2D quality - geforce 4 cards

[Mark R]

I'm looking for a GF4 card (probably Ti4200 or Ti4400).

Which ones have good 2d quality - i'd be looking to run at 1800x1440 @ 90 Hz (if I decide to get the monitor I want ) and want something that will provide crisp clear text at that resolution/refresh.

 

[Keysplayr]

I have not had the experience first hand, but I have heard that the ATI cards (not sure which ones) have better 2D Image Quality than does Nvidia.
I have a GeForce4 Ti4600 running at 1600x1200 75Hz and it looks good to me. I can't tell you how it looks at the resolution you want to use though.
My monitor is maxxed out at 1600x1200.

Keys

 

[CraigRT]

ATI cards are a little better... but nothing wrong with the quality on my Ti4200 (MSI) 128MB card. I run 1280x1024 @ 85Hz though.

 

[mboy]

Both my gainward and Abit otes g4ti4200's look exceptionally good with the latest 53.45 drivers in 2d. SURPRISINGLY good!

 

[eklass]

we've pretty much reached a point in time that 2D quality isn't an issue because the quality is pretty high across the board

edit: doesn't really matter -> isn't an issue

 

[SickBeast]

Originally posted by: Mark R
I'm looking for a GF4 card (probably Ti4200 or Ti4400).

Which ones have good 2d quality - i'd be looking to run at 1800x1440 @ 90 Hz (if I decide to get the monitor I want ) and want something that will provide crisp clear text at that resolution/refresh.

From what I've heard, the GF4 series has pretty decent 2D output. I had a GF2 GTS (creative) and the 2D output was horrible. I think that people have the misconception that Nvidia cards have bad 2D output because of the problems with the GF2 cards.

I've heard that the gainward cards have good 2D. Good luck.

 

[Brian48]

The GF4's have excellent 2d quality. I've had a Visiontek ti4600 at one time and currently have a PNY ti4200 in one of my backups. The 2d quality is very close to that of my R8500 and 9700 Pro. The ATI cards are still slightly better, but the differences are insignificant in my opinion and you really have to look for them.

 

[SickBeast]

Originally posted by: Brian48
The GF4's have excellent 2d quality. I've had a Visiontek ti4600 at one time and currently have a PNY ti4200 in one of my backups. The 2d quality is very close to that of my R8500 and 9700 Pro. The ATI cards are still slightly better, but the differences are insignificant in my opinion and you really have to look for them.

What resolution/refresh rate were you comparing the cards at?

 

[Mark R]

Guess I was being a little overoptimistic with the res/refresh. Not even the parhelia will do that.

The only card I've found that will is the Radeon 9800 pro.

Guess I'll have to settle for something a little less.

 

[SickBeast]

Originally posted by: Mark R
Guess I was being a little overoptimistic with the res/refresh. Not even the parhelia will do that.

The only card I've found that will is the Radeon 9800 pro.

Guess I'll have to settle for something a little less.

Are you sure about that? My 8500 will output 120hz at 1600x1200 (it has an option for it, I've never tried it tho). Any card with at least a 350mhz ramdac should output at that resolution/refresh rate. Check out the product specs.

 

[AtomicDude512]

Originally posted by: mboy
...the latest 53.45 drivers in 2d. SURPRISINGLY good!

When did those come out?

 

[Mark R]

Are you sure about that? My 8500 will output 120hz at 1600x1200 (it has an option for it, I've never tried it tho). Any card with at least a 350mhz ramdac should output at that resolution/refresh rate. Check out the product specs.

Yup - checked all the datasheets that I could get hold of. All geforce 4 cards 1920x1440 (closest res) max 75 Hz. Same with parhelia. Same with all ATI cards except 9800 Pro which manages 90 Hz.

Guess your 8500 card has a better RAMDAC than the 9x00 series.

 

[SickBeast]

Originally posted by: Mark R

Are you sure about that? My 8500 will output 120hz at 1600x1200 (it has an option for it, I've never tried it tho). Any card with at least a 350mhz ramdac should output at that resolution/refresh rate. Check out the product specs.

Yup - checked all the datasheets that I could get hold of. All geforce 4 cards 1920x1440 (closest res) max 75 Hz. Same with parhelia. Same with all ATI cards except 9800 Pro which manages 90 Hz.

Guess your 8500 card has a better RAMDAC than the 9x00 series.

AFAIK, my 8500 has a 400mhz RAMDAC. The highest I've run is at 1600x1200 at 77hz (highest my monitor will go). Good luck running at that res. By the way, I think I've read that a g550 (matrox) will do the refresh/resolution that you're hoping for.