Tell me about G400 MAX or G450 on Asus CUSL2

[SeanTek]

I have built a new Pentium III/933 for myself, and I have to pick a new video card (I have a G400 MAX at home, on my previous computer). I was considering something along the lines of a GeForce 2 GTS, but I have a Mitsubishi Diamond Pro 2040u, and I plan on running it at 1600x1200 at most times (sometimes venturing as high as 2048x1536 for special applications). Therefore, the GeForce 2's poor image quality is probably not going to cut it. I must either buy a G400 MAX, a G450, a Radeon, or a 3dfx card (3500 or 5500) of some kind.

In particular, I am looking for:
1) high image quality at high resolutions
2) DVD support (i.e., DVDs look good; software-based decoding is fine considering I have plenty of horsepower)
3) Windows 2000 support
4) TV-In and Out, unless I can find a S-VHS -> Firewire solution
5) pretty good 3D support
6) stable OpenGL

From what I have heard, the Radeon has bad Win2K support, the G400 has below par 3D support (in terms of speed), and the 3dfx has substandard OpenGL (also, the image quality of the 3dfx may be below par, but I have no direct experience wit this).

I am posting this to the Matrox forum because I need to find out all of the "dirt" on the G400 MAX and the G450 running on my Asus CUSL2 motherboard. Please tell me everything that I need to know, including stability in Win98SE and Win2K, the AGP4X feature, the Fast Writes feature, the USWC (Write Combining) feature, and whether I should buy the G400 MAX (again) or the G450. I will not be using the DualHead feature (much) or the DVI feature(s), but I want as high and fast a card as possible with my current "limitation" (of demanding quality at high resolutions).

[ayoub_ibrahim]

could you not install your Max temporarly in your new rig & find out these things firsthand?

[Greebe]

Sounds like you just described a G400 Max! Well except fo the TV I/O and S-VHS to firewire... which should have been Video I/O and or Svideo - firewire. In that case a G400 Max and a RRG would fit your bill.

[isochar]

seems as if he wants it for gaming too... no max will be able to do 1600x1200 at a respectable frame rate/quality.

And the G800 supposedly won't have RRG support, so he wouldn't be able to upgrade.

Best bet would be to get a GF2 (the 2d is ok at 1280x1024 and 1600x1200) and then get an independent addon card.

[This message has been edited by isochar (edited 17 September 2000).]

[August]

I am also running an Asus CUSL2 motherboard (and VERY happy with it). I am mainly interested in dual monitor support, VERY GOOD text business graphics and occasional gaming. I am hobbling along on the build in video on the CUSL2 and waiting for the G450. Actually, except for gaming the built in video is not so bad (if the G450 is available soon)

[Wombat]

Sorry isochar,

He said:
>1) high image quality at high resolutions

That pretty much rules out a GF2

[DuRaNgO]

Behehehee!

The G400 vanilla would be good 'til the G800 comes, I've tweaked mine to Max speed since day one
jim

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Abit BE6-2
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G400 32mb DH
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SB Live!
Winblows 98se & DX7
and 384k DSL!

[LAMFDTK]

Who has a Asus CUSL2 motherboard that reports the correct CPU temp? I am running at 50 degrees. I know Alpha's are good but ...

[Sisyfos]

I have.
With BIOS 1002 Final that is.
Running SETI@Home:
CPU 50 C
MB 25 C
Room 20 C

750@1005 1.82v and Golden Orb.
You have to use Asus Probe 2.12.02 or MBM 5 (beta) to get the correct read-outs in OS.

Kim (male version)

Edit: I just put in the CPU voltage.

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[This message has been edited by Sisyfos (edited 18 September 2000).]

[paulcs]

LAMF has been getting readings below room temperature since he bought the board. I think something is very wrong.

Paul
paulcs@flashcom.net

[This message has been edited by paulcs (edited 18 September 2000).]

[Sisyfos]

Common problem with CUSL2 and BIOS earlier than 1002 Final (1002.005 beta certified).

My CPU temp would go as low as 7 C when idle and 40 C at full load.

You couldn't even use compensation in MBM 4.18, because differences wasn't even across the scale, eg. @7 C you would compensate +22 and @40 only +10.

The combination of BIOS ver. and Probe/MBM stated in my previous post seems to have fixed this. This is gathered from own experience, assorted news groups, one BB, hearsay, rumours, gossip and what not.

Kim

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[Dentaku]

You might be happy to know that someone created http://www.cusl2.com
It has all the info (and a forum) that you need for more info.

I think that you're right that the new Probe and the newest "official" drivers fix the ridiculous temp readings for most poeple.

[SeanTek]

Since I wanted the features of a DVD-capable and 3D-capable card, I gave in and bought a 64MB GeForce 2 GTS (Hercules). It's definitely nice, except that I can see a little ghosting and at the highest resolutions (2048x1536) it only goes to 60Hz (it also looks bad), which bothers me because the nVidia chip claims that it can go to 75Hz. In addition, the hardware-accelerated video looked pretty bad in PowerDVD, which I will try to tweak later. All in all, it's going back to Best Buy under their "30-day tryout" period, but I still have to figure out which other card I should consider. (These problems could also be related to my monitor, since it has some convergence issues on the right-hand side, or it could be because I'm using the stock VGA cable instead of a high-quality VGA->BNC cable. I will have to check these before I rule the card out as unsuitable.)

So anyway, I'm leaning towards the G400 MAX again (I ruled out the G450, mainly because I haven't found it in-stock online or locally, and because it's slower). However, I want to hear from ATi and 3dfx users (which I probably won't find on this forum), and G400 MAX users with the CUSL2. So please, pipe up and tell me if you have had a positive or negative experience with this card! Thanks.

[DuRaNgO]

Please, tell us what you paid for it?
jim

[Salmonius]

I don't think that my CUSL2 reports the CPU temp properly. It goes anywhere between 17 degrees to 40 degrees. Right now, it says 20. I just played 3 hours of Age of Empires 2.

Not to mention the fact that every once in a while it tells me that my fan is not running!

Otherwise, it's a perfect mobo.