Do believe the hype?

[khamsin]

I have always wanted a card with excellent 2d graphics capabilities. I'm still conviced the G400MAX I'm using on my desktop system has the best signal quality that i've seen. I'm sure the limiting factor at this point in time is the My IIyama VisionMater pro 502. not the signal quality of the G400.

I'd like to have a card in my desktop really good for gaming, it is definately not my main focus.

Comparitivly speaking the signal quality from My Millennium I with 4mb of wram is better thatn many other card I have attached my monitor to.

If the parhelia delivers the signal quality I would like then I'll be buying one.

Right now i'm actually using my laptop to post this. Its got really high res for a 15" panel and frankly that beats the IIyama for sharpness at the same res 1600x1200.

I really do not need 500 fps for quake III 35 to 40 really is enough. If the parhelia can deliver that at 1600x1200 for me and for other DX8/9 games it will be the card I want.

I was very satisfied with the G400MAX and it still allows me to play modern games albeit without all the eyecandy.

My laptop give me the same Playing Jedi Knight II just fine thanks.

My needs on the desktop are different. I process alot of 2d images and signal quality and monitor sharpness mean more than
a PIV doing Quake III at 400 fps. Who cares if you cant see it.

So Ant, that means I'm waiting to be convinced.

khamsin

[lAmerZ]

I hope...eh...I think+++Parhelia+++will be MATROX's return into the 3D-Arena. I don't really care how much this card will cost - it will displace my G400MAX which is the oldest component in my PC (besides the floppydrive+cable). If+++Parhelia+++will really come with significant improvements in 2D image quality, I'd be pleased if it would *just* outperform NVidiot's JoeForce3whatsoever.

[BuddMan]

Originally posted by lAmerZ
BuddMan: u're lame, too

Hehe...taka taka taka taka, taka taka taka taka, taka taka taka taka.....hoooowwweeeeppp.

*if no one got that, that was a Dr. Evil dance.

[Mad Maxtrox]

Originally posted by Ant
I get the feeling Parhelia is generating a little interest, I bet nVidia are spitting blood [/B]

nVidia (and all the little Nvidiots) are in hyperdrive moving towards damage control

[Maniac]

Yes in classic Matrox fashion it has lived up to all the hype. We now have a bunch of specs and a few pics to drool over.
Looks like that is enough for Murcers, some of whom are jumping for joy over a few white papers. And the promise of paying $400 US for a new Matrox product sometime in the next few months. I guess thats what happens to you after a 3 year wait..

[mmp121]

I plan on buying one, BUT...

Seeing as how I don't anticipate having the funds to make any major PC purchases any time soon, I am looking to building a whole new PC this coming Xmas. I would say I have alot of choices between now and then, but one thing is certain, its going to have a variant of the Parhelia in it.

If the .13 Micron version is coming out around then, then I definately want the top of the line one, but if not, I'm going to get the lowest end .15 micron one and wait for the full blown DX9 .13 micron version with the updated core that everyone else knows is coming.

[Bluefire]

I'm disappointed about the lack of information about Z-buffer occlusion culling/compression etc... I fear that can eat up alot of the bandwidth advantage.

[The PIT]

Well I'm glad I'm going to have a bit lee time. This means I can save my pennies for one.

[MadScot]

I think that there are a number of people like me, I still use my g400 for its great image quality and 2d, that are jumping for joy right now. I like to play games every now and then, and yes, my g400 is beginning to whimper. But there is no way I will give up my quality, tv-out, dualhead, beautiful desktop for some fps. Parhelia will do quite nicely, thank you.

Now I just need a new cpu, mobo, ram, ...

MadScot

[dave m]

Looks good to me, I want one...

Dave

[Nuno]

he, he, so many new people around here

I´m very impressed with Matrox comeback. Honestly I didn´t thought they did it so hard and so soon... that´s why I bought a creative GF4 Ti4400 a month ago (someone, please pass me the hat ) so I´ll be better with Parhelia II I guess...

Anyway, I am waiting to see how it performs and when it´ll be available.
Apart for the good points the card has and everybody knows by now, I would like to point the not-so-good points:

- Timing: It´ll be released some months from now, when it´ll be very close to be competing with full Dx9 cards

- Market targeting: Any video-card manufacturer must have a "Geforce4 MX" and a "GF4 Ti4200/Radeon 8500LE" on it´s line of products. Nvidia makes money with their MX line of cards, NOT with the GF4 Ti 4600, wich must acount for less than 1% the sales

- 0.15u for 80M transistors: ouch. It´ll be hot.

- Pixel shader only 1.3. Why not going into FP registers to make it 2.0 comaptible?

- 4 texturing units per pipeline. Now that will be a waste. I need something like 30Gb/s memory bandwidth to feed 16 texturing units at once with the speculated core speed. Radeon DDR already showed that many texture units per pipeline are not necessarily a good thing.

- How about some form of bandwidth optimizing measures?? maybe that "z-acceleration" will be something like it, but some kind of Nvidia-like individual 32-bit memory buses would be like a dream. Don´t forget the larger the bus, more ineficient memory handling is if you have to access the whole memory at once. What´s better, a 100% eficient 128bit bus or a 50% efficient 256 bit bus (extreme example here...)

- FAA-16: when they talk about "FAA-16 applications compatible", it´s just me or the app will have to be coded to take advantage of this kind of AA, not alowing to force this mode on anything else? hmmmm....

- I´m also interested in driver quality, as Matrox tended on the past to have some troubles on the first driver revisions each time a whole new hardware was lauched (i.e. G200 and G400)

Don´t get me wrong, I think Parhelia will be a great card, it has some awe features indeed and I might actually get one if I can´t control myself but there appears to be some issues where I think Matrox could have done better...

[Reckless]

Geez, I've managed to string out my G400Max ownership so a few more months aren't gonna hurt me much! Sure, it's not a full DX9 part but that will not exist till late 2002 and then games will not be making use of it for another 3-6 months at the earliest.

Matrox may well have had bad drivers for G200 and G400 releases (yes I had both cards at 1st UK availability) but who's to say history will repeat itself again. Just keep up with the dozen or so 'unofficial' 'oh my security is appauling' leaked nVidia drivers. One fix, two breakages - their release ones are sometimes not that much better (speaking from experience here!). With the rare G400 beta driver releases I was always progressing in an improvement direction!

Anways, I'm in between the two main votes. If it outruns a GF4 (in 'proper' benchmarks) then I'll buy one, if not then maybe not but probably will. I suppose it does depend a lot on price and availability. I am prepared to spend more on a Matrox card but I dont want to wait 6 months again like I did for my Max!

[impact]

Buy one now, get stable drivers two years later. I'd say it would be wise to wait for the 0.13u version.

[VJ]

I think Matrox would come up with good drivers faster than that (or perhaps you were being a bit sarcastic ). But I also would think it wise to wait for the 0.13µ version (less heat; higher clockspeed; Parhelia will have been around, so broader support from applications, ...)

Jörg

[Reckless]

Err, I don't understand guys! Matrox release a part that is (probably) performant enough and offers more features than any other current competitor and you're still going to wait.

So let's say that I'm rich enough to be looking for a new car, a BMW no less. NOT always the quickest thing available but as an round package, quality, support, etc. - damn fine. If I thought like some of 'you' I would be saying "nah let's wait for next years face-lifted model". Then when I get to the release of that... would I be saying the same thing again?

No-way! The ONLY things that can piss of Matrox's fortune are:
1) Bad release schedule - anything more than 3 months is too long (compared to forthcoming announcements). As soon as people get a sniff of new chip specs from the current "in-crowd" then people will wait until they see the products. They would be wise to get the product out the door as soon as they can.
2) Bad driver support from day 1. I for one do not beleive that Matrox will allow history to repeat itself. The G400 sufferred as they came off of bad driver development in the G200. All released in the past 2 years have improved support not once have I been looking to downgrade.
3) Too many people deciding to follow nVidia with their NV30 (or ATI...). To be honest, Matrox will NEVER satisfy those who follow nVidia. They will (IMHO) release a card that is fast but not the fastest. It will be brimming with features that work but have limited support for 9 to 12 months. nVidia will have some fine features in the next gen card but they get away with the limited new feature support as their graphics engine is (has always been) damn fast.

Matrox needs the original release Parhelia to be a success. That way they will commit to further releases. If everyone holds off until a face lifted model arrives, maybe it'll be too late?

I read with interest Tom's Hardware's conclusions. He had a dig at Matrox for not releasing cards and benchmarks. Well, Matrox have always done this - release chip specs then product specs follow. Only when the product specs are known and products get pre-released do sites have benchies to drool over/slate.

We're in this day and age of video cards that give triple number frame rates. Is this really necessary? I'd say not - hey I play a lot of games and I get on well enough with my G400Max. The Parhelia will allow me to run the next generation of engines (lifetime 2 years) and only when the next-next gen stuff starts appearing will I probably be looking for more speed!