Graphics Card--Need Help!

[kaizersose]

I need a graphics card for the new rig I am building and I want to keep it cheap ($100 give or take). I dont play games very often at all, but I do an considerable amount of CADing and Photoshop. I was wondering if any of the cards out there (aside from the high-end Quaddro's, etc.) are better for graphics and rendering than others. Thanks!

 

[nick1985]

ti-4200 G4

 

[kaizersose]

any particular reason why?

 

[stncttr908]

ATI and Matrox have superior 2D quality. Go for a Radeon 9000 pro I'd say, it should do the job for CAD and Photoshop and still have enough umph for the occasional game.

 

[Schadenfroh]

they all have the same 2d quality. (dont know about matrox but have heard good things) i cant tell the differance between my asus 4200 and the ati radeon 8500 at schools image quality.

 

[PraetorianGuards]

4200's are pretty nice, 8500LE if you want to save some more money(less performance, but a good ATI card).

 

[kaizersose]

what about the g-force fx series? i have heard that they have good rendering engines (i know they have sub-par game performance though)

 

[Markfw]

For 2d, clarity, Matrox is King. The G550 is $95 at newegg. You don't do hardly any gaming, so go for the King.

 

[squidman]

Originally posted by: kaizersose
what about the g-force fx series? i have heard that they have good rendering engines (i know they have sub-par game performance though)

But they're not in the "100$ range". Id say you go with GF 4200 8x - OEM should be just about 120.

 

[squidman]

Originally posted by: Markfw900
For 2d, clarity, Matrox is King. The G550 is $95 at newegg. You don't do hardly any gaming, so go for the King.

For 2D clarity, and any other clarity, one needs a monitor that costs 500+, and comes from "professional series". With my PF775, i get same 2d "clarity" with my steam powered GTS, and ox-driven ATI Xpert@Work. Really, 2d output is just depends on the monitor, since all the cartds that were made from 1996 support VESA.

 

[Markfw]

Originally posted by: squidman

Originally posted by: Markfw900
For 2d, clarity, Matrox is King. The G550 is $95 at newegg. You don't do hardly any gaming, so go for the King.

For 2D clarity, and any other clarity, one needs a monitor that costs 500+, and comes from "professional series". With my PF775, i get same 2d "clarity" with my steam powered GTS, and ox-driven ATI Xpert@Work. Really, 2d output is just depends on the monitor, since all the cartds that were made from 1996 support VESA.

I am not alone in my opinion for the Matrox cards. Here is just one thread, but I could find many more. It is well known that the video card DOES make a difference, and Matrox owns 2d:


Matrox input

 

[deathwalker]

building a new system...and you want to cheap out on the video card...shame on you.....Geforce4 4200 would do nicely.

 

[CrazyCasper]

I agree i use Autocadd quite a bit myslef , but i do play games as well , another vote for the 4200 geforce4.

 

[ElFenix]

Originally posted by: squidman

Originally posted by: Markfw900
For 2d, clarity, Matrox is King. The G550 is $95 at newegg. You don't do hardly any gaming, so go for the King.

For 2D clarity, and any other clarity, one needs a monitor that costs 500+, and comes from "professional series". With my PF775, i get same 2d "clarity" with my steam powered GTS, and ox-driven ATI Xpert@Work. Really, 2d output is just depends on the monitor, since all the cartds that were made from 1996 support VESA.

what the crap? no, the nvidia cards were notorious for having low vga voltage at higher resolutions. THAT is where the image quality problem comes from.