Gainward GF 2 MX 400 TwinView VIVO question

[Guest]

Just wondering if anyone has this card.. i have read a lot of reviews.. Just wondering if anyone has one and can give me their opinion on it.. how well does it run in win2k. also.. can it do tv out.. while maintaining desktop on the other monitors.. say.. for example.. I want to play a dvd/vcd out to tv.. can i keep my desktop and continue to work as its playing video out? if anyone has one.. let me know.. also.. where is a good place to get one.. good price..etc..

Thanks in advance..

Bullz

 

[Guest]

nobody owns one or knows someone who has one? cmon now..

 

[Guest]

i ordered one for a clients graphics machine. it will be here on thursday. i will be working on it and can let you know what i think over the weekend. send me a note as a reminder and ill post it here......

ignore everything i say

 

[Guest]

sounds good.. i appreciate your reply... where did you order it from.. and how much was it.. ? and I will definately want to know what you think..

 

[Guest]

i dont remember where i ordered it from....online somewhere. i have the slip at home (workin now). it cost me 148.00 plus shiping. get back to me this sunday and ill give you all the details....hopefully good ones.

ignore everything i say

 

[noko]

A Radeon 64 VIVO with 200mhz/200mhz core/mem (SE) can be had for $151 plus shipping, it has 400mhz DDR ram too. Seems like that is kinda high for a MX.

<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by noko on 07/03/01 04:52 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[Guest]

what im lookin at is.. dual monitor support.. as well as vivo.. and with specs that are close to a gts.. looks nice..

 

[noko]

OK now I understand. Thats the problem with the duel monitor setup cards is they are lacking in the performance department. Another option is to buy a performance card GF2 pro VIVO and above or Radeon 64 SE and a pci card for your duel monitors. Best of both worlds.

 

[Guest]

did you see this noko?

http://www6.tomshardware.com/graphic/01q2/010625/index.html



ignore everything i say

 

[Guest]

yah the card has some power to it.. its getting rave reviews everywhere.. imma wait and see what you say antivirus

 

[noko]

Yes, I've read it. The performance of the Radeon 64 particulary the newer 5.0ns DDR ram versions would perform much better. Except the Radeon 64 isn't DualHead. That is why I mention a pci card which can be bought pretty cheap now days. Don't get me wrong this is a nice card I just know the MX400 3d quality and 2d quality may not be the best and sometimes pretty lousy.

 

[Guest]

the problem with the radeon is i dont trust the ati drivers to run well in windows 2000. every machine ive put win 2k on that runs an Nvidia chip runs flawlessly. the two that i have attempted to use ATI chips with win 2k were nightmares. The machine im putting this twinview card in is a dual processor machine used to do web developement and graphics crunching, etc. The dual monitor is the whole point....rare gaming. Im sticking with the chip that has given me good performace. christ! Nvidia leaks new drivers every ten freakin days. ati on the other hand.......

not to nock the radeon cause i know its been a sweet card for many, many people. and im glad that Nvidia has some real competition (keeps prices low and quality high), but ATI has always left me with a sour taste in my mouth from way back.

ignore everything i say

 

[noko]

In the last 3 months ATI has been out doing Nvidia in driver leaks by a large margin. ATI drivers in W2K are very good. That is what I used 90% of the time including gaming. If you are going to do high resolution 2d graphics then you need to check out this review of the Radeon 2d performance compared to a Matrox 450 performance. The Radeon crushed the Matrox 450 in 2d performance:

<A HREF="http://firingsquad.gamers.com/guides/2dperformance/" target="_new">http://firingsquad.gamers.com/guides/2dperformance/</A>

Operating system used: Windows 2000 Server, ACPI enabled, Production Environment

The Radeon is the only non professional card that uses a 10bit DAC vice a 8bit one that tremendously enhances color which many people have discribe over and over again the better color of the Radeon in 2d, Video, DVD and 3d.

The Nvidia cards rountinely been noted for poor 2d quality or less then optimum. Plus the variations between the manufacuturers for 2d quality is also been noted.

Recommend you read the above article, looks like FireingSquad will continue their investigation of 2d in future articles.

 

[Guest]

so get a chance to check out the card in that clients system antivirus?

 

[Guest]

im sorry to tell you that its hasnt come yet.....wonderful UPS. well, i guess they do the best they can. hate to have anyone wait around for me to test something.....gotta be some other reviews on the web. of course, once it comes in and i install it, etc. i'd be happy to let people know how it worked out.......

ignore everything i say

 

[Guest]

sounds like my probs that i had this week w/fedex.. ;/

 

[Guest]

any word?

 

[Guest]

yeah, thanks for reminding me, Bullz! Got the card monday and set to work reformating the system, which is: Tyan tiger 100 rev. f dual PIII 550's, 512 mb pc100, two 20 mb hdd, sound blaster ensonique 128 (the client uses another machine for digital recording and gaming), and the Gainward twinview geforce 2 mx400. I loaded the operating system which is win 2k with all the updates and service pack 2. after loading the other drivers and such, i loaded the drivers for the graphics card.....perfect installation (whew!). after setting the resolution on my desktop, i entered the display properties and set it for twin view. DAMN! thats hot! works perfectly with four freakin modes! Clone, Horizontal Span and Vertical Span and standard. oh wow.....

Anyway, you can, as the display types above indicate, set this badass to view two completely different images on each monitor, stretch the image across both monitors horizontally or vertically, and you can clone the same image on both monitors.

In addition, you can set the other 'out' in twinview to be a television, which is very cool. I didnt set this up yet, but it very clearly indicates it is do-able in the manual. Of course, i can only say its possible, since i havent had a chance to run that yet.......dont yell at me if its limited. The card also supports video in and can record in Mpeg2......jesus!

As far as benchmarks, I cant top Toms work there. hes got em all, and from what ive seen so far, his estimates are right on. this sucker flies! For graphics work, this card is a serious advantage, and at an incredible price. I havent tested it with games, but i dont expect many to be capable of supporting dual monitors. but this card seems plenty fast, and one monitor is all the guy wants for gaming anyway.

Too bad i have to give this puppy up[ to the client in a couple days....Its always hard to part with the ones i make. but this one is REAL tough to give up. The tyan tiger 100 is unbelievably stable and windows 2000 with service pack 2 seems to be refreshingly stable and speedy for Microsoft. well, maybe i could say i never got around to the job.........

Let me know if anybody has any specific questions before i turn this rig over to its new owner.

ignore everything i say

 

[Guest]

sweet..

Thanks again..

Bullz

 

[noko]

Sounds like a winner to me. Good choice for you.

 

[Gog]

I set up a tiger 200 (onboard RAID and LAN added) recently and thought it was an excellent card. Cheers for the info on the Gainward Card, it's one I've considered for the next bought of system upgrades.

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Look at the size of that thing!

 

[Guest]

im gonna prob get one next week..