Parhelia - is it crap?

[Maximilian404]

I've been wanting to get a Parhelia for years, and now I finally can afford to get a new graphics card. I'm looking for a second hand 8x 128MB.

But I'm wondering if by now there is a better GeForce/Radeon card that I should be buying instead with the money? (Under £100)

What originally drew me to the Parhelia was it's speed (at the time) and clear analogue display, as well as it's special Photoshop and AutoCAD drivers.

I do graphics and CAD work and need pretty fast OpenGL performance -and a really clean analogue signal for my 21" Iiyama CRTs. Not really interested in games or triple-head.

What are the equivalently priced and/or specced GeForce/Radeon cards that I shoould be looking at as well, or can you tell me how I should still be getting a Parhelia? Please give me your views, whatever they may be.

Thanks

[borat]

its old and its going to be really slow in OpenGL compared to a similar priced radeon, it will also have fewer features and less product support than ati and Nvidia's. It's analogue signal will be better than the compitition but if you get a decent ATi its barely noticeable even when they are side by side. Can't recommend any of the compitition because i'm not really up to speed with model numbers these days but im sure there is pleanty of choice out there.

[Alec]

^^ I agree.

[Marshmallowman]

Yup still good for 2d & multi display only.

Don't bother using it for opengl

[UtwigMU]

Problem with OpenGL is that you need say ancient drivers for Maya to work, but then some newer stuff breaks (such as for instance games). Lattest drivers break Enemy Territory for instance and few versions ago (not lattest) they caused BSOD in Maya.

[Whirl-Secret]

What about a 3DLabs Wildcat, one of the cheaper VP versions? They are seriously useless for games and not fully DirectX9 compliant (I think) but they will be excellent for 3D stuff, very good for photoshop, and also will have good image quality. From talking around on their forums I made the decision a couple of years ago to go with the Matrox P650 instead of the Wildcat VP560 because I'm not into so much 3D these days, just a bit of modelling for my shockwave 3D stuff, and I'm happy.

But for using Maya etc and only with 2 monitors I would suggest a proper 3D card (as opposed to a Matrox) - a second hand VPxxx card would be within your budget (or thereabouts) and would work nicely until you installed Half Life 2

Ebay UK (because you used a £ sign): http://search.ebay.co.uk/wildcat_Com...58058QQsalicZ3