Leaning Towards a G400 but ??

[Tacco]

Hi, new poster but I've been a fan of these forums for quite awhile. (Happy mystique user)

I've just bought a new monitor (LG 795FT - 17/.24) and I think its time to spend some money on a new card as the mystique is holding back the system (BP6 / O'c Cel 550 / 128MB) a little. My budget is also a little limited generally leaving me only the following three choices:

V3 2000
V770 TNT 2 (32Mb)
G400 (16Mb)

I'm leaning towards the G400 (mostly for the reported visual quality) but is this going to be the most bang for the buck - so to speak.

My current usage habits are mostly web oriented but include some programming, word processing, flight sims, racing sims (GP3 coming soon) and maybe some Unreal Tourni in the future.

I realise that the G400 may be a little harder to get working initially but am I setting myself up for none stop tweaking with the games and/or the desktop.

Don't get me wrong, I love tweaking - its one of my favorite pastimes but my wife would prefer a system that was stable :_)

Any opinions would be very much appreciated.



------------------
Steve "Crash" Roberts

[Tacco]

Me again, sorry I just reread my post and I didn't really mean to start a hardware comparison thread - which would be in bad form.

As I'm pretty much already decided on the G400, I guess what I'm really looking for is some hints on what should I be doing to make the transition easier.

IE some pointer to FAQs which might identify the standard hardships (if there are any in getting a G400 up to speed).

I probably won't receive the card for at least a week as they are pretty slim on the ground these days.

Thanks

[seven]

get a max if u can
i had no problems with mine untill i installed dx7a
i will put it simply ok
b 4 u rip out the old card set the vid drivers back to standard vga ok then power down pull out old card put in new card then install the drivers on the disc and see what u have got
if u have no problems get the newest drivers here from this site also the turbo opengl ones then go to gaming heaven ok
if u have any problems these guys here will be able to fix it
cya seven

[mj12]

I know the old adage about waiting for the next technology and you'll always be waiting. But, I would try and get some rumors on release date of next gen matrox card and then weigh the options of wether or not to buy now. Obviously if money is not an issue than by all means get a max. I have a friend with a voodoo2 who was going to make the next jump and he finally decided to wait until for the next matrox card. I'll shut up now

[Maggi]

Hi Tacco,

if you could add another few bucks and head for the G400 32MB DH Vanilla you'd be more than happy.

Anyway, how to change form Mystique to G400:

. boot into safe mode
. use the uninstaller (http://www.murc.ws/Driver/Win9x/PD5/un_513.zip)
. shutdown your computer (don't reboot)
. swap cards
. reboot
. enter your MoBo's BIOS and change Graphics Aperture Size to 256MB
. reboot and on prompt, point to the location where the latest PowerDesk is extracted to (http://www.murc.ws/Driver/Win9x/PD5/w9x_541.exe)
. reboot and install the TurboGL (http://www.murc.ws/Driver/Win9x/PD5/TurboGL/turboglv1.exe)

...

I think that's about it.



------------------
Cheers,
Maggi
________________________

Working Rig:
Asus P2B-DS @ 100MHz FSB
Double Pentium III-450
4 x 128MB CAS2 SDRAM
Matrox Millennium G400 32MB DualHead
Eye-Q 777 (22" with 127kHz) on primary VGA
Nokia 445Xi (21") on secondary VGA

Home Rig:
Asus P2B-S Bios 1010 @ 100MHz FSB
Celeron 333A @ 500MHz
2 x 128MB CAS2 SDRAM
Matrox Millennium G400 32MB DualHead @ 150/200MHz
CTX VL710T (17")
and a brand new Pioneer 303S SCSI-DVD

[Tacco]

Thanks for the advice,

I'm calling around today to get the best price and will try for the 32Mb.

I will be getting a 3D sound card later this week and I've heard that there are some compatability issues with some cards re (A3d), should I avoid these cards with a G400?

[RoGuE]

I've never had any problems setting up G400 cards. Nor have I had any incompatabilities with sound cards.

-----------------------
Chris.

[ALBPM]

Hi Gang,

Allstarshop.com has a bunch of G400's in stock. EVEN THE MAX!!!!!!!!!

G400 DH 32MB MAX $215.00 in stock

G400 DH 32MB Retail $195.00 in stock

G400 DH 32MB Bulk $157.00 in stock

G400 SH 32MB Bulk $144.00 in stock

G400 SH 16MB Bulk $103.00 in stock

Call them at 1-800-424-7188 or
http://www.allstarshop.com/

Paul

[ObiBen]

Hey Tacco,

If at all possible, purchase a G400 with the Dual Head feature. If possible, get the MAX. If you're into some sort of development, be it programming, desktop publishing, web development, or everything else under the sun, the DH helps a lot. I love it and would be devastated at going back to a single monitor setup.

Enjoy your new G400...it's a keeper.

------------------
Regards,

Ben

Config: AOPen AX6BC, P2 400@450, 128MB RAM, SB Live!, Netgear 10/100, Adapted 2940U2W SCSI adapter, Seagate Barracuda 4.3GB UW, Quantum Atlas III 9.1GB U2W, Yamaha 4416S writer, Pioneer 36X SCSI CD reader, STB Blackmagic V2 (SLI) - removed after new TurboGL, Matrox G400MAX,
Viewsonic PS790 and G773, Win98SE

[Tacco]

Well I've raced all over town and most everyone is sold-out of G400s. Just ordered a 32 Mb DH OEM for $249 - (Can$) best I could find. Unfortunately I can't spring another 100 or so for the Max.

Now that the card is on its way, my plan is to do a fresh install of Win98 (need to clean my drive and reformat to Fat32) and this should ensure that there are no driver conflicts.

seven & Maggi - thanks for the install comments, I'll keep a copy handy during the process.

mj12 - wish I could wait for new tech (I would if I had a V2 or better) but the Mystique is getting a bit tired and is holding up a bright gaming future.

ObiBen - I've decided on the DH more or less for the same reasoning and I would love a MAX but the extra $100 is destined for a printer/scanner upgrade.

Questions:

1. Thanks to RoGuE for the sound card comment, perhaps I'm mistaken but I thought I had read that some people are having conflicts with vortex/Mx300 cards? If I'm wrong I'll probably pick up an MX300 next week.

2. Are the latest drivers the best to go with or are some of the earlier versions better - read more stable/faster ect??

3. Are then any definite areas of conflict with any other hardware or software that I should be aware of??

4. Are there any linux users here, and how does the card perform in linux??

Gotta run, pizza's here



------------------
Steve "Crash" Roberts

[Aurel]

If you want to play games stick with Windows.
I had no problems with PD 5.41, so give it a try, and if you have problems go back to older drivers.

With the new TurboGL you might have problems (not the one that comes with 5.41) you being requiered to have 128 mb of RAM and to set the AGP aperture size to 256.

The conflicts might be with DirectX 7.0 and 7.0a.