What PCI Express dual-DVI card to buy for non-gaming/graphics use?

[Kaare Digernes]

I'm putting together a system based on an HP xw4200 workstation and two
HP L1955 TFT DVI monitors and am looking for recommendations on a
suitable graphics card.

The xw4200 has a PCI Express (x16) graphics slot (plus two PCI Express
(x1) slots) and I'd like to find a suitable graphics card for it. I'm
not into gaming or heavy graphics use, in fact I'll primarily use this
system for development work (primarily in Windows XP, with Linux now and
then) doing a mix of console and Java Swing applications. I figure a
decent 2D (or entry-level 3D) card should suffice. Furthermore, I would
prefer a card that has two DVI connectors (so I don't have to use VGA
adapters) and that is reasonably quiet.

The ones I have been looking at so far are the XFX GeForce 6600 GT, the
PowerColor RADEON X800 XL, and the ATI FireGL V3200. All are, as far as
I can tell, overkill for my use. The XFX card is also reportedly
quite noisy (but perhaps it can be modified to use a quieter fan?).

If you can recommend any cards I should consider, or have any pointers
to good resources, I'd greatly appreciate it!

Thanks,

-Kaare

 

[Michael David Garrison]

Hi,

Two questions:

1. If you're not planning on any gaming/graphics-intensive use, wouldn't
*any* PCIe card be overkill? (You might find that a PCI card gives you the
same responsiveness, and at a much cheaper price).

2. Given identical monitors, is there likely to be a noticeable difference
between one that's driven across DVI and one that's driven across VGA? If
not, then something along the lines of a Radeon 9250 might be a good choice.

The Pine GeForce 6600 is also something to look at -- PCIe, dual-DVI, and at
$130, you don't have to cut back to 2 meals a day.

Good Luck!

 

[Kaare Digernes]

1. If you're not planning on any gaming/graphics-intensive use, wouldn't
*any* PCIe card be overkill? (You might find that a PCI card gives you the
same responsiveness, and at a much cheaper price).

That's a good point. I figured that the price difference between a good
2D card and a decent 3D card (with good 2D performance) would be nominal
and that the 3D performance would benefit from PCIe. Just in case I
should break down and play an occasional game. ;-) I'll see what PCI
cards are out there. Thanks for the tip!

2. Given identical monitors, is there likely to be a noticeable difference
between one that's driven across DVI and one that's driven across VGA? If
not, then something along the lines of a Radeon 9250 might be a good choice.

The reason is that I read a review where the reviewer commented on some
ghosting on the HP monitor when used with a VGA adapter so I thought I'd
eliminate the risk altogether. I don't think the performance itself will
be affected at all.

The Pine GeForce 6600 is also something to look at -- PCIe, dual-DVI, and at
$130, you don't have to cut back to 2 meals a day.

Hmm, I tried finding this card, but all I could find was the 256 MB
version and it still had DVI+VGA and not DVI+DVI. And at a slightly
higher price ($140-150, no big deal). Do you remember where you saw it?
I checked the Pine/XFX web site and the picture and the description
leads me to believe it's a DVI+VGA card. I hope I'm wrong, because this
sounds like it could fit the bill nicely!

Thanks for your help, Michael, I appreciate it!

-Kaare

 

[Michael David Garrison]

Hey,

This looks like the link to Pine Technologies' graphics cards (they list
several as being dual-DVI): http://www.xfxforce.com/products.php

(It looks like the model number PVT43GNDF7 -- a Geforce 6600GT model -- is
their lowest dual-DVI model... and I have just accomplished the boggling
feat of telling you what you already knew per your first post -- a lot of
good I'm doing, lol!)

I found that GeForce6600 card by going to Pricescan.com and doing a search
on graphics adapters (Mfr = Pine, Bus Type = PCI Exp). Pricescan said that
it's dual-DVI, but that disagrees with what the manufacturer says.

For what it's worth, I'm running a dual-monitor setup, though with different
monitors; and like you, I'm not that big into 3D graphics. However, it's
nice to have the speed if I want it later, and the card I chose -- an AIW
X600 Pro -- wasn't horribly expensive (and I need to lose a little weight
anyway!)

Good luck getting your rig set up!

 

[Stuart]

This one may be of interest to you:
Mfg spec
http://www.pny.com/products/quadro/nvs/280Nvsagp.asp
One source
http://www.atacom.com/program/print...RCH_ALL&Item_code=VIDR_PNYX_PC_51&USER_ID=www
Note that dual DVD-I cable is approx $50 extra

 

[J. Clarke]

This one may be of interest to you:
Mfg spec
http://www.pny.com/products/quadro/nvs/280Nvsagp.asp

Now just how is he going to put that in his HP workstation that has no AGP
slot?

One source

http://www.atacom.com/program/print...RCH_ALL&Item_code=VIDR_PNYX_PC_51&USER_ID=www

Which raises the price of that board to the same range as a PCI-Express
6600GT.

The OP might want to go over to Newegg and select "Video Cards" off the
"shop for" menu and then "2" under Ports-DVI and that will give him an idea
of what's available. Lots of PCI Express 6600-family boards in the 200-250
price range.

 

[Kaare Digernes]

The OP might want to go over to Newegg and select "Video Cards" off the
"shop for" menu and then "2" under Ports-DVI and that will give him an idea
of what's available. Lots of PCI Express 6600-family boards in the 200-250
price range.

That's a good idea and I actually did that before the original post. The
search resulted in 3 cards which are about $300 or less:

1. PNY nVIDIA GeForce 6600GT (OEM $196 or retail $205)
2. ATI FireGL V3200 (OEM $295 or retail $303)
3. XFX nVIDIA GeForce 6600GT (retail $188, not in stock)

The XFX card has some good reviews, but I've also read complaints about
it being noisy hence my concern in the original post. The ATI card seems
like my best bet for now, but it's pricier than the XFX.

Searching for "2 DVI" and "PCI" yields only one result, the PNY nVIDIA
Quadro FX600, which is priced at $619.50 (too much).

At this point I'm tempted to try the XFX card. If it's too noisy I'll
just return it and get the ATI card.

Thanks for your input, guys, it's greatly appreciated!

-Kaare

 

[Bob Niland]

1. PNY nVIDIA GeForce 6600GT (OEM $196 or retail $205)
2. ATI FireGL V3200 (OEM $295 or retail $303)
3. XFX nVIDIA GeForce 6600GT (retail $188, not in stock)

Matrox is supposed to have a PCIe Parhelia out soon,
but it appears that it will be ~$350 street, and
includes features, capabilities and software that
may not be a match for what the OP wants.

It surely will meet the "non-gaming" requirement

Some details at:
<http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/video/display/20041212020043.html>

My guess would be that as PCIe becomes pervasive, Matrox
will port some of their lower-price G- and/or P-series
graphics to lower-price PCIe cards. I'd guess we'll not
see anything cheap from Matrox until late Q2/05 at the earliest.

 

[Stuart]

Now just how is he going to put that in his HP workstation that has no AGP
slot?

You are correct. I gave the link for the agp rarther than the PCIe version specs but the source link was for PCIe