Recommendations for a good, cheap 2D card?

[hhpwang]

i've got an old machine with a real3d starfighter 8mb agp card that can only run at 75Hz refresh rate at 1280x1024, and it's killin' my eyes! i need a very inexpensive but solid card that will display at 1280x1024 85Hz with nice clear 2D. i won't be playing games on this machine so 3D isn't an issue, and i also need to keep the cost down (not worth spending tons of money on this old clunker!). any suggestions?

 

[MustangSVT]

Try to get an older Matrox cards like M200? or if u dont play games those cheap o Rage pro cards will do fine, but beware that card is really REALLY BAD FOR GAMING.

 

[Angus]

cheap one............ATi xpert98 card (rage XL/pro chip), it has very good 2d and dvd hardware playback, but bad 3d though

 

[birddog]

if you can find an old intel 740 agp card (I think they came in 8 & 12 mb) you should be able to do it. They had some of the best 2D I've ever seen. At the time, 3D was best left to the Voodoo 2's in SLI.

 

[hhpwang]

thanks for the suggestions folks -- question: how does the memory size affect 2-D performance? is 8mb enough?

 

[kwango]

Hello hhpwang
2d wise, memory size mainly affects resolution and colour depth. 8 megs should be plenty enough for most monitors and should give you a max resolution of 1600*1200 in 32 bit.


regards MD

 

[hhpwang]

thanks kwango!

 

[hhpwang]

birddog,

unless i'm mistaken, my current real3d starfighter 8mb card is built around an intel 740, and it can't seem to muster 1280x1024 @85hz, so i'm guessing any card with that chip will have the same problems. is that right?