G400 / G400 MAX

[Broken]

G'day...

I have the opportunity to switch from a G400 to a G400 MAX. Is there a big difference performance wise? Ive' got a G400 DH with 32mb memory. I have absolutely no complaints, as it runs Quake 3 decently for me. Will it be worth my while to upgrade?

[RoGuE]

No, not really. I have a G400 DualHead 32MB OEM and a G400 MAX. There is not much between them unless you are a hardcore hi-res gamer.

[leporis]

Actually, don´t you find strange that a lot os Max´s top overclockability is at 170/180mhz?. The same as my vanilla with 6ns mem. mine is overclocked trough bios and even the ramdac is overclocked to 360mhz now so i think i can say that a max is absolutely tha same card as a vanilla, besides the -1ns mem. If it´s free, exchange the cards but when buying my choice goes for the same for a lot less

[mkaresh]

A lot less?

Matrox just cut their prices, and now the Max is only $30 more than the vanilla (used to be $50). It's up to you to decide whether the faster RAM and fan are worth $30. Maybe so, maybe not, but it's not as simple a choice as at $50.

[gbm]

leporis:

Out of curiosity: what is the type of monitor you use for 2048x1536 at 85 Hz?

[Wombat]

leporis,
Overclocking the RAMDAC doesn't make it the same as the MAX's. You're just burning it out.

[paulcs]

Just to complicate Broken's life further, consider this ...

I have a Max running in a PIII 600 Katmai-based system. Everything is running at spec.

I've been testing the scalability of the Vanilla G400 in a second system. Just this morning, I stuck a PIII Coppermine into the second machine (with the Vanilla) and overclocked the CPU to 700 MHz. At this CPU and FSB speed (6 x 117), the Vanilla appears to have caught up with the Max/Katmai configuration as far as Quake3 benchmarks go.

I don't know how willing you are to overclock your system, or how lucky you'll be if you take this route, but it's becoming clear that running a faster CPU and FSB produces far better results than running a faster G400.

Maybe you're thinking of upgrading the wrong part.

Paul
paulcs@flashcom.net

[leporis]

hummm Gbm i cant really say anything about that because my monitor will only go to 1280x1280so, you can see...


Now, Wombat are you sure about that on the newer vanillas?

and Mkaresh, i´m Portuguese you see and i can´t get a MAX for less for $250 and avanilla is just $120 so i think you can aprecciate my doubts

regards, Leporis and don´t get me wrong. I love my g400

[leporis]

Hummm, the wonders of living in Portugal. Dimm prices rise before they do in the rest of world and matrox´s don´t fall at all

[Kruzin]

Leporis-
What GBM is pointing out is that you have no need to o/c your RAMDAC, unless you are running extremely high resolution and refresh rates. With your monitor, you should think about turning the RAMDAC back down, as you are not seeing any benefit from pushing it that hard...

[leporis]

oh, ok! i always thought that it would give a bit crispier image. If you are sure of that,ok, it makes no sense, overclocking the ramdac

[YankeeMax]

Hi Broken!!! hehehe nice N...

you are making a big mastake, hehehehe
G400 MAX has got 360 RAM DAC
G400 OEM 300 RAM DAC

do you see any diference????
HUMMMM
Say no more, mate...

[mkaresh]

Quite possibly I'm not right here, but doesn't the RAMDAC only run at the speed required by the resolution and color depth? So isn't setting the speed of the RAMDAC just setting the max speed? In which case setting it to 360 won't change a thing if you don't go to higher resolutions than 99% of the monitors out there can handle anyway. Unless of course I'm wrong : )

[gbm]

He he he!!!

Strange, most of you guys completely misunderstand the RAMDAC clocking. The RAMDAC frequency depends on the current video mode (screene resolution and refresh rate. I tried to explain it many, many times on the forum. Some information on these topics is also on my website. The "RAMDAC speed" you are talking about is not the actual speed, it's the speed limit established by Matrox. At 85 Hz vertical refresh, the RAMDAC is clocked at about 90 MHz in 1024x768, 157 MHz in 1280x1024, 230 MHz in 1600x1200 and 360 MHz at 2048x1536.
"Overclocking the RAMDAC" means changing its speed limit. The 300 MHz limit prohibits 2048x1536 at 85 Hz, otherwise is more than excellent. You do not "overclock" by just changing the limit - the RAMDAC will still run at the same speed in most of resolutions. This way you only allow it to be overclocked in the higherst resolutions, provided that your monitor will handle it.

So there is no danger in changing the speed limit from 300 MHz to 360 MHz - it doesn't really change anything as long as you stay at 1800x1440 or below. It only allows to reach 2048x1536 at 85 Hz in which case tha RAMDAC will actually be clocked beyond the originally specified speed.

The main effect of changing the RAMDAC speed limit in PInS is voiding your warranty...