammrock]

So I finally ... ***FINALLY*** ... get ride of my extremely old Kyro II video jobbie in favor of an nVidia 5200 which I got for the low low price of free. It's my first time using an nVidia display adapter, but I figure, "it can't be worse than my Kyro freak'n II can it?" Now I'm thinking, newer card, more features, faster gaming with more eye candy enabled ... this is a good thing, right?

Swap out the card, plug it all in, turn it all on ...

Let's just say I have been debating putting my Kyro II back in, because this nVidia 5200 looks like total ass on my Samsung 191T LCD display. I mean, we're talking ... haven't wiped your ass in three years ass. I think the only reason why I haven't put my Kyro II back in is because I want to play some DX 8/9 games that the K2 won't play at all. No matter the resolution. That and I'm hoping DVI will work and clear things up.

I borrowed a DVI cable to see if it would make a difference, but the cable I got is apparently a HT DVi cable, and not a standard DVI-D cable (missing 6 pins in the middle of the connector).

So my question is ... will switching to DVI make a big enough difference that I won't want to put my Kyro II back in? And I'm not kidding about the whole "looks like ass thing." My wife, who can't tell the difference between an $80 home theater and an $8000 home theater, even asked me why the display looks so bad lately.

It's bad. I'm really turned off to nVidia display products all of a sudden.

Jammrock

[Jon P. Inghram]

If it's just got a crappy analog signal the DVI should look perfect. I bet it's just a low quality card, some vendors just make terrible hardware.

[DGhost]

honestly, the 5700 Ultra and 6600GT's that I have had look flawless over DVI. easily as good as the Parhelia did. i would bet that the DAC's on the 5200 are just incredably cheep. it seems to me that the low end parts were never designed for the best signal quality.

[schmosef]

I haven't used an NV card lately but in general, DVI looks way better than d-sub. My Samsung 191Ts came with both types of cables. I'm surprised yours didn't.

[xortam]

I use a 6800 GT in my HTPC through DVI-D and I love it. This card is considered the best choice for HTPCs right now in terms of video performance. The VGA out was mediocre as I recall but I don't quite remember (briefly connected six months ago).

[rylan]

The DVI cable with the pins missing in the middle is just a standard single-link cable. The one with all of the pins is a cable that supports dual-link DVI, which does not get used unless you have a suprt high resolution monitor and a super expensive graphics card with a dual-link transmitter.

[Jammrock]

Originally posted by rylan
The DVI cable with the pins missing in the middle is just a standard single-link cable. The one with all of the pins is a cable that supports dual-link DVI, which does not get used unless you have a suprt high resolution monitor and a super expensive graphics card with a dual-link transmitter.

hmmmm ... this does not bode well. According to the Samsung FAQ, I should only need a single-link cable, which is what I've been using, but no picture is showing up. I guess I can test the monitor with the DVI out on my laptop...

[Chrono_Wanderer]

I'd think it really depends on which 5200 you got. I got a pretty nice Asus 5200 (deluxe version with dualdvi), but I am still using analog. I tried it on my ViewSonic CRT, looks pretty good, almost as good as my G550 (and maybe even better than my R8500). Switched to the LG L1720B LCD, wow, the image is super clean even on analog. I think LG must have purified the image or something... but its the best screen I have ever used. Love the combo with a passion.

[az]

I am very happy with my GF4Ti4200-8x. Image quality is ot noticeably worse than the Kyro II (though I'm only running 1152x864), it's significantly faster in windows (!!) and games, supports more games, less artifacts... now only to upgrade that Duron 1300 and 256 MB RAM.

AZ

[Jammrock]

Yeah well, the 5200 I got has the crappiest analog I've ever seen on a video card. On top of that, DVI still isn't working. There are apparently a TON of problems with 5200's and several brands of LCD's, most notable mong them is my Samsung 191T. For some people it works great, for other like me, DVI doesn't work even a little bit.

I've even gone as far as flashing the LCD EEPROM with a new EDID with no success. *sigh* ... my first DVi experience hasn't been very pleasing. Tonight I'm trying a new video card BIOS, and maybe more EDID tweaking, because the analog output from my 5200 is so absolutely horrid it's unbearable.

Jammrock

[az]

Can't you return it for a different card? It is obviously defective if its DVI isn't working properly (and that's why you bought it).

AZ

[rylan]

RMA

[cjolley]

Originally posted by Chrono_Wanderer
...I got a pretty nice Asus 5200 (deluxe version with dualdvi)...

I have the same card at work running dvi to two hp L1925s.
I run them rotated to portrait.
Wish I had this setup at home...
Great image quality.

I've had a 5200 onboard before, though, and the analog output sucked. Sucked BAD.

I say RMA too.
Working DVI will fix you right up, image quality wize.
chuck

PS Didn't catch if you had tried a different cable though.

[Jammrock]

I didn't buy it, got it from a friend for free. I'll ask if he knows where he got it from and if it's still under warranty.

[ALBPM]

this nVidia 5200 looks like total ass on my Samsung 191T LCD display. I mean, we're talking ... haven't wiped your ass in three years ass.

Another entry for the MURC Famous Quotes

I spit coffee all over my keyboard and Monitor at work reading this yesterday.....ROFL!!!!!