Matrox Millenium G550 PCIe 1x edition

[Steffen M.]

Hi all,

at first I should admit that my knowledge regarding graphics and video is not the best, or, in other words: Graphics, video and especially video performance are not the matters I normally deal with.

I mainly use my computers for working (programming, doing remote network administration, internet, email, office, watching DVDs and real video streams, some video (re)coding and so on), so in my case there is no real need for 3D acceleration. I've been using a "Matrox Millenium G550 Low Profile" video adapter (AGP 4x) within my Epox EP-8KTA3 mainboard running an AMD Athlon Thunderbird 1300 for several years. Most of the time I use Linux, and I have been highly pleased with the 2D performance and picture quality of this video card. I also had no problems running Linux and no problems running Windows within VMware under Linux.

For some reasons I am now going to buy a more powerful system. I am intending to buy a socket 939 AMD Athlon64 CPU (e.g. Athlon64 San Diego 3700+) and an Nvidia NForce 4 Ultra based main board (e.g. Epox EP-9NPA+ Ultra). NForce4 Ultra based boards don't have AGP ports anymore, but only PCI and PCI Express (PCIe).

Because of my complete satisfaction with the Matrox G550 in my old system I am planning to equip also the new one with such a card. Fortunately, Matrox seems to republish the G550 as a PCIe version. But this card uses only one PCIe lane (PCIe 1x) and not 16 like other video cards do.

My questions are:

• Will the bandwidth of only one PCIe lane (which will, if I remember correctly, deliver 250 MByte/s full-duplex) be sufficient?
  
  
• Am I going to feel reduced video performance compared to my old system? At least the old card in the old system has been AGP 4x (that means 1066 MByte/s half-duplex, IIRC)?
  
  
• Or didn't the AGP 4x model of the Matrox G550 utilize the AGP 4x bandwidth completely?
  
  
• Is the bandwidth of PCIe 16x only needed for advanced 3D things (e.g. modern games)?

I would be very glad if you could help me. Thank you very much in advance!

Best regards,
Steffen

[Nowhere]

To answer your question, PCIe x1 won't be any limitation for your, 2D only, usage (actually, the Windows drivers for G550 PCIe apparently don't have 3D acceleration)

However you might consider buying something else, especially since interfaces of Windows Vista and probably also of future Linuxes will use modern 3D hardware to great extent.
So, for example, Geforce 6600, which is actually cheaper than G550 PCIe and has very good Linux drivers.
The only question - do you still use analog connection with your monitor or perhaps you're using digital one already? In the first case you might get better image quality with G550. In the latter - no difference, so buy 6600 or something like that.

[Steffen M.]

Hi Nowhere,

thank you very much for your reply...

To answer your question, PCIe x1 won't be any limitation for your, 2D only, usage (actually, the Windows drivers for G550 PCIe apparently don't have 3D acceleration)

Okay...

However you might consider buying something else, especially since interfaces of Windows Vista and probably also of future Linuxes will use modern 3D hardware to great extent.
So, for example, Geforce 6600, which is actually cheaper than G550 PCIe and has very good Linux drivers.
The only question - do you still use analog connection with your monitor or perhaps you're using digital one already?

I still use analog VGA. I've got a Sony 21" CRT (GDM-F520) and with that I use a resolution of 1600x1200 dots and a picture refresh rate of about 85 Hz. The image quality of the CRT is brilliant, especially due to its little dot pitch (0.22 mm). That's (and I forgot it in my first posting) one of the main reasons why I have been looking for Matrox again.

In the first case you might get better image quality with G550. In the latter - no difference, so buy 6600 or something like that.

After I had read your hint I searched for some test reports and through usenet archives about NVidia 6600 based video adapters, especially about the analog signal quality. Indeed, it seems that this chip will satisfy my needs very well. Did I get that correctly: As long as I don't need any 3D things (games, screen savers, and so on), I don't have to use NVidia's binary drivers under Linux (although it would be no real problem to use them)?

But, as far as I've read, it seems that the signal quality varies a lot between the manufacturers.

I've read that PNY makes very solid and high quality ones, so I am thinking about buying a PNY GeForce 6600 GT (Retail, 2x DVI, TV-Out) (sorry, it's a German shop, but the technical terms should be understandable).

Asus' Silencer instead uses only the 6600 (without GT, so no DDR3 - but I don't think that this is the problem for my mainly 2D-usage). The advantages of the Asus would be that it's cheaper and it is cooled passively and it doesn't have a fan that must be cleaned and maintenanced from time to time.

Can you recommend a concrete adapter (of course, it doesn't have necessarily to be one of these two) that has good analog signal stability when using it with 1600x1200 @ 85 Hz?

TIA!

Bye,
Steffen

[Whirl-Secret]

The need for Linux drivers makes your choice a Nvidia I believe. DDR3 is irrelevant i think. As for fans getting dirty... unless you live in a building site, then just keep the case closed, uninstall motherboard monitor... and suddenly it doesn't matter about the fans any more

Since this is a rare upgrade, you might as well get one that has real Dx9 ability and power. I didn't think I would play games either, but my wife moved to London to study, so I bought Rome: Total War, and loved it, until it crashed after a patch update, and now it won't run. THen seeing someone else play HalfLife2 with the proper shader effects... made me feel like throwing my lovely Matrox in the bin and running to buy a 9800!