graphics cards

BROWNERS · #1 (**permalink**) 05-16-2007, 11:20 PM

hi

i have heard about matrox g450 i beleive its called i was wondering if anyone had any views on the item. is there any cards i should avoid aor is there maybe a cheap descent standard type i should aim towards. I am on a budget and just starting out, trying to develop my pc to cope with the future demands of editing.

also what is the best way to run 2 monitors on the pc so i can spread the workload around a little better.

Mark W · #2 (**permalink**) 05-17-2007, 01:29 PM

So long as you use a newish card it doesnt really matter what you buy. I believe some fx are rendered faster in some packages - after effects and the newest premier, but the speedup is not huge ( i think).

As for monitors, 2 (or more) rules for editing. I currently use 4 and it rules, but 2 is miles better than one.

Most g cards can support 2 monitors, check when buying. If you want to get carried away like me keep an eye on e bay for an old pci quad head matrox, not 3 d but fine for everything except games.

I run the monitor I use for preview with a gforce 7400 (i think) as this takes some load off the cpus when previewing in the editor.

My order of importance for an editing set up (and i am no expert) would be...

1. Reliability - no overclocking or fancy tweaks.
2. A comfy chair - it's my second home.
3. Coffee, fags - I am weak.
4. 2 or more monitors - more space, faster better work.
5. A decent sound monitoring system - NOT just manky pc speakers. I use JBL control ones with a sub driven, by a decent hifi amp. Sound matters.
5. Fastest cpu you can afford - has to be dual core.
6. Fast drives - go for a really fast c drive (raptor), and a seperate fat drive for video.
7. RAM - the more you have the smoother things get, over 4 gig may be overkill.
8. More coffee.
9. Fast g card (i dont play games)
10. A mac -

BROWNERS · #3 (**permalink**) 05-17-2007, 05:03 PM

hello mark, whats deal with the pci quad head matrox. [i] have found one. what. What are its benefits over other graphics cards. the one i found is 128mb.

Mark W · #4 (**permalink**) 05-17-2007, 07:26 PM

If you only want 2 monitors then a decent modern card will do the job, and both screens will be 3d accelerated, cool for games.

If, however, like me, you dont play games and want loads of screens then the matrox is the biz. There is no way it can do anything fancy as it has no 3d acceleration but it works great for the desk top with non games apps.

Mine is only 32 meg and it works fine up to a screen res of 1600 x 1200 (X 3 or 4 screens). I guess the extra ram will mean higher res if you need it.

As I mentioned I run 3 screens of thge matrox and one with a pcix accelerated card - the matrox eats cpu cycles when showing compressed files or preview.

It was all really easy to set up too - default drivers in wiindows worked fine, it was plug and play.

My quad head card was 70 quid, dont pay much more.

You can get quad head 3d cards, thats what I really want, but thay cost lots and lots.