Video Card: Powercolor

8
Posted By
86
Sep 18, 2003
Views
514
Replies
4
Status
Closed
I’ve always used Matrox cards, now updating one of my systems, supplier wants to put in a Powercolor 128MB Radeon 9800 SE DVI/TV OUT card
instead of the Matrox G550 I requested.

Anyone had any experience with this Powercolor Radeon card?

(I’m a strong believer in "When you’re onto a good thing stick to it" philosophy however my supplier INSISTS on at least trying this card so I wish to give him the benefit of the doubt unless I get strong negative feed back about it.)

It’s to go with a:
Gigabyte 81K1100 INTEL875P, 800FSB, DUL CHL 6DDR400, SATA, IEEE, RAID, 8X, AC97 board; Intel Pentium 4C 3.0GHz 800MHz FSB w/512KB Cache, HT processor in case that has any bearing on how the cards perform.

Thanks

Edit: just realised the latest video card enquiry is immediately below mine. Please note my enquiry is brand specific.

How to Master Sharpening in Photoshop

Give your photos a professional finish with sharpening in Photoshop. Learn to enhance details, create contrast, and prepare your images for print, web, and social media.

Y
YrbkMgr
Sep 18, 2003
86,

I doubt that you’ll find many "negative" reviews of the card in this forum. The card is overkill for photoshop, but a great gaming card. It’s manufactured in Taiwan and uses ATI technologies.

There’s a review on it here:

<http://www.hardocp.com/article.html?art=NDgz>

So the REAL question is whether you are a gamer. If you are, continue your search for information, if not, then well, nice card, but I’d put extra dough into disk space – but that’s me.

Peace,
Tony
8
86
Sep 18, 2003
Thanks Tony

I’m definately not a gamer, however the only reason my supplier wants me to go with this card is that not only is it cheaper than the G550, he insists it is the same if not better than the G550!

Oh well, I guess I’ll go with it.

Thanks
86
DP
Daryl Pritchard
Sep 19, 2003
86,

I think I’d find myself another supplier if that was an option. A quick search on Pricewatch for the very Powercolor card you specify shows it to be about DOUBLE the price of a G550. I’d not consider the 9800 any better for 2D imaging purposes than a G550, but it would definitely excel at 3D gaming and, I presume, any sort of 3D graphics use. If the supplier is truly taking your needs into consideration and recommending the best hardware to meet them while keeping cost under control, they would’ve recommended the G550. I’d question whether or not the supplier is just making extra profit on the 9800 as I supect to be the case.

Hmmmm…I overlooked your note about the supplier suggesting you at least try out the 9800. Sure, if he’ll give you both cards to compare, then why not. Maybe he does know something about the 9800 to favor it. Honestly, I don’t, and I’ve never used the G550 either but have been happy with the G450 Dual Head cards on our systems where I work. Whichever card you choose, don’t let the supplier charge you more than $110-130 for the Matrox G550 and no more than $230-250 for the Powercolor card.

The system you’re buying sounds pretty darn nice and the hardware configuration generally shouldn’t affect how the video card performs. But that is a "shouldn’t" and not a "won’t". Some time ago I was building a list of parts for my "dream system", and that was inclusive of a Gigabyte 8INXP (I think) board and ATI Radeon 9700 at the time. While I don’t recall what they were, I vaguely reading somewhere of some compatibility issues being mentioned between those two devices. I think that was in some Gigabyte user forum where I came upon the information. So, I’d suggest you just do a bit of web research about the components you buy before committing to any. Of course, a good supplier should also take care of you after the sale, should any sort of conflicts arise. I just try to avoid any from the start.

My 2 cents,

Daryl
Y
YrbkMgr
Sep 19, 2003
I didn’t even think about the pricing issue. Good catch Daryl.

Master Retouching Hair

Learn how to rescue details, remove flyaways, add volume, and enhance the definition of hair in any photo. We break down every tool and technique in Photoshop to get picture-perfect hair, every time.

Related Discussion Topics

Nice and short text about related topics in discussion sections