What is the best PCIe card for a NON-GAMER?

[cleeve]

Did I say I am worried about GAMING performance anywhere? I don't think I did, but if I did it is a mistake. She only needs a video card for watching movies, writing documents, internet etc. No 3d games will be played.

You said you heard the 6600 performs "better" than the X1300, that's the only reason I mentioned it.

The area it performs better in would be gaming, so I thought you knew what capacity it was "better" in.

But if you didn't, no problem.

 

[cleeve]

I wish you success with your build.
Just be aware that there is a paucity of good advice about 2D.
The internet is way overbalanced in favor of 3D gamers.
So the majority of advice you receive will be WRONG.
And given to you by people you have NO ACTUAL EXPERIENCE with what they are saying.

I take a good measure of offense to this assumption.

When this fellow said he's not interested in gaming, we were all quick to let him know that a high end 3d card would be completely useless to him.

And, frankly, a Matrox card is too expensive to be the answer for the computer user who is simply writing text documents and watching DVDs.

Integrated video, or a low end X300 or 6200, would be better suited to that task. The RAMDACs on low-end Radeons and Geforces are better than they used to be, and the visual quality delta between the Matrox cards isn't so large that I'd advocate spending the extra scratch for someone who isn't working with images professionally - unless they're specifically interested in it.

 

[donnagual]

Well, I sat down with her and explained her options. Nice small case that will PROBABLY be OK for cooling (antec aria) or a big case that will be an OVERKILL in cooling (antec sonataII or P180).

She fell in love with the P180 case. I guess that's what it all comes down to right? Personal preference.

She is not really on a budget constraint at all. She wants a SOLID computer that will be stable, and cool.

So now that I know what case she wants that makes things pretty straightforward. I know I am going to put an Athlon 64 in there, so I think I will go with the 3500 venice.

And I think I will end up sticking with a socket 939 Asus nforce4 PCIe motherboard.

And at this moment, judging on price/performance I am looking at sticking a 6600 128mb in there. The 6200 are half the price, but still, for under $100, a 6600 doesn't seem like a bad choice to me.

Thanks again to everyone, you've all been a huge help!

 

[rkacton]

I am totaly confused. I am a non gamer and need a descent graphics card. When you say the x1300, are you speaking of the Radeon and what manufactureer are you talking about. HP, ATI, ETC.

 

[itotallybelieveyou]

onboard gfx is all you need

 

[jedimasterben]

Why has nobody mentioned that you can build a system on newer parts and be cheaper?

I built my friend an AM2 system with an X2 and he spent $300 total.

 

[skittle]

heck even integrated graphics arnt that bad with 3d.
My GMA950 could handle farcry, quakeIII, battlefront II (although not the space battles) and vista's aero interface.

Integrated graphics are the way to go.

 

[ryanthesav]

asus A8N-VM/CSM was a great little video integrated board when I had it.

 

[emp]

I'd say that the 8400GS or HD 2400 Pro would be an awesome choice for a non-gamer that plays videos on their PCs, after all, those cards were geared towards them not gamers and are only $45.

 

[curnel_D]

Has anyone realized that this thread was pulled up from 2k5? lol

 

[geotech]

curnel _d nice wits there, so much effort into something that does not even matter, but for the record:
BILLION colors=BS
Integrated graphics are fine

MOST monitor show no more than 16.4 million

 

[rolli59]

Nice! people recommending on a build built in 2005 already outdated.

 

[Endzone2]

Shazer 322 I have to completely agree with what you have said. I've been researching this for a while myself, and I am so frustrated with these young kids who are only gamers and don't know didly squat about video cards for 2D trying to give us advice about what a good video card is. Unfortunately the entire industry (except for Matrox) is trying to appeal to them. But what about the rest of us who only want good picture and text quality and couldn't care less about gaming?

Here's what I know so far.

1. My integrated video that came with my Asus P5GC/MX1333 motherboard was not very good.

2. Although the nVidia GeForce 8500 I installed was better is still is way inferior to an old Diamond G640 that is installed in an Pent II machine made in 1997. It displayed a crystal clear picture.

So, my advice to folks who only want good 2D is to NEVER install a nVidia PCI-Express card like the GeForce 8500, 8600 or 8800. They are garbage for 2D and only designed for gamers.

I've read that the Matrox G550 is very good, but not quite as good as the G450. Unfortunately the G450 only comes as an AGP board. I don't know about the Matrox G650, but if you are pleased with it, then I trust your opinion, but it is kind of pricey.

I have considered the Diamond ATI Radeon X800XL, but I hate to take advice from a gamer about that board.

That's my 2 cents. I still haven't decided on a card yet except that my current nVidia GeForce 8500 that paid almost 100 USD for has to go.

 

[V3NOM]

well that was a bit random.