<<< POLL >>> How much would YOU buy Matrox Parhelia for?

[NOX]

$200 max, and even then I wouldn't buy it.

I don't need all that neat stuff, maybe when the market calls for it. But then nvidia or ATI will have all that extra features (& more).

 

[Geotpf]

I bought a Matrox Parhelia for the full $400, so I had to vote as such. In some ways, they lucked out, as I made the decision to buy a new system after they opened preorders for it and before all the benchmarks came out for it. However, I'm not completely disappointed in it's performance-I knew it wasn't going to beat a Geforce 4 Ti 4600, but I also knew it would be in the range of the Geforce 4 Ti series in general, which it is. (On a P4 2.4 with a 533 bus and 512 megs of 1066 RAMBUS, I get a 3DMark2001SE score of 8059 at 1024x768x32, and a Codecreatures benchmark of 19.4 frames/sec and 7.4 mil. polys/sec at the same resoulution.) I was hoping for a little better, but a score of 8000 in 3DMark2001SE ain't bad at all (and each time they update the drivers, the scores go up (sometimes by a lot-the drivers on the CD only gave me a score of 6239, and the system would reboot in the middle of the benchmark 90% of the time using those drivers), and I haven't got the absolute latest (the 231), this score is using 230), and new games are certainly playable at both high resolutions on one monitor (say, 1280x1024x32), or lower stretched across all three (say, 2400x600x32). If you aren't using the triple-head feature, there is admittedly little reason to get the card, as if you are just going for 2D quality, you can always get a G400 through G550 (unless you want the Gigacolor feature), and for one monitor in gaming, a GF4 Ti 4600 will be faster for the same money. However, I had room for three monitors, and thought it would be neat to get, and it is. You can do things like have three full browser windows open at the same time (to compare or quote from different websites), plus the surround effect is very cool in games. Not to mention that all programs look great, no matter 2D or 3D or what resolution.

 

[NOX]

Originally posted by: Geotpf
I get a 3DMark2001SE score of 8059 at 1024x768x32

WOW!!! That is more then what I get with my Ti4200! Something must be wrong with my drivers or somthing! 🙁

 

[Demonicon]

Simple, I would not buy it. I do however hope that they keep improving because if they ever release a true gaming card, it will smoke Nvidia and ATI.

I'm not holding my breath though.

 

[galt]

I'd give about 50$. And just to show I'm fair, I will also state that at this point I wouldn't spend more than 80$ on a Ti4200. I really don't see much sense in throwing 400$ away for a video card (I'm a college student, I'd rather have food for a week than 30 fps extra in quake). My GF2GTS works well for me, and the only way it'll get replaced is if I find a really good deal on something that's better (which most likely won't happen).

For those of you who really need the features of the Parhelia, I can understand why you'd spend 200+ dollars on it. To each their own.

 

[canadianpsycho]

Not to get into a pissing contest (because 3d Mark doesn't dictate which card is better obviously) But my p4 OC to 2350 MHz with a non OC'ed ti4400 and 512 megs DDR RAM nearly tops 11000 3d Marks...

If I'm going to pay 600 Cdn for a card (and I've come close to it before), It best be either the top or 2nd from the top model.

 

[dexvx]

I bought a 10 pack for my work, and they are excellent 2d cards. People say that G400/450/550 or Quadros or FireGLs have comparable (if not slightly worse) 2d quality than the parhelia. Well, I can say that you guys need new monitors 🙂

At max resolution, 2056x 1500 something using a top of the line Sony or Mitsubishi based monitor (costing near $1K), it is truly amazing. I wouldnt recommend using triple head because the 3rd ramdac is kind of weak compared to the first 2 (on caliber with a G400). Pricewise, I think if they put it around the $200 range, it would sell a lot better and be more appealing. CAD workstations here usually use Quadro or FireGL cards, and frankly, for the work we're doing , a Parhelia would beat a low end Quadro card.

We dont use the giga color and only sometimes 3d features (if its 3d than its adv 3d). That and the IT dept here wont touch a regular geforce card unless its with a 20 foot pole due to irregularities in 2d quality amoung the different vendors (although there are some OEMs who stand out amoung the geforce crowd).

For home use, it is rather pointless. Rarely do people at home have godly monitors or have a need beyond dual head. If you get a good 2d geforce4 card, it is nearly impossible to tell the difference in 2d with an average monitor ($150 for 17" $250 for 19") at 1024x768. It was quite a disappointment to see the 3d performance perform so poorly.

 

[SupermanCK]

i would probably buy it at 150 if it come with 3 identical monitors...🙂

 

[Rand]

Originally posted by: SupermanCK
i would probably buy it at 150 if it come with 3 identical monitors...🙂

I would buy an S3 Virge if it came with 3 decent monitors 😛

 

[dpopiz]

🙁 poor matrox...I feel so sorry for them: they used to be a good company
I remember about 4 years ago when I got g400 marvel for $280: that was an amazing card

MATROX WE STILL LOVE YOU BUT YOU'VE GOT TO WORK HARDER IF YOU WANT TO COMPETE!!! DON'T GIVE UP!

 

[IgoByte]

Originally posted by: dpopiz
🙁 poor matrox...I feel so sorry for them: they used to be a good company
I remember about 4 years ago when I got g400 marvel for $280: that was an amazing card

MATROX WE STILL LOVE YOU BUT YOU'VE GOT TO WORK HARDER IF YOU WANT TO COMPETE!!! DON'T GIVE UP!

I remember [about the same time] the G400 Max. Awesome card at the time.

 

[eplebnista]

~$100

 

[Gumby16]

~$150. The 2D work for something like AutoCAD, which I use, would be great. But I can't tell the difference between cards, so it's not really a big deal. And triple-head gaming? Who has room for 3 monitors? I love my single 17" CRT and that's plenty of room to see all my games. I would rather spend the $30 extra and get a Ti4400. My little GF2 MX200 just isn't gonna keep up with newer games.