On 7 Sep 99, at 4:54, Brad Boutwell wrote:

> My brother is now getting into photography, and is scanning, editing and
> printing photos.  What is a better 2D card for him?  Somthing along the
> lines of a Matrox G400?  Or an ATI multi-card.  (So far video input not a
> concern.)
>
> ******************************
>
> As a designer and an avid gamer myself, I chose a Matrox G400 MAX.  I use 2
> monitors (21" and 19") and this one card pushes them both (1800x15xx and
> 1280x1024).  It does has some speed issues with open gl, but those will
> hopefully be taken care of in drivers.  As for Direct 3D, it is currently
> the fastest and best-looking hi-res (read at/above 1024x768) on the market.

  Matrox has generally been slightly disappointing on 3D, but superb on 2D.
Since what he needs is 2D, I'd recommend Matrox.

> The new Nvidia card was mentioned in another reply.  IT has now been named
> the GeForce 256 and looks very promising, however, it will not be out for
> 2-3 more months (possibly earlier), so if he needs a card now (and
> especially if he uses 2 monitors), I would highly recommend the G400 line...

  Preliminary reports on the GeForce 256 indicate that it takes off-loading
3D effort from the CPU to a new level.  It's not obvious that this will
provide any benefit in 2D, so I don't think it would help any.


David G

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