Can someone give me some info on Matrox cards?

[Shooters]

My cousin e-mailed me and asked about Matrox cards because he was considering purchasing one. I don't really keep up with Matrox, so I thought that I would get your opinions on their cards. I thought that I remember reading something once that said although they're not great in 3D, the 2D image quality is excellent. I haven't asked him yet what it's going to be used for, but I can safely say that it's not going to be meant for gaming or any other sort of 3D application; probably just work related stuff (programming etc.). Is this a pretty good card for business applications, and what other mid-priced cards would you suggest?.....Geforce MX? Voodoo3?

Thanks for the help,
Nick

 

[Mday]

compared to what's out, matrox cards have always had excellent 2d quality, and been behind in terms of 3d performance.

the g400 was their first card with real hardware 3d, and is adequate for 3d games. it's performance is nothing compared with the fastest cards out today.

the g450 is essentially the same as the g400, except it's clocked slower, yes slower.

Either the g400 or g450 is excellent for business applications. in fact the g450 was made for business applications.

the g450 has 2 vga outputs, which is great for programming and 2d stuff for business. having 2 monitors helps though ;-)

 

[WetWilly]

Check this thread. Discussed the Matrox G4xx vs Geforce2 MX.