Advice on Matrox for slow machine

[The PIT2]

Two things to add to Motub buying advice.
Try buying local it's much easier to take back and bang on the desk.
If buying by credit card keep a record in writing of everything that is said espeically the refund policy. Try to get the refund policy before you buy if they won't give it to you go elsewhere. That way if anything goes wrong the credit card company has got them by the balls otherwise they'll say "theres nothing we can do" or I rather think it's "We can't be arsed to do anything and you given us the ideal way out".

[merchant2]

one thing before you order also make sure you get a price on shipping and handleing. some sites like to offer the lowest price but charge extremeely unrealistic shipping rates.

a company in ny comes to mind. 2day shiping was 30.00 on a 2 oz cpu i live in ct.
i ordered the cpu from a place in ca. had it shiped nextday and they charged 13.00 so not always the lowest price is better.

[OrangeJulius]

The best overall site on the Internet to buy from is CDW (http://www.cdw.com) -- CDW:

* has been in business for over a decade
* will match or come close to any pricewatch price (CALL THEM 800-839-4239)
* has friendly and intelligent tech support (offered for the lifetime of every product you buy from them)
* you get a personal account manager who gets commissions

Be sure to call them a few times to get different reps and see what they offer you, then go with the lowest-priced rep everytime..

If you're worried about haggling don't be -- it's very easy and all you have to do is ask. They don't mind and are usually quite friendly about it.

I don't work for them but am a VERY satisfied customer. If you're extra nice and polite (ie kiss up) to your account manager and buy from them regulary you'll more than likely get your shipping:

- upgraded to UPS Air for free
- upgraded to FedEx for free (behind the scenes)

I like http://www.pricescan.com for truely INDEPENDENT bargain hunting. They're a little slow on listing items -- haven't listed the G400 last time I checked.
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random clipboard item of the day:
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http://www.computingcentral.com/topics/bandwidth/speedtest.asp will test your true connect speed.. useful stuff and easier than measuring by FTP..

[cpt puget]

does anyone really know the performance difference between the 16 and 32mb for gaming. im curious myself and this thread didnt give a definitive answer. also, what up with all the name changes??

c450a/g200*8mb

[Stanislav]

Thank you, OrangeJulius! I already did some research and ordered from BUY.COM, G400\32mb\retail, dual head. The price is $159.95 + $10.04 s\h = $169.99 (where did they got all this funny numbers?:O). I also found from Comp-U-Plus for $149 OEM(single head) but after all it wiil be cost $187! The same story with others. Only Computer411.COM can beat with $143.94 + 13.85 s\h = $157.79, but this is OEM (single head).(Again! what a numbers!)

http://www.computer411.com/

So, for difference in $12.20 I'll get a second output and this is retail version.

Only one small problem. After placing this order I started thinking about detting G400MAX (with my slow mashine - DELL 300mhz\128mb):O) May be I should upgrade my order to MAX? And about faster PC...and second monitor...Yes, you're right - it's hardware's paranoya :O)

Thank you and all other guys for help! It was really helpful! I'll share my experience with BUY.COM and everything else later. Have you all a nice Sunday!

(And sorry my English)

[OrangeJulius]

Compuplus (in NYC) is horrible. Wouldn't trust them to tie my shoelaces. Bad shipping times/support/RMA/etc.. Numerous reports from across the internet confirm this. (check http://www.deja.com for keyword compuplus+problem)

Just called CDW -- after bargaining a bit with Pricewatch figures they quoted me $168.95 with shipping for the Retail G400 32MB DH.

[Stanislav]

So, you beat my price on $1. (:O)
You didn't say nothing about your PC - speed etc.
I still thinking about G400 MAX...May be I'm already sick (matroxwise)? And what will be with OpenGL drivers? Will see...

[ttd]

HA!!got you both beat. Ordered mine from Shopping.com for 166.29 including shipping(big deal, saved a whole 2 bucks).I think this will be a great card. I use a 15" monitor and dont see how I would benefit from the extra speed of the Max (dont need the ultra high resolutons). Stanislav, I have ordered numerous items from Buy.com and have always been satisfied but if they dont actually have it in stock keep looking for better deals as time goes on. They were great when I had to cancel orders while waiting for their stock to come in.Good Luck.

[OrangeJulius]

Slav, why do I need to post/boast something about my PC? I didn't have any problems..

[agallag]

Stanislav, I'd skip the max. With your current pc and monitor, you probably wont see any difference between them at all. There might be a couple fps difference in games, but nothing you'd notice.

Besides, matrox has said that they'll be releasing new cards every 6-12 months, so instead of spending an extra $50-100 for a couple of fps, save it for upgrading to the next new card, where it'll probably be a much greater improvement.

I pondered getting a max myself, but I have since changed my order to a regular g400 32mb dh for the reasons I just gave above.

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Andrew Gallagher - andrew@agallagher.com
Asus P2B-S, PII-350, 64MB PC100, 12.7GB Quantum Fireball EX ATA-33, 2x2.1GB Quantum Atlas I UWSCSI, Toshiba 6201 SCSI CD, Yamaha CRW4416S SCSI CD-RW, WangDAT SCSI, MillG200 8MB, SBLive! Retail (Plugged into a JVC RX884V Dolby Digital Receiver@500W), Win98SE