Photoshop & Illustrator work..Video card and CRT suggestion

[SteveBlack]

Hi

I am on budget after having most of my new PC budget go for the processor/Mobo etc. Can somebody recommend a Video card for doing normal office work and some Photoshop and Illustrator work? Preferably around $100-125 would be ideal. I am not Pro, so it doesnt have to be some cutting edge stuff.

Also what will be a reasonable CRT monitor for this kind of work? I fear LCD may be costlier, but if there is some good budget model I would appreciate if you can tell me. Again about $125-150 is my budget.

Thanks in advance for any suggestins.

 

[SteveBlack]

Forgot to add...

I wont be playing any games on this computer...so looking at only 2D performance..

 

[gxsaurav]

u forgot to add weather it is an AGP or PCI-E card

U can find a Matrox G500 gfx card, but they are ahrd to find, so even an Geforce 6200 non ultra with 128 MB RAM, is enough

if u can find a FX5200 for a cheap price then go for that

 

[slatr]

I hate to recommend a CRT due to space and power ect.. but you mention using photoshop and color matching can be a pain on an LCD. Also, that is a PCI express graphics card. Most of your budget would be on the monitor, shifted from the video card.

at newegg.com good rate on shipping right now on that CRT, like 7 flat rate, when normally a CRT shipping cost is like 25-30.

Monitors - CRT
Qty. Product Description Unit Price Savings Total Price
1 SAMSUNG 997mb-TwoTone Silver-Black 19" CRT Monitor D-Sub - Retail
Model #: 997mb-TwoTone
Item #: N82E16824001068

$179.99

Video Cards
Qty. Product Description Unit Price Savings Total Price
1 MSI RX300HM-TD128ELF Radeon X300SE HyperMemory 256MB Hyper Memory(128M VRAM on board) GDDR2 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail
Model #: RX300HM-TD128ELF
Item #: N82E16814127196

$48.00

Subtotal: $227.99 + shipping (around 10-11 $ since their is a deal on the monitor shipping)

 

[phaxmohdem]

Should ask, si that $125-$150 figure for BOTH the monitor AND the vid card, or That price range for each item? (~300 to spend total).

If it is ~125-150 for both items, I would go to a local used computer shop and see if they have any 19" or better CRT monitors. You should be able to snag a decent one for ~$75 (you may have to do some talking down of price, but most shops are willing to negotiate with you. Then I'd go to newegg/ebay, and find a ATI 9600Pro card like this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102409, or hop on eBay and snag a nice MAtrox G450 32MB AGP Card http://cgi.ebay.com/MATROX-G450-32MB-DU...0QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem like so.

IF your budget is slightly higher (~300 total for both) I'd again get on eBay and grab up a nice Trinitron 19" Monitor like this: http://cgi.ebay.com/Dell-19-Flat-CRT-Mo...6QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem, For Pure 2D accelleration, its hard to recommend anything really close to $100. I'd honestly go with the Matrox G450 Above. I've had a Matrox G450 and an ATI RAdeon 9250 in the same system with the same monitor, and I preferred the way the Matrox handled 2D work over the ATI. Unfortunately I needed a little extra 3D horsepower, so I had to end up going with the ATI card. (Still good 2D quality though all things considered)

 

[xtknight]

Unless you can find an aperture grille CRT for $250 (leaving $25 for video card), then I agree with slatr. There are no LCDs at that price point that would suffice for your purpose. Any video card sold today should be fine for your purpose.

 

[sandorski]

Originally posted by: xtknight
Unless you can find an aperture grille CRT for $250 (leaving $25 for video card), then I agree with slatr. There are no LCDs at that price point that would suffice for your purpose. Any video card sold today should be fine for your purpose.

Yes, Aperture Grile monitor and any Video card(more or less). Video card performance is a non-issue, as those apps don't stress video cards, but 2D display quality is an issue especially for higher resolutions. Fortunetly most ATI/Nvidia vidcards of the last few generations have excellent 2D quality, though there might be some manufacturers who have Lower 2D quality(not sure though). Matrox definitely is considered the best in this regard, at least on the Consumer side of the Market.

 

[SteveBlack]

Thanks for everyone who replied...that clears up a lot of doubts..Regret delay in reply due time zone difference..

I live in Dubai..far away from USA..so Ebay..Newegg etc. are no option...I guess i will try any cheap good video card..

Monitors have me stumped now..Who is making Aperture Grill monitors? Sony? Are they better than other monitor type? How does the Samsumng DynaFlat series perform?

Appreciate further comments..

 

[sandorski]

Originally posted by: SteveBlack
Thanks for everyone who replied...that clears up a lot of doubts..Regret delay in reply due time zone difference..

I live in Dubai..far away from USA..so Ebay..Newegg etc. are no option...I guess i will try any cheap good video card..

Monitors have me stumped now..Who is making Aperture Grill monitors? Sony? Are they better than other monitor type? How does the Samsumng DynaFlat series perform?

Appreciate further comments..

Sony, NEC/Mitsubishi, not sure if anyone else makes them, but others sell them from Sony/NEC/Mitsubishi parts. You just have to check thhe specs to be sure you're getting an Aperture Grille monitor.

 

[gsellis]

Look also for Iiyama. The VisionMaster series is among the best at a reasonable price (used - my 450 is about 6 years old I think).