Best Fanless / Passive 2D Card (on a Budget)

freshjuice · Post by **freshjuice** » Thu Jun 02, 2005 8:03 am

I'm doing a downgrade / verticalgrade from a gaming-type card. No gaming these days. Mostly desktop stuff -- Desktop Publishing/MSOffice/Quark/Photoshop work.

I know most of the older cards are passive. I'm just trying to figure out which budget-end cards are best now-a-days for basic 2D applications (i.e. font clarity, lower eyestrain etc.)? I want it to still run speedy...but don't really need 3D anymore.

Oh ... and I'm looking AGP. Running a Neo2 mobo with athlon 64 3000+ 1GB ram. I have 19" LCD.

Thanks!

m0002a · Post by **m0002a** » Thu Jun 02, 2005 8:20 am

This is a fairly decent card with 256 MB memory.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814121524

There are also other manuafacturs using the same GPU, and they also make 128 MB versions, however, if you want high resolution with 32 bit color, I would consider the 256 MB versions.

perplex · Post by **perplex** » Thu Jun 02, 2005 8:26 am

i'm in the same boat as you. i've heard matrox is best for 2D

dan · Post by **dan** » Thu Jun 02, 2005 8:37 am

g450 works for me

Post by **Ralf Hutter** » Thu Jun 02, 2005 10:11 am

I like the ATi 9250 cards. Here's a selection from Newegg.

lm · Post by lm » Thu Jun 02, 2005 10:13 am

I'm running matrox g550 for my dual 19" CRTs and imo it's about perfect for 2D usage.

perplex · Post by **perplex** » Thu Jun 02, 2005 10:36 am

is there anyway to show someone not using a matrox the difference between normal 2d image quality on something like a geforce 2 compared to G550? i'm going to buy a g550 and wouldnt mind seeing the difference before i get it?

nici · Post by **nici** » Thu Jun 02, 2005 10:51 am

Someone who apparently had experience with both, said in another thread that matrox is better if using an analog monitor and with that obviously the analog output of the card, but with digital output the difference wasnt noticeable. Its a recent thread, cant remember the title and too tired and lazy to check

So with an lcd with dvi-connector it shouldnt matter, but on a tube the difference is noticeble. If your thinking about 2D quality, or image quality in general, you wont get a lcd with analog input only anyway. Might be worth some more research though, read some reviews on Matrox cards at least.

rei · Post by **rei** » Thu Jun 02, 2005 1:24 pm

Personally, I'm leery about lack of driver/software support from Matrox though, who seem to be exiting the industry.

freshjuice · Post by **freshjuice** » Thu Jun 02, 2005 5:14 pm

Thanks for the many replies so far.

I've head a lot of good things about Matrox and 2D. As I'm going to stick with my LCD, I probably wouldn't get much benefit from it.

A9250--not familiar with this. Is it known for 2D clarity? How does it compare with, say, a 9550?

rei · Post by **rei** » Thu Jun 02, 2005 9:54 pm

matrox's living far too long on its reputation as they're a husk of their former selves. most of their top engineers, talent and staff have moved to ATI as matrox has become gutted.

rei · Post by **rei** » Thu Jun 02, 2005 9:55 pm

i personally would recommend getting a low-mid-end BBA Radeon card of some sort. BBA meaning built by ati.

i rma-ed my 9700 pro all in wonder on friday and got a replacement 9800 pro all in wonder on the very next wednesday.

jensend · Post by **jensend** » Sat Jun 04, 2005 1:02 pm

I have a AGP2x (3.3V) G400 16MB (2x VGA out) which I could sell for shipping+a song- if somebody happens to still have a 3.3V compatible mobo it's a very nice 2d card. It's been sitting in a box for three years (ever since I got a 1.5/0.8V only mobo).

m0002a, there's pretty much no way you can use anywhere near 128MB for 2D, let alone 256MB. 16MB is fine for 1600x1200, while 32MB is plenty for any 2D work for which you can use a regular graphics card- see http://dansdata.com/gz014.htm.

derekva · Post by **derekva** » Thu Jun 09, 2005 8:44 am

I've got a Matrox G450 dualhead AGP card in my office system with a PCI Matrox G450 (in the event that I decide to do triple monitors) and it is just about perfect for anything non-gaming related. Used to have an ATI 9600 Pro in the machine and I swapped out for better 2D quality.

Here's a comparison of some of the various Matrox cards offered: http://matrox.com/mga/products/comp_cha ... rhelia.cfm. The P650 seems like the highest-performing passive card they offer.

-Derek

benx · Post by **benx** » Thu Jun 09, 2005 9:27 am

on maxtor carts you only see difference in 2D when you use a CTR screen. now with the DVI carts 2D is almost the same on most carts, cant recommand cheap ass carts but the R9200 is fanless and it runs quake2:)

Best Fanless / Passive 2D Card (on a Budget)

Best Fanless / Passive 2D Card (on a Budget)

Matrox rules the roost for 2D