AGP Graphics Card Recommendation

[InitialD]

I'm still stuck with a S478 Asus P4P800-X. Recently acquired the Pentium 4 3.4GHz Extreme Edition and now running rock steady at 3825 MHz with 3 GB of DDR memory running at 225MHz at 1:1 ratio. :biggrin:

I'm currentlty running with ATI Radeon 9550 AGP card driving my 20.5" Viewsonic LCD at 1680x1050.

Which AGP graphics card would have dual DVI outputs that is able to power both outputs at 1680x1050? I'm planning to get a 2nd 22" LCD monitor. I don't want something expensive since this is an old system and since I don't play games. Just something with a decent price and performance that would not be bottlenecked by the current CPU. Thanks.

 

[Gale]

JMHO I would not get another ATI card for myself

Your going to ask what I would get right:>))
I am not sure yet

 

[phecksel]

JMHO I would not get another ATI card for myself

Your going to ask what I would get right:>))
I am not sure yet

Wrong

Why not?

 

[Gale]

lol
I would rather not say, because someone always want to argue with me.

Do some checking around at other forums as well. Lots of info

 

[phecksel]

lol
I would rather not say, because someone always want to argue with me.

Do some checking around at other forums as well. Lots of info

I won't argue, LOL

I'm still using an onboard graphics card, and getting close to buying either CS2 or 3, thinking I may need a card.

 

[Nancy Elwood]

I have a Nvidia 7800 GS OC and all seems to work fine. It is my last upgrade for this one I have, end of year will upgrage with dual processors. I run NX, PE5 and Breeze Browser Pro.

Nancy

 

[mallaig]

I'd recommend an ATI if you used a CRT, since you're not ATI or NVIDIA will be fine for what you want. The image quality is virtually identical on both cards when used on DVI ports. An ATI X1650 can be had for around $120 with plenty of RAM and horsepower.

Here's a good selection of what's available. :wink:

Cheers.

 

[InitialD]

I'd recommend an ATI if you used a CRT, since you're not ATI or NVIDIA will be fine for what you want. The image quality is virtually identical on both cards when used on DVI ports. An ATI X1650 can be had for around $120 with plenty of RAM and horsepower.

Here's a good selection of what's available. :wink:

Cheers.

Thanks Tim for the suggestion and link. Yes, I had a look through most AGP card combinations and I think the only ones that would support dual DVI output is some of the ATI x1650 and the more expensive x1950 flavours and the NVidia 7900GS/7950GT cards.

I think the cheapest one amongst them is the x1650. Do you know if 128bit or 256bit makes a difference with the Socket 478/AGP architecture in 2D apps? Do you know if the x1650 would be too little for the Socket 478 to handle?

 

[InitialD]

I have a Nvidia 7800 GS OC and all seems to work fine. It is my last upgrade for this one I have, end of year will upgrage with dual processors. I run NX, PE5 and Breeze Browser Pro.

Nancy

Thanks Nancy. I run the same kind of apps you do mainly for PP work. Does your 7800 GS card come with 2 DVI outputs? So far the cards I'm seeing with 2 x DVI outputs are based on ATI x1650 and the more expensive x1950 flavours and the NVidia 7900GS/7950GT cards.

 

[mallaig]

Do you know if 128bit or 256bit makes a difference with the Socket 478/AGP architecture in 2D apps? Do you know if the x1650 would be too little for the Socket 478 to handle?

The bit size won't make much difference for 2D work.

I bought a X1600 Pro as an upgrade to the 9550 for my old P4 system a while ago. It didn't have two DVI ports but it certainly had enough bang to run anything I threw at it.

Cheers.

 

[Gale]

Get the very best video card you possible can
Reason I don't care for ATI, it does not like to always play nice with adobe and claibration, in some cases. So I will avoid it.
Photographers , graphic designers and the type need all the graphic intensive machine they can build. Get a video card with the most ram on it, and all the ram you can feed the machine,
Don't build for today, build for a few years down the line, if you get my drift.

 

[InitialD]

The bit size won't make much difference for 2D work.

I bought a X1600 Pro as an upgrade to the 9550 for my old P4 system a while ago. It didn't have two DVI ports but it certainly had enough bang to run anything I threw at it.

Cheers.

Great. Thanks for the info Tim. I'll look out for the x1650 in the local stores.

 

[InitialD]

Get the very best video card you possible can
Reason I don't care for ATI, it does not like to always play nice with adobe and claibration, in some cases. So I will avoid it.

I've heard a friend had incompatibility problems with the NVidia display properties and Adobe Lightroom. Not too sure if it's solved with the latest update.

Photographers , graphic designers and the type need all the graphic intensive machine they can build. Get a video card with the most ram on it, and all the ram you can feed the machine,
Don't build for today, build for a few years down the line, if you get my drift.

Yup, I agree with you there. The thing is this graphics card would just be an interim update for me. Long enough to last me until Quad Core becomes affordable.

The reason why I don't want to be getting the latest and greatest graphics card is simply because I don't want to be spending too much on an obselete Socket 478 platform. And I certainly don't want to be spending unnessarily when the performance of the GPU is bogged down by the CPU limitations. Buying just what feeds my needs at the moment.

 

[mallaig]

Great. Thanks for the info Tim. I'll look out for the x1650 in the local stores.

If you do get an ATI make sure you do a driver-only install. Stay clear of that abomination that is the Catalyst Control Center as it's likely to screw around with calibration and other things, not to mention it's a resource hog. Instead, install ATI Tray Tools. Much smaller footprint and much nicer to work with too.

If you have trouble downloading it I can send it to you vial email, it's only 1MB in size. The download servers can be quite busy.

Cheers.

 

[Nancy Elwood]

Thanks Nancy. I run the same kind of apps you do mainly for PP work. Does your 7800 GS card come with 2 DVI outputs? So far the cards I'm seeing with 2 x DVI outputs are based on ATI x1650 and the more expensive x1950 flavours and the NVidia 7900GS/7950GT cards.

No, mine is not dual DVI. I do not know whether I would spend a lot of money on a AGP card, for it really is old technology. I got that card about a year ago to hold me over till my upgrade to a new computer. Hope to do that later this year. I was waiting for the DX10 compatible cards to pan out.

cheers
nancy

 

[zzhangz]

some Nvidia Quadra provide dual DVI output.

 

[InitialD]

some Nvidia Quadra provide dual DVI output.

Yeah true, but the Quadro cards are feakin expensive.