Buying Advice Needed: G200, G400, or MAX for mostly 2D work?

[JamesA]

Dear Fellow MURCers and MURCettes,

Just received my DELL Trinitron P780 17" monitor at work to replace the yucky one I had.

Since the previous monitor was so yucky, I did not notice how bad the 2D @ 1024x768@75Hz was. Now, with this new one, I am running @ 1280x1024@75Hz and, oy, my eyes HURT! The text are not clear, and they do wiggly dance here and there. Source of problem? Stupid el cheapo NVidia TNT2 in the stupid DELL machine.

So, since my bosses are on vacation, I still have time to decide on what to do (to whine to them or not?!). In any case, I am pretty sure that I could convince them to buy me a Matrox video card (what else?!).

The question is then, which card?! The G200? The G400 or the G400MAX (which I have at home, and runs oh-so-nicely)?

What do I gain going from G400 to MAX in terms of 2D quality? The minimum refresh rate that I am willing to "endure" is 75Hz, and I would like to run my desktop at 1280x1024 for a 17" monitor.

What about the G200? It is CHEAP. And I am sure my bosses like that. How much different in terms of 2D is the Millennium G200 from the Millennium G400? (I wish I had not donate my Millennium G200 16MB to my brother in law couple of months back... )

Anyway, I program all day everyday (including weekends! Ask Jorden! ). So graphics quality is very very very very IMPORTANT.

So, please advise?

Thank you very very much in advance.



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JamesA: Dumbass MURCer with < 100 Posts!
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[rjcarr]

JamesA-

I am not technically qualified to answer your question because I really don't see much difference in 2D quality between my first Millenium II and my G400 or any other legitimate card for that matter (e.g. voodoo3).

But, running 12x10 on a 17" monitor will make you blind very quickly on any video card I would assume. Take it easy on those lenses, they don't last forever you know.

[JamesA]

Thanks for the kind advice rjcarr.

I doubt I would be going blind any time soon (though my prescription is about .750 to .850!! ). I have been using 17" monitors @ 1280x1024 since 1995 (I code a lot when I was doing my graduate work in 3D graphics), and I am still healthy and able to see my wife's beautiful features perfectly (with the aid of my glasses of course ).

OKie. Still awaiting advice on what to buy!



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JamesA: Just a Dumbass MURCer
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"Have you had any licorice lately?"

[JamesA]

Uhh... Does it help if I say I run my desktop with font resolution of 125 dpi (less aliasing!!)?!



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JamesA: Just a Dumbass MURCer
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"Have you had any licorice lately?"

[DuRaNgO[MU]]

I'd say the g400 vanilla is the one because of the good ramdac speed and memory bandwidth, plus the price has come down recently, just my .02
jim

[Jord]

Hiya James,

Thanks for dragging me in again

Although the extra memory on the G400 will no doubt give you higher resolutions, and the addition of the dual head would make direct online testing of what you're programming very usefull, your best bet would be a plain G200 with 8Mb.

Although if you could sucker your bosses in to get a G400 DH, you could ask them for a second monitor as well

Jorden.

[JamesA]

But, Durango[MU], the price difference between the G200 and G400 vanilla is USD$70 @ the Matrox Online Store!

Does VCQ² apply for 2D graphics too?



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JamesA: Just a Dumbass MURCer
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"Have you had any licorice lately?"

[JamesA]

Ah, yes, wouldn't <em>that</em> be nice, Jorden....

I can only dream....



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JamesA: Just a Dumbass MURCer
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"Have you had any licorice lately?"

[DuRaNgO[MU]]

vcq2 is only for 3d, I believe
Is there anything that you do on the job that would require more than 8mb on board?
If not than yes, the g200 is a great solution
jim

[JamesA]

DuRaNgO[MU],

Nope. I do not, at the moment, need more than 8MB of video memory. For 1280x1024x32bit, I need only 5,242,880 bytes.

The more I think of this, the more I am incline to choose the G200 solution. Unless of course the drivers for the G200 is still BUGGY?!



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JamesA: Just a Dumbass MURCer
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"Have you had any licorice lately?"

[Jord]

James,

The latest drivers for the G200 are the 5.52.015 ones as well. I don't know what the latest G200 BIOS is though.

If I look at 5.52 at my G400 (and your MAX I presume ), they are rock-solid. Given the incentive, I'd think they'd be good on a G200 as well...

And about the G200, did you read up on it?
There's a G200 Multi Monitor out as well So you can still ask your bosses for that second monitor

Jorden

[Jord]

16 monitors?

That makes up a videowall... What do you want more to program on at 1280x1024x32 ???

Jord.

[Bixler]

The only reason a g200 would have any problem with the 5.52 drivers is if you are running a VIA chipset. My G200 Marvel worked beautifully on 5.52...until I tried a 3D app...then no joy. But basically Any driver that works for a g400 will work equally (or proportionatly) well for a G200.

Best bang for the 2d buck is a G200 IMHO.

[Alec]

Go for the G200...

At 1280 you will not notice any differences between a G200 and a G400 in 2D. The G400 gets better above 1600x1200 (more or less) only.

Also, it´s cheaper, the drivers won´t give you problems (believe me), and you can still play 3D games pretty decently as a bonus...

[Alec]

Go for the G200...

At 1280 you will not notice any differences between a G200 and a G400 in 2D. The G400 gets better above 1600x1200 (more or less) only.

Also, it´s cheaper, the drivers won´t give you problems (believe me), and you can still play 3D games pretty decently as a bonus...