Needs hi value Vid Card for new puter...

[intricate45]

Hello...am building a new puter with AMD XP 1700 CPU and KG7 ABIT mobo. 256MB DDR RAM PC2100.
Need a recommendation for a new vid card limited to $75 max or so that will operate mostly in the 2-D world (word docs, ssheets, image files) but want the NVIDIA chip as the core. 3-D Games wil be a rarity, if ever. Hooking up to a cable modem too.
Do you think the MX 200 is suitable and should I select a name brand vid card or will generic do.
This system has to be rock solid stable and fast in the 2-D world.
OS will be MS XP Home edition.

Thank you.

 

[sMashPiranha]

May I ask why you want to use an nVidia powered card? If I were building a machine that I wasn't going to be playing 3d games on I would probably look at a Matrox card.

 

[nRollo]

Have to agree. For that price range, I would want ANYTHING but a nVidia card, The 2d on a GF2 is definitely substandard, and I say this as a guy who had a CL GTS, a Herc 64MB GTS, and a Herc 64MB Pro. These are all considerably nicer cards than any GF2 MX, and the 2d was not up to par.

I'd get an ATI or Matrox card if I were you. The Radeon's 2d is superior to all MXs.

 

[Willoughbyva]

I agree with the other posters. I think I would try a regular radeon. Circuit City had the pci version for 99.99 minus 30.00 so 69.99 isn't so bad of a price.

 

[Mingon]

Cant say I have had a problem with any nvdia cards 2d and I have owned 5, perhaps thats why Just choose a decent make and you will have no problems

 

[dakata24]

how about this?

VISIONTEK Xtasy 5632 GEFORCE2 GTS-V $49 @ Newegg Thread

 

[sMashPiranha]

<< Cant say I have had a problem with any nvdia cards 2d and I have owned 5, perhaps thats why >>


I was like that for a while as well. But then I upgraded my GF2 GTS to a Radeon 7500 and never looked back, it is superior in 2d and 3d.
Also I use a Matrox G200 at the place I study. Now thats a pretty old video card, but in 2d it still looks way better than any of my nVidia cards.

 

[Rand]

<< Cant say I have had a problem with any nvdia cards 2d and I have owned 5, perhaps thats why Just choose a decent make and you will have no problems >>



Would it be safe to assume your using relatively low resolution?

I agree with most of the others, if your not gaming then pass on nVidia. There are better cards for cheaper prices for non-gamers.
The GF2 MX200 really only matches up to the old V3/TNT2 Ultra line...and it doesnt offer anything else especially interesting.

If it must be nVidia then I'd look towards a GF2 MX400, or a GF2 GTS V for a little more.
If you won't be doing much gaming or only very light gaming then personally I'd so Matrox would be a vastly superior option though.
You could get a single head G400 for around $40, or a G450 for about $60.
If you want better gaming performance then Matrox, and the best DVD while maintaining better 2D then nVidia (though not up to Matrox quality) then I'd look towards a Radeon LE at about $55, or a Radeon 7000 for $45.

 

[Mingon]

Well I have a voodoo 5500 pci in the my machine as well, running dual monitors and the Elsa is exactly the same as the voodoo upto resolutions of 1600x1200. Is that a good enough comparison ? cards I have owned in last 4 years; voodoo 3000,5500, ati rage pro, diamond TNT, creative gf1ddr, gef2mxddr, hercules gts, 4500(kyro) and my favourite the Elsa card (based on gainward design) Imoh The nvdia cards have always provided me with everything I want, the drivers are stable and the cards have excellent Opengl support (used with acad,3dsmax and pro-e) the 2d has never been a problem. The one thing I have noticed is how much a decent monitor helps, the same Hercules card on a Hansol 17"monitor (mitsubishi based iirc) looks terrible on a CTX monitor ( tried the voodoo 3000 no difference).



<< and it doesnt offer anything else especially interesting. >>



What the nvdia card does provide is decent drivers with decent performance in all apps and games something that no other card can match.

 

[Rand]

<< and it doesnt offer anything else especially interesting.

<<

What the nvdia card does provide is decent drivers with decent performance in all apps and games something that no other card can match. >>



>>


Which he can get from an MX400 as well that offers vastly superior performance for about $10 more.
And I'd say it's debatable to claim the MX200 which performs on the level of the TNT2 Ultra/V3 3000 as giving 'decent performance in all apps and games'.

Besides if he needs absolute stability, then Matrox can offer that. Their driver support is also extremely good, matrox will also give you un-parallelled 2D, and the best dual monitor implementation available, and the G400 can perform very similarly to the MX200 at the same price point.

I stand by my statement that the MX200 is not a good option at all.



As for your 2D comments, yes a V5 vs. an Elsa GF is a very valid comparison. Though I should say Elsa is often considered to have the best visual quality of any nVidia board manufacturer. How were the Creative cards? Their generally considered to have average 2D for an nVidia board.

In any case, it's pretty much commonly accepted among most people that nVidia boards tend to offer relatively poor 2D visual quality.

 

[Mingon]

The mx200 is, as you say pointless for games at resolutions above 640x480 but then again the matrox cards are not much better. The elsa cards 2D is very good but then it is only a visiontek card re-packaged. All of the newer cards from creative, elsa and asus are exactly the same card and I am sure visiontek supply cards to other manufacturers as well. As I mentioned previously I find the Nvdia the best all-round card, it is capable in games and 3D design whereas the ati cards cant match its performance in cad (and the kyro2 cards are not worth considering if you do any Design work).

 

[KGB]

Have you considered the Radeon LE for $59?
Boost the performance with the Registry Hack to enable Hyper-Z.

A great performer for the price and good 2-D.