What's a really fine vido card allowing 2 monitors

[eviltoon]

Looking into ugrading my GeForce 2 GTs. I want to go for a big improvement for the demanding games. But I need a second monitor for all my graphics work. I can't bring myself to buy a Matrox because I don't want to loose the edge on gaming. Anyone have any thoughts? TheyGeForce 4's don't allow for two monitors do they?

 

[Electric Amish]

<< Looking into ugrading my GeForce 2 GTs. I want to go for a big improvement for the demanding games. But I need a second monitor for all my graphics work. I can't bring myself to buy a Matrox because I don't want to loose the edge on gaming. Anyone have any thoughts? TheyGeForce 4's don't allow for two monitors do they? >>



Hang on for a couple Months. Matrox Parhelia will be here kicking Geforce ass and giving you that sweet, sweet multi-head action!

amish

 

[eviltoon]

You mean the Matrox Parhelia might actually be a reality.!? I haven't been following Video cards much lately...being so pleased with my diehard GTS.

Matrox getting back into the high end market again. Thought that would never happen. I remember when my Matrox G200 was the greatest thing on the planet. You think this card will really make a go at running games. I didn't think Matrox gave a rats @ss about gamers?

 

[Electric Amish]

The announcement will be May 14, 2002. The card will be available a-2 months thereafter.

amish

 

[krazykilroy]

GeForce 4 Ti 4600's all have dual monitor outputs. Although one is digital, so you'll have to get an adapter for it. the other is plain ol' VGA

most Ti 4400's have it too.

 

[Peter]

Practically all the ATi Radeon 7500LE, 7500, 8500LE, 8500 cards have dual monitor support (one VGA and one DVI-I) too.

DVI-I btw allows using a simple adapter to connect a VGA CRT as well.

regards, Peter

 

[rudder]

radeon 8500.

Comparable to the gf3 ti500 in gaming, plus excellent 2d. It also has hydravision. You can use 2 monitors and do a variety of things like display 2 different resolutions. does a lot more but thats what i use mine for. Plus the price is dropping like mad on these. I picked up a retail ati 64 meg for $104. (plus the card comes with an adapter for dvi to use a second monitor).

 

[eviltoon]

Rudder, you make the Radeon 8500 look pretty good. Pretty much just what I was looking for. I can get it up here in Canada for a pretty good price too. Gee, I don't want to start a flame war, but you say "Comparable to the gf3 ti500 in gaming"? I'd like to believe that but ....Didn't this card disappoint with its 3d acceleration abilities? Anyway, sure would like to be proven wrong here.

Looks good, and I'm sure it's better than my current Geforce 2 GTS

Thanks to all who responded. I wasn't aware that digital out meant that I could hook up a second monitor.

ps...anyone have an inkling of what the Matrox Parhelia will be starting at price wise?

 

[Rand]

<< Gee, I don't want to start a flame war, but you say "Comparable to the gf3 ti500 in gaming"? I'd like to believe that but ....Didn't this card disappoint with its 3d acceleration abilities? Anyway, sure would like to be proven wrong here.

>>



Depends what you consider a disappointment, the original drivers were quite poor but they've imporved tremendously since then. The R8500's 3D feature set is certainly superior to that of the GF3, and it'll likely outperform the Ti500 in future games owing to it's better T&L performance. That said, in current games I'd probably put the R8500 as being slightly slower then the Ti500, though definitely faster then the Ti200.

It's a nicely well rounded card, better 2D and FSAA image quality then nVidia can boast, along with a better 3D feature set, better DVD playback capabilities, excellent TV-Output quality, and you get HydraVision, and TV-Out by default.

The GF4's do allow for multimonitor output, and nVidia's multimonitor implementation has improved to the point wherein I'd consider it on-par with ATi implementation. The GF4 also offers superior 3D performance over the R8500. In most other respects the R8500 is better though, and it's certainly a more well rounded card.

The GF4 Ti4200 looks like it should be available in late May for prices around $200.
The R8500 of course is already available in numerous variations, with pricing as low $105 for the R8500LE/64MB. $125 for the R8500LE/128MB, and $140-145 for the R8500. The All In Wonder R8500DV is available at $230-250.

The price on the R8500 seems to be dropping rapidly though.
Either way, GF4 or R8500... both are nice cards and have their advantages depending upon what your looking for.

 

[rudder]

[Rudder, you make the Radeon 8500 look pretty good. Pretty much just what I was looking for. I can get it up here in Canada for a pretty good price too. Gee, I don't want to start a flame war, but you say "Comparable to the gf3 ti500 in gaming"? I'd like to believe that but ....Didn't this card disappoint with its 3d acceleration abilities? /i]

Well i have owned nvidia cards since the tnt and have always been satisfied with them. I am starting to do some more graphics work on my new job and decided to try the radeon. After being burnt by the ati rage fury, I was reluctant. But times have changed and so has ATI. They have been doing an excellent job of pumping out driver updates. The geforce3 ti500 edges out the 8500 in some benches, but if you look at price and features it is a great bang for the buck card.