Recommendation for a good 2D video card

[Larc]

I'm planning to upgrade my system and will need a good PCI Express video card to
replace my Matrox P650. I'm not interested in anything that supports fast
gaming and 3D, but I do want high quality 2D at least on a par with my Matrox.

My system gets general use with some video editing and occasional graphics work
with Photoshop. I'm not looking for a professional grade video card, but for
something that will provide sharp text and graphics and have accurate color.

My present monitor is a 21" Viewsonic CRT, and I'd like a card that will support
that as well as a digital LCD that will replace the CRT later.

Either an ATI card or something such as a Sapphire with an ATI chip should work.
And a card that doesn't have or need a fan is a definite must.

Thanks very much for your suggestions.

Larc



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[James]

I'm planning to upgrade my system and will need a good PCI Express video card to
replace my Matrox P650. I'm not interested in anything that supports fast
gaming and 3D, but I do want high quality 2D at least on a par with my Matrox.

My system gets general use with some video editing and occasional graphics work
with Photoshop. I'm not looking for a professional grade video card, but for
something that will provide sharp text and graphics and have accurate color.

My present monitor is a 21" Viewsonic CRT, and I'd like a card that will support
that as well as a digital LCD that will replace the CRT later.

Either an ATI card or something such as a Sapphire with an ATI chip should work.
And a card that doesn't have or need a fan is a definite must.

The need for a fanless card is a big limiting factor. The high end
cards all have GPUs which pretty much require a fan for cooling.

The highest end ATI based card that I saw at Tigerdirect that does not
have a fan is an x1300 card. It has a VGA and DVI output, as well as S
Video. The x1300 is the low end of the newest line, but with 512 MB of
Video RAM, it should be fine with any photshop type work.

http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1892525&CatId=0

James

 

[Frodo]

I doubt you will find a card that can match a Matrox for 2D.
Why not get another Matrox.
On the ATI GPU stuff, I perfer the HIS brand over the Sapphire.
Over at newegg it looked like Sapphire was having higher then normal returns
on their cards.

 

[Larc]

| I doubt you will find a card that can match a Matrox for 2D.
| Why not get another Matrox.

Because the lowest priced Matrox PCI Express card is nearly $300!

| On the ATI GPU stuff, I perfer the HIS brand over the Sapphire.
| Over at newegg it looked like Sapphire was having higher then normal returns
| on their cards.

Thanks. I'll check out the HIS line.

Larc



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[Larc]

| The need for a fanless card is a big limiting factor. The high end
| cards all have GPUs which pretty much require a fan for cooling.
|
| The highest end ATI based card that I saw at Tigerdirect that does not
| have a fan is an x1300 card. It has a VGA and DVI output, as well as S
| Video. The x1300 is the low end of the newest line, but with 512 MB of
| Video RAM, it should be fine with any photshop type work.

Thanks for that. I started to leave the Photoshop part out because I really
don't do a lot with that. I'm certainly not looking for the "perfect" card for
Photoshop. The Matrox 650 I'm using now has only 64MB and does as good a job as
I care about.

But I'll definitely check out the x1300 line.

Larc



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[Barry Watzman]

There are really no 2D-only PCIx cards. Anything new enough to be PCIx
is going to be 3D.

However, eVGA's 7600GS is fanless and is actually a very strong card (3D
as well as 2D) and is highly recommended.

 

[Barry Watzman]

Photoshop is not a demanding application.