Please recommend an inexpensive AGP video card that has the best 2D graphics

[jaytone]

Hi
I am putting together a system for my elderly father. It will have a P2B, P2 350, 64megs of ram, etc.
What is most important is the 2D graphics and text clarity. Can someone recommend the best AGP 2D/3D card with a maximum cost of about $60.00
The monitor he is using is a ViewSonic GS773 17inch.

 

[Adul]

I think YOu can find a matrox g200 for that price

 

[Mem]

I will have to agree, everybody knows about Matrox excellent 2d clarity.

 

[Radboy]

Was gonna say the same thing.

 

[urbantechie]

Do I hear Matrox?

 

[Syborg1211]

matrox all the way

 

[Modus]

Also remember that with only a 17" monitor, you won't want to be using more than 1024x768, simply because the text will be too small to read clearly. And that's pretty much the resolution where cards with great 2D quality begin to separate themselves from the cards with ordinary 2D quality.

In other words, on a 17" monitor running relatively low resolutions, any cheap AGP card will probably look almost as good as a Matrox.

Modus

 

[Syborg1211]

ALthough I am not sure about 2D, the 40 dollar Viper 2 is somewhat tempting if you are looking to skim a little more money for something else. I have two friends with Viper 2 models and they both play games at pretty high resolutions. At one point, the Viper 2 was considered to have the potential to be a Geforce killer, but lack of good drivers kept the Viper 2 down.

 

[jaytone]

Thanks all, most appreciated.

 

[Czar]

Anything from Matrox is the best you will get.

 

[Looney]

Like so many have said, get a Matrox... you can probably find a 16mb singlehead G400 for about $75 new... and around $50 used if you check the FS/FT forums.

I would rather go with a G400 because the driver support is still there.

 

[sandorski]

Holy crap! I'm shocked no one has said this yet, Matrox!

 

[BigToque]

S3

 

[Noriaki]

I'm sure you are getting the clue by now, but I'll say it anyways
Matrox owns 2D.

A Matrox G200 has even better 2D than the G400 IMO, though it lacks badly in 3D (and with a smaller framebuffer and slower RAMDAC it won't go to as high resolution, but I found colour vibrancy better on the G200). I haven't compared a G200 to a G450, but one of those 3 definately.

The G400 is best for gaming of the 3 being about even with a TNT2 for speed, the G450 slightly behind, and the G200 more like a Voodoo1 (ok not quite that bad but it's definately not for gaming )

 

[LXi]

Why bother with a 3 year old technolgy? Get yourself a Voodoo3 2000, excellent 2D, great for the money.

 

[bonkers325]

get a vanta or m64 nvidia card

cheers,
bonkers325

 

[Radboy]

I owned both the V3 & G200. G200's 2D rules. Spanks V3.

 

[prontospyder]

I agree with LXi, the Voodoo3's 2D is really nice also.

 

[Auric]

Seems silly to spend more than $20 if it is not going to be used for gaming. Any cheap ATI or S3 card should do nicely.

 

[fs5]

like someone said before, he'll probably running at 1024x768 so pretty much anything you can get your hands on will be good.

 

[Pete]

For that res, I'd say ATi Xpert128 or 3dfx V3 or Matrox Gx00. My ATi has good clarity up to 1152x864x32@85Hz. Matrox will probably still be the best, but at that res, go for whichever of the above are cheapest.

 

[Huma]

for a monitor like the viewsonic gs773, a voodoo3 2000 would be fine.
Matrox cards are even better, but almost impossible to tell apart from a voodoo3 at 1024x768 on an ok monitor like the gs773.

On a better monitor, or a higher res, you'd probably see it, but V3 2d is pretty dokken for a card originally designed for gaming.