Hardware Central dogging out Parhelia

[SJRACER]

Ok, check this thread out.

http://discussions.hardwarecentral.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=131812

I still want a parhelia for myself, but can you all tell me how this card is performing?? Im just wondering. I have always liked the quality of the Matrox cards...because in my opinion their video quality is second to none. I have not checked this forum as much as I would have liked, but when I saw this thread over at Hardware Central, it agrivated me.

Just my 2 cents
SJRACER

[Afronaut]

Does this mean that the memebers here have to register and refute the opinions of the Hardwarecentral Forum? It is too funny. I's just a Video card, not the Mormon church you know.

[P5ycho]

Just let em think what they want to think. We are not matrox's PR rescue squad or something in that direction

[defaultuser]

What exactly is your problem with this thread?

I am utterly sick and tired of people defending this card by making excuses.

"It's not a gamer's card"

Really? That would explain all the new GAMING features of the card, a hat that Matrox has not tipped since they released the G400. As for the G400, who needed excuses? the G400 MAX was a gaming monster.

Even though the gaming market is supposedly a niche market, Matrox certainly didn't hesitate to market their G400 MAX to gamers whenever possible, and did exactly the same thing for the Parhelia.

"It's a professional card"

Right. The card can't even hold a candle to Nvidia's midrange GAMING card in ViewPerf, and when you pay more for the Quadro you get good 2D filters plus Quadro driver optimizations to trounce the competition even more.

"It outperforms other displays in high-resolution when using it's new FSAA vs their 4x"

Sure it does. But by the time you crank up the resolution to this point, most of the time the framerate drops far below 60fps. In other words, the feature is useless in this incarnation of the core, simply for lack of horsepower.

Remember when NEC talked up the PVR Second Generation? How it would have 4x Super-Sampling, and how it's amazing infinite planes technology would save us from overdraw hell?

When it was finally released, yes as-promised overdraw did not have an adverse effect betweeen games, but the card was limited to 800x600 if you wanted playable framerates. Uunfortunately, the miserly 64-bit memory interface meant 32-bit color was a loss, and the processor had such a pitiful fill rate that the promised FSAA was quietly forgotten.

These features didn't really benefit gamers until they doubled the fill rate and added a 128-bit SDR memory bus, and re-released it as the Kyro. But by then the steam had run out of NEC's marketing machine.

Technology that you can't back up is useless technology.

"It's powers three displays!"

So what you're saying is it's for people who have $1000+$400 to spend on 3 decent displays? For people who want 3D performance but don't care that it's lackluster for what they paid? You people haughtily declare that gamers are a niche market, but what I've just described is EVEN SMALLER A MARKET THAN GAMERS could ever be.

The same person could take that $1400 and spend it on a $600 professional card with dualhead that actually delivers performance, and still have $800 left over for a pair of even better monitors.

I AM A PROUD OWNER AND -still- USER OF MY MATROX G400 MAX. I'm staring at it's pristine 2D as I type this.

I am proud to say I don't own a Parhelia nor will I buy it in the current state of things.

Ye who think that Matrox can do no wrong should take a good look. The last time Matrox released something THIS BIG AND THIS HYPED we ALL ended up buying it.

Why do you continue to make excuses for a company that WE ALL KNOW PERSONALLY is capable of better?

[Kruzin]

Originally posted by defaultuser
I am utterly sick and tired of people defending this card by making excuses.

And I am utterly sick and tired of uninformed fps counters slamming the card, when in reality they have no idea what they are talking about.
I'm especially tired of goobers who register for these forums with no purpose other than to tell us how crappy the card is, and how anyone who bought the card is some ignorant twat who let him/herself get screwed.

[SJRACER]

Ok first of all Ant and Kruzin and all the other GOOD people here at this forum, I apologize for what I am about to say. This is exactly why I abandon this forum and dont post here very often, it seems that every time I post here, this sort of B.S. starts. I was simply asking everyones opinion of the card from those who own it. As for that thread, I dont appriciate people dogging out Matrox, I for one have owned

Matrox Millennium II PCI 8MB card....an AWSOME card

Matrox Millennium G400MAX, another AWSOME card, still in my kids system

Matrox Millennium G400, another AWSOME card still running in my Father-In-Laws computer

Matrox Millennium G450, another AWSOME card still running in my Brother-In-Laws system

All of these systems are ones that I built by the way. Now, in MY PERSONAL opinion, regardless of what ANYONE else thinks, including the moderators and administrators of this forum, I have ALWAYS liked Matrox cards. I fully intend to buy a Parhelia. I sometimes use my system for Gaming, Internet Surfing, Email, Office work, Desktop Publishing, some Video work...hmmm thats about it. Yea you could say I am the typical home user. As the name of this forum implies, it is a Matrox Users Forum...hmmm yea check the list...I am a MATROX user. In spite of the fact that I have not posted alot here, I have been a user here since like 98 or 99. If you dont like Matrox products then take your crap elsewhere and leave it off these forums. As far as that link to Hardware Central goes, I use that forum quite a bit. I have learned alot there, and got quite a lot of usefull information. I just dont like it when people jump all over Matrox, wether it be here or there. I will be the first to admit, that the speed of some Matrox cards may not always be the best. Sometimes even the drivers have some glitches, but the quality of their cards is Second to NONE! Again, I was just looking for input from some who have used the card before I buy it. Not that it matters, because I have learned over the years, that Matrox is one name you can trust for good quality!!

Ant, Kruzin and all you other guys who have helped me over the years (Even though I didnt post alot, I still read here alot) Thank you and I will continue to come here. Heck, I may even start posting more if for no other reason that to run off the Buttheads that come around here talking smack!!! Sorry guys, but I had to get that off my chest!!

Just my 2 Cents,
SJRACER

[DGhost]

Originally posted by defaultuser
What exactly is your problem with this thread?

I am utterly sick and tired of people defending this card by making excuses.

and what exactly is your problem with this thread? what immature attitude of yours draws you over here to post a long winded rant about how your sexual desires cannot be fufilled by this card?

i agree with kruzin... i'm sick of the immature attitude of people who really have no clue about anything outside of their little FPS-centric world. just because it isn't as good as your other toy video cards in your FPS games doesn't mean that it does not have perfectly valid applications where it will do good.

with the startlingly brilliant observations that you have made here, you might as well go start writing reviews for someplace more suited to your style

[Mad Bunion]

I'm still going to get the Parhelia.

Since my G400Max...I still haven't seen anything close to MATROX 2D.

I'm getting the P. for my main/home-office computer (dual-monitor) which I also use for occasional gaming...games which don't require insane framrates.

...and, I'm lucky enough that I still have a $300 gift certificate from buycomp.com and my girlfriend will be needing me to build her a new computer soon! (I'll spot whatever extra the 9700 will cost)

no excuses for the card...I think people just have to figure out what they want in a card...and not NEED a card to do everything they think they want.

...ahh the joy!

[Muad'Dib]

SJRacer, as your original question was how si the card performing, I will tell you briefly - but note that I have NOT read the thread you linked to, so I don't know if this helps you at all....

IMHO, the Parhelia (with 3230 drivers) is an awesome card! 2D is magnificent! And I don't even have a great monitor! I run 1600x1200x32 desktop with gigacolor and have had no problems with anything other than it making pictures that I previously thought were good looking SUPER good! Umm, yeah, not really any problems.

As for 3d performance, the f'n thing performs good enough for my tastes. In JK2 I average 90+ fps (visual extimation of the frame counter - not the best way to do it, but the only thing I've done so far) indoors with heavy action and outdoors it SOMETIMES drops into the 20's. But for me, it's still very playable. This is at 1024x768x32 with gigacolor and 16xfaa. My processor is pretty slow though (T-Bird @ 950), so that might affect the outdoor performance. On a side note, my buddie came over to look at JK2 the other day and thought I was running it at 1600x1200x32 cause there were no jaggies that he could see....

Morrowind is stunning to look at. I think my installation might be a little f'd up, but it is playable.

I have not tried Warcraft 3 with it yet, but those are the only relatively new games I've got.

I hope this helps you a bit.

-Dimitri

PM me if you have any specific other questions about it.

[Nuno]

Now, here´s a very balanced video review that actually shows how someone can really get a parhelia to use.
Parhelia is a great card, despite being priced a little higher then it should be IMHO.

http://7of9.keystreams.com/gameman/archives/matrox_parhelia_02.wmv

Warning: hi-bandwidth version.

[Stringy]

it's pretty funny how just about all who slam card A, say they Own a card manufactured by Company A so as to validate their claims...
kinda interesting logic...

just as many have said before... It's just a Video card, if it does suit your needs I'm sure the market will produce something that will...
there is no need to get up on the "SoapBox" and preach your gospel to everyone...

this reminds me of the "Johovah Whitnesses" [sp is prolly wrong] they all come to your door and preach at you telling you how great their life is, and how damned you are...
If I'm damned so be it...



see you in hell...
Craig

[SJRACER]

Muad'dib Thanks for the info....it does help

Stringy, Im not sure if that was meant to slam me...because hey, yer damm right I got on the soap box after being slammed a bit here. Hey, Im a matrox user, the ONLY people who can tell me wether or not to post would be Ant and the other moderators and administrators. Other than that, nobody can stop me. I dont mean to piss anyone off. I was just bringing that thread to everyones attention for gee whiz purposes. MY main quest was a REVIEW on the card. I am DAMM well going to buy one and I will stand by Matrox. Because if it is anthing CLOSE to other cards they have put out, I am all for it.

Now, if that little soap box speach you made was intended for defaultuser, then hell, I appologize to you and thankyou for your support.

Geez, everyone is tense around here. Have a Beer and chill out!!

Bitte eim Bit

SJRACER

[GT98]

SJRacer,

I had a Radeon 8500 in my Current PC and I'm hard pressed to find a difference in performance between the two cards, but I'm also running my games at 1200X1024 vs 1024x768 on the Radeon..but the FAAx16 kicks the R8500 butt in AA, which I never had turned on due to the Performance hit (plus it didnt make much difference to my eyes with it on) I got with the R8500. I can run UT at 1600x1200 with FAAx16 on and never drop below 70fps.

Scott

[dneal]

Really though.

It all comes down to the G200.

[SJRACER]

Thanks for the Input GT98 I appriciate it. I will most likely still go with the Parhelia, this system is one I built about 3 months ago. It is an Abit KR7A-133R / Athlon 1900+ system. I put a cheasy Asus V7100 in it to get me by until Matrox's new card came out. My kids system, which is an Abit BE6 / P3 450 still has my G400MAX running strong. I do appriciate the input though. I wanted to see the reaction of people around here who have the card.

Thanks again
SJRACER