a G400 sounds good.

[DataOrb]

my 2 years old PCI TNT (god, he was a brave little guy, holding a 110/125Mhz configuration on a 40Mhz PCI Bus) is going DEAD. ouuch...
anyway, I am on the market for a ~150$ Graphics card for my Computer.
now, first let me state, that I am NOT a gamer, no way.
I play SOME games, but only in a light method.
anyhow, I need a new graphics card for Mostly Photoshop 2D work, some minor Lightwave work and some CAD work (ok... you broke me, and some games too! ).
And my first choice is the Matrox G400 (not Max) 32Mb SGRAM (Not Dual Head, my 2nd. monitor is connected to my 2nd. computer!).
anyway, I am intrested, as my Celeron 533Mhz is now clocked at 680Mhz, and I wonder what 3D results I would get from the G400.
as Long as Quake 3, 800X600 32bit is running with 30fps, I am a happy camper!
anyway, so I hear the G400 Level of preformance on NON SEE/3D-now! Processors (such as the Original, Golden, 'A' Version Celeron) is noot god.
in fact, (this is REALLY ODD), as I browse the MadOnion 3D Mark 2000 database to find G400 scores, I find that a 533Mhz Celeron gets less then 1500 3D Marks.
that's very funny, my PCI RivaTNT scores me a socre of ~1600 3D Marks on my system, when my CPU is NOT overclocked (533Mhz).
any ideas?
thanks.
and any advice is welcomed.

------------------
DataOrb
Workstation Specs:
ASUS P3B-F
Gyro 300W Power Supply
Celeron@680Mhz
160mb PC100 7/8ns Ram
IBM 34GXP Pluto HDD
CL SBlive! Digital.
Aopen X48 Cd Rom
Hp Cd Writer Plus 7200S
3Com 10/100 NIC.
Tevel Cable Modem

[This message has been edited by DataOrb (edited 20 June 2000).]

[Barmaleus]

Hi, DataOrb...

Hmmmmm...i'm surprised no one answered you yet...odd

Anyway, here's my experience with the G400 (my specs are in my signature)
1. 2D is just great (well, anyone could have told you that...) fast as hell and crystal clear...and the colors are just beautiful...when i first started my computer with the new card i was blown away...black was never black on my monitor but some kind of dark-greenish shade...now it looks so good that i don't use a wallpaper anymore...just black background...

2. 3D speed is, from my experience, on par with TNT2Pros...even ultras if you are lucky and can overclock your card to MAX settings...as for quality is above them...
Here are some figures i got with my PIII@495 and the default ICD (no TurboGL, as you said your Celly is the first generation and doesn't support SSE extensions):
QUAKE3 800x600 HQ 42,4 fps
the same but with bilinear filtering 50,1 fps ...as you see trilinear filtering takes its toll as is done for real and not faked like in the TNTs...that's with 32 bit everything, naturally...with some tweaks and your Celly@680 i guess you could average around 60 or more fps...pleased?

In UNREAL TOURNAMENT, with 16 bots, at 800x600 and 32 bit i average around 40+ fps (that's in D3D)

As for 3DMark2000 i got about 2265 from the default benchmark...with the new drivers i heard you get some 200 or more points, but i still use the 5.52s as i never had any problems with them...and i mean it...solid as a rock...and as i'm more of a gamer these synthetic benchmarks don't mean too much to me...hell, if my games play well, i don't care about some Xbenchmark score...

To sum it up, yes, the G400 is a great allround card and i sincerely recommend it to you...

Hope i helped...Bye




------------------
My system: PIII450@495,Abit BE6, 128Mb RAM,IBM 10 Gigger,OEM G400SH 16MB @ 135/180 (+7%), Hyundai 17" ,lots o' fans etc.

Oh yeah, PD5.52.015+TGL1.30+DX7.0A, all this on WIN98SE...

[DataOrb]

Barmaleus, thank you for replying to my post (thank god some one is still intersted in their G400!).
anyway, I am very happy with the Quake3 and UT scores, however, I worry that 3DM2K Still uses SSE optimization even without the Turbo-GL Drivers.
can you please run the Benchmark suite with "D3D Software Optimization" insted of "Intel PIII optimization"?
Thanks once more.
anyway, when I do play a game, what I do care above all is image quality. nothing more, nothing less. 30fps with a Kick ass image quality appel beeter to me then 60fps with an 'ok' image quality.
Oh... my TNT is REALLY going dead now, Tables are missing lines, and Windows SMEAR.
hehe... it's fun!
so, I have orderd the:
Matrox G400 32Mb SGRAM DH Card today, and I plan to OC to MAAAAAAAX level of preformace.

[Mindjammer]

I have a Celeron 366 overclocked to 550, and I get 1602 3D Marks. I have a 16MB single head G400. The thing with 3dmark 2000 is that it's highly CPU limited. I still get ~1600 3D Marks even when I overclock my G400. CPU matters much more than fillrate in this benchmark.

Overclocking wise, my G400 is stable at 154 core/205 memory with the standard heatsink (I haven't tried modifying it any.) The 2D is great, I have a 21" running at 1600x1200 81hz. With small fonts. (My monitor's "recommended" resolution is 1280x1024.) I run in 32 bit color, and dragging windows is snappy. There were tons of problems with old drivers, but they're all mostly fixed now.

[Barmaleus]

Damn modem connection...i've send the message twice...ooops

[This message has been edited by Barmaleus (edited 24 June 2000).]

[Barmaleus]

Hi again, DataOrb...

Always fun to help a friend...so here is the 3DMark2000 /D3d software T&L score : 2195
Yeah, i was surprised too, just a 70 points drop...i don't know what to say...

I agree with Mindjammer on the CPU dependant thingie...when my PIII was clocked at 450 i got about 1900 or something...

Wow, i must strap a kick a*s coler on my card as i see a card like mine (16 megger single head) can go over the MAX settings...even though i feel that the 30 degrees Celsius reported by the MBM in my case (that's about the temp i get in my room right now...it's hot like hell / 40C outside...wow) are the hindrance...anyway, that's not really a problem...

Oh, i tried another thing...in UT, with no bots and the same settings i get about 65 fps average...it seems like 16 "adept" bots eat a lot of processing power...

And regarding quality, i'm with you on this one...not really 30 fps wise, that's no good in Quake, but with my settings (800x600 HQ + max geometry but with bilinear filtering, no marks on walls, ejecting brass and dynamic lighting(no big difference) but hq sky i get about 55 fps and it looks bitching...the TurboGL thingie adds about 5 fps...

The upgrade i consider now is a 533 Celly2, hoping for 800Mhz, as i've seen the G400 scales nicely with it...and it's cheap too...

Oh, and a 32megger will do even better in benchmarks...obviously...

Have fun with it...bye...


------------------
My system: PIII450@495,Abit BE6, 128Mb RAM,IBM 10 Gigger,OEM G400SH 16MB @ 135/180 (+7%), Hyundai 17" ,lots o' fans etc.

Oh yeah, PD5.52.015+TGL1.30+DX7.0A, all this on WIN98SE...

[Maggi]

Welcome aboard, DataOrb !



Basically everything's already said about the G400, but I'd like to add that the DH option is really worth it, especially sinec you use Photohop !!!

Imagine having your pic in fullscreen for editing/retouching on your primary display while all your tool windows wait for you on secondary ...
Or you use the zoom option for pixel-precise editing your picture that is still in 100% on your 1600x1200 primary VGA ...

Believe me, I'm working lilke that since more than a year daily for ~8 hours ... now I can't afford to miss it anymore.



Now about performance in 3D Mark 2000 ...

I formerly used a Cel333A@500 MHz and had +1800 3D Marks
Now I upgraded to a Cel-II-566@952 MHz giving me 3340 3D Marks



Needless to say that I'm more than happy with my ~180 US-$ upgrade ...

For more actual 3D Marks scores visit my Fastest G400 thread

Cheers,
Maggi

[This message has been edited by Maggi@Home (edited 25 June 2000).]