If you look at Radeon 9800 Pro & P650 side by side, is there a big 2D Qual diff?

[crp]

Hi all. 1st Post here.

The question in the title is the question I'm trying to answer now. I've got the Radeon now, but am not happy w/ 2D image quality on my analog 1600x1200 LCD display.

I've had a Millennium & quad G-150, I think it was, but nothing from Matrox in a few years.

I run basic office apps & will play a few strategy & FPS games too. But, for me, 2D image quality is what I value above all other factors for the way I use my system, ie I'd like to have text & images in Adobe Acrobat & MS Office apps appear as crisp as on physical paper.

I also use Clear-tweak on my Win XP system and like how it makes text more visually appealing.

TIA for any suggestions or comments.
crp

[rylan]

Well the P650 is going to have a little better image quality than the ATI board due to a better analog output stage. However to be honest, you're not going to get great results either way since you are running an LCD in analog mode, especially at 1600x1200. If its got a digital input then by all means use it, and then it won't make a differance between the ati and matrox card.

[Wombat]

Not to be insulting, but how big is that display?

[crp]

It's a Sharp LL-T2000A. 19.6" diagonal.

crp

[Whirl-Secret]

I went from a 9700 Pro to a P650 and noticed a large quality difference (P650 being better) but this was on a 19" crt with analogue out, @ 1280 res.

The P650 can do far higher refreshes at most res, the glyph antialiasing is almost unbearable to live without, and the overall display is really really crisp.

Doesn't really relate to your situation though, so take my advice with a pinch of salt.

[Che Guevara]

You want perfect 2D-image quality and do a little gaming? Parhelia 128 sounds like a perfect card for you .

[crp]

Ok, you sold me. Ordered Parhelia 128 from NewEgg today. $349.00. Thanks for all the input.

crp

[crp]

Got it today, installed it. Visual quality wasn't what I wanted yet (I didn't uninstall the previous Radeon drivers), so I did a fresh reinstall of Win XP for the new year.

Now, after installing the Matrox drivers and Cleartweak, I'm completely happy.

Thx for all the help.

crp

[Che Guevara]

Glad to hear that .

Greetz
Che