G450?

[Robert Hague]

I have been having some issues with my ATI card and after some thought i decided to sell the card and get something else. I really didnt use it as much as i thought so the high amount of gaming power was a bit wasted (i played GTA VC and thats about it graphically insensive stuff).

At the moment there does not seem to be much out there in terms of value for money and speed. The 5900 looks good but its expensive and i fear may be superceeded quickly (like the 5800 was) as NVIDIA compete with ATI.

Im not too keen on getting a lower end ATI card, their drivers are rather horrible for me. Im also keen on some decent Linux support as im purchasing SuSE at some point to have a mess around with.

Anyway i was thinking of getting something basic to do for the time being, ive seen the G450 for about £70 and im just wondering where the 450 stands in terms of 3d performance. Yeah i know its old but what are we talking? Geforce, Geforce2 performance? I understand the G550 is slower than the 450?

Finally then what are the current state of Matrox's drivers right now? Good compatibility?? Good with linux? I think thats about everything.

Thanks

- Rob

[GNEP]

Should be able to pick up a G450 for a lot cheaper than that, especially if you only need a 16Mb SH (singlehead) one... I have seen them (refurbed/2nd hand) for as little as £15. No reason not to at that price. Great stability, superb 2d. You can play UT on there, but not UT2003 (at all well, that is)...

[Robert Hague]

http://www.komplett.co.uk/k/ki.asp?action=info&p=9866&t=278&l=2&AvdID=1&CatID=24&GrpID=1&s=pl

Ive tried shopmatrox.com but they only have the G550 and something called a Mistique G450 eTV which is about £179...

Id rather get a DualHEAD with about 32mb if i can, just incase i end up keeping it longer than i expect (if i end up poor or something in a few months and cant afford anything else just yet lol). I have a small wad of cash to throw at my PC right now (£300) and thats why i thought about distrobuting it into other area's rather than all into one.

[GNEP]

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...category=27387 - Currently 17 quid

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...category=27387 - 45 quid

http://www.cex.co.uk/

- 45 quid

[dirtydog]

Isn't the G450 slower than the G400? There isn't much in it, anyway. You're talking TNT2 levels of performance - it's definitely not on a par with a Geforce2 - even a Geforce2 MX will eat it alive in 3D.

[Robert Hague]

Yeah i just read that lol - weird choice of numbers by Matrox.

You cant get a G400 MAXX anymore can you? Id pref NEW here - thanks for the ebay links btw GNEP. Can i get a G400 Maxx from matrox themselves or are they totally out of production now?

Ta

[GNEP]

I think shopmatrox.com might have some refurbed G400MAX's if you're REALLY lucky. They do (did?) have a refurb section though.

[thop]

G400MAX would be the best choice unless you plan to upgrade to a TFT with DVI. The MAX is faster than TNT2 and slightly below Geforce1, and does especially good with 32bit.
Perhaps you should also throw the Radeon 9600 into your evaluation, it is passive and goes for ~120€. Or maybe even the P650, also passive, if you want Matrox, that'd be a good choice if no or very little gaming is involved and will easily survive the next few years. Dual-DVI ready too About the same prive range as the 9600, ~30€ more, much slower though.

[rylan]

Yeah personally I wouldn't bother going with a G450 or G550.. you won't be having any fun trying to play games on those.. unless you really -only- need a 2d solution.

[Robert Hague]

True true... i cant seem to find a Matrox solution that will play the basic games at a fair pace. I mean the Parhelia looks reasonable but it costs as much as a 5900! :O

I think im better off looking away from Matrox cards to meet my needs unfortunatley. There isnt really any other options apart from these...

Radeon 9600pro (icky ATI drivers but ive seen the 'Fireblade' versions which OC good)

Geforce FX 5600 Ultra (NVIDIA, great stuff but its a little more than the Radeon and also there is a 'new' rev and its a dodgy area on which i get)

No matter where i look it seems ATI have a cheaper solution... *tuts*

[Chrono_Wanderer]

Maybe u can go Radeon 9000 or GeForce FX 5200

Everybody seem to complain about 5200, but i think its fine for casual (very casual) gamers like me.

[Robert Hague]

Yeah but im looking at 5600/9600 benchies and fear that i might have underestimated my requirements sure i didnt use the 9700pro in many games - but the 9600/5600 seem to be the best comprimise for price/performance. I will look into both cards i guess and see which performs the best for the price (i will have to just drop win2k3 and go with something else - and pray linux works ok ) - im kinda thinking 9600pro though (the fireblade edition (the one that comes default overclocked) is tempting for the money). The performance seems to be good enough to meet my needs, not too much but not a slow card either.

I unfortunatley thought the Matrox series was on Par with the Geforce2 (not MX) in terms for performance and thats why the £71 price looked good (and i must admit i just wanted to get a matrox card ). Maybe i can get a Matrox for my new computer im building in a few months

[dirtydog]

Originally posted by Chrono_Wanderer
Maybe u can go Radeon 9000 or GeForce FX 5200

Everybody seem to complain about 5200, but i think its fine for casual (very casual) gamers like me.

What is the 2D like on the 5200? I've had an MX440 before and it was worse for 2D than my G400.

Also have you played Colin McRae Rally 2 with the 5200 by any chance?

[K6-III]

The only cards to match Matrox's 2D come from Canopus.

[rylan]

I haven't seen any NVidia cards with good 2D as of yet. Dunno about the Canopus ones though, haven't tried one. Generally the ATI reference design produces better image quality than nvidia based boards.