Matrox G450 and Asus A7N266-VM

[Doomer]

I'm about to embark on a major upgrade on an ancient system. It's presently an Intel P3 850 (slot 1) on a Tyan s1846s Tsunami. It will be morphing into an AMD XP 2400+ on an Asus A7N266-VM. It's currently running a Matrox G450 Dual Head. I'd like to use it on the upgraded system but can't seem to determine if it's compatible with the MB or not. Given it's age, I'm somewhat concerned. I went to the Matrox site and they do address this issue in their FAQ but It sounds like double talk to me.

Anybody know if it will work ?

Thanks

BTW: 3D performance is of no concern whatsoever on this system, 2D quality is.

 

[Pete]

I'm pretty sure the -VM is both AGP 2x and 4x compatible, one of which the 450 should be.

That should be a nice upgrade, BTW. I use both a P3-866 and an XP1700+ (on a -VM), and the latter is faster in general tasks and in games. A 2400+ should be a very noticable upgrade. Using the G450 is smart, as the -VM's IGP has horrible 2D quality (mine is blurry at 10x7--a Radeon 9100 was a huge improvement).

You should consider a Barton 2500+ and the Soltek single-channel nForce 2 that Anandtech reviewed, though. The combo should be about the same price, but it will let you overclock like crazy, provided you have fast memory. You're stuck at 2400+ max with the -VM, with no chance of OC'ing (unless you find a special BIOS and do a hardware mod).

 

[Doomer]

thanks pete

I already had the A7N266-VM. The highest it'll go is 2400. This is plenty fast as far as this system's needs go. I agree, the 2D quality of the onboard GF2 is horrible. The Matrox totally owns as far as 2D quality is concerned.

 

[Pete]

No problem. I'd love to slap a 2400+ in here and see what kind of a boost I'll get in games; otherwise, the 1700+ is sufficiently snappy in everything else. The HD is a big limiting factor, though, and my 1700+'s WD 80GB SE is much faster (and quieter) than the (insanely loud) 7200rpm 30GB Quantum I have in my P3. Just giving you something else to consider if you have an older, louder 7200rpm drive. I'd go for a Seagate of Maxtor with fluid bearings over a WD SE, though, as even the WD SE is somewhat noticably noisy.