Video card advice request

jeepescu · Post by **jeepescu** » Fri Aug 03, 2007 4:46 pm

I am absolutely not into gaming, but I am looking to display on two 24'' monitors, each in 1920x1200.
AFAIK, I need two DVI outputs for this, the VGA only goes to 1600x1200.

The machine I'm building will never run vista, only XP (photoshop) and Linux.

Which would be the best card around for my needs ?

Thanks in advance,
MB

Aris · Post by **Aris** » Fri Aug 03, 2007 6:07 pm

You can get dual DVI 7600gs with stock single slot passive cooling for under $100. You might be able to find something a little cheeper around $70 or so that will also be dual DVI and passive, but will have basically no 3D capabilities. The extra $30 or so is well worth it IMO just to have in case you ever change your mind about 3d capable software.

sjoukew · Post by **sjoukew** » Sat Aug 04, 2007 10:16 am

Almost any card you buy will be good enough for vista. Just buy enough ram on the card itself. no turbo cache and hypermemory crap.
With enough ram on the card it will support vista, xp and linux without problems. They say that the ATI linux drivers are "not so good" so if you want to use linux, go the nVidia way.
The big advantage of passive video cards is that they don't have fans which will brake down earlier then the card

bobcb · Post by **bobcb** » Sat Aug 04, 2007 12:32 pm

I could not find a passive and Dual DVI 7600GS, but I recently installed a Gigabyte 8600GT with passive cooling and dual-DVI and have been very happy with it under Linux. Can't speak for how it performs under Windows, but very happy under FedoraCore 7.

Dutch2 · Post by **Dutch2** » Sat Aug 04, 2007 1:23 pm

Any idea how a 7600 GS and 8600 GT compare in power draw and heat dissipation?

I have a 7600 GS and I'm pretty happy with it idling at around 65C but I'm thinking about putting a 8600 GT in a new system.

I can't seem to find a good comparison between the two even though the 8600 GT seems a logical next system choice IMHO after the 7600 GS.

D2.

bobcb · Post by **bobcb** » Sat Aug 04, 2007 1:29 pm

Dutch2 wrote:Any idea how a 7600 GS and 8600 GT compare in power draw and heat dissipation?

I have a 7600 GS and I'm pretty happy with it idling at around 65C but I'm thinking about putting a 8600 GT in a new system.

I can't seem to find a good comparison between the two even though the 8600 GT seems a logical next system choice IMHO after the 7600 GS.

D2.

I just upgraded for a Gigabyte SilentPipe 7600GS to a Gigabyte 8600GT SilentPipeII and am pretty pleased with the results. My 7600GS used to idle at 50c and load at 60-65c depending on room temp. The 8600GT idles at 49c but I haven't done a lot of load testing yet.

This is in an Antec P182 with the top stock exhaust fan on low and the rear exhaust replaced with a Scythe 800rpm. . C2D e6420 @ stock speeds idles at 33-35c and loads at 50c during long crunching sessions. Hope that helps.

Dutch2 · Post by **Dutch2** » Sat Aug 04, 2007 1:38 pm

The only 7600 GS I could find about 1.5 years ago with two DVI outputs was made by XFX and it has worked well for me driving two 20" LCDs at 1600x1200 each.

I'm building a new system most likely with the 8600 GT and I'm thinking about adding a 3rd LCD which would require another video card, so I'm especially worried about the heat generated by the 8600.

Thanks for the feedback,

D2.

Aris · Post by **Aris** » Tue Aug 07, 2007 6:44 pm

bobcb wrote:I could not find a passive and Dual DVI 7600GS, but I recently installed a Gigabyte 8600GT with passive cooling and dual-DVI and have been very happy with it under Linux. Can't speak for how it performs under Windows, but very happy under FedoraCore 7.

i actually have 2x dual dvi stock single slot passive 7600gs' made by 2 different company's. MSI and XFX. Both for around $100 on newegg, though they have been removed from newegg's site since then which was around a year ago now. You might be able to find it elsewhere if you dig a bit.

As far as performance goes. The 8600GT is just slightly faster than a 7600gt which is just slightly faster than a 7600gs. So yes it will run faster, but not by much. Power draw on the 8600gt is going to be around 20w more than a 7600gs, and i havnt seen any stock passive 8600gt's who's heatsinks dont extend beyond the PCB board yet.

Max Slowik · Post by **Max Slowik** » Wed Aug 08, 2007 1:40 am

Man, the 8600 GT doesn't consume any more power than the 7600 GS. I couldn't imagine recommending an older series video card unless it's a really high-end 7-series card that fills the gap between the 8600 GTS and the 8800GTS, like a 7950 GT.

Mikey · Post by **Mikey** » Wed Aug 08, 2007 9:01 pm

jeepescu wrote:AFAIK, I need two DVI outputs for this, the VGA only goes to 1600x1200.

Thats bollocks, just quietly. A 24 inch model will happily run off VGA in native res.

jojo4u · Post by **jojo4u** » Thu Aug 09, 2007 3:53 am

Please, no overkill for a non-gaming person.
A quick search revealed the following cards available in Germany:
Matrox Millennium G550 *g*
XFX/PNY Verto GeForce 6600 GT
Club 3D GeForce 7300 GT
PowerColor Radeon X1300
XFX GeForce 7600 GS
various HD 2600 pro

EDIT: btw, what's your motherboard?

jeepescu · Post by **jeepescu** » Thu Aug 09, 2007 7:58 am

jojo4u wrote: EDIT: btw, what's your motherboard?

Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L

http://www.gigabyte.us/Products/Motherb ... A-P35-DS3L

jojo4u · Post by **jojo4u** » Thu Aug 09, 2007 2:39 pm

You have no integrated Intel GPU, so no ADD2 option for you.
If you are not interested in HD playback, I see no problem with a 7300/7600/X1300, except I didn't check the maximum resolutions.

Power consumption: http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/archives/000662.html

pputer · Post by **pputer** » Fri Aug 10, 2007 9:46 am

I'm asking for advice based on the same requests of the OP.

I will use XP and Linux (sparingly as I have another machine that will mainly be Linux OS). I don't know whether to go Nvidia or ATI but this computer will be used for encoding and converting video. I don't know if it matters so much right now as I'm not sure how XP works with converting video. I currently use Win2K and haven't used XP before. I recall that drivers were unavailable for some parts of Nvidia 8600GT/S encoding options.

Aris · Post by **Aris** » Fri Aug 10, 2007 8:05 pm

as far as i know, ATI support for linux still sucks. So if you wanna run linux, you gotta go with nVidia.

jeepescu · Post by **jeepescu** » Fri Aug 10, 2007 11:10 pm

Mikey wrote: Thats bollocks, just quietly. A 24 inch model will happily run off VGA in native res.

Intriguing statement Mikey, I can't seem to remember where this idea of "1920x1200==dvi cable" came from, but if what you say is true, that means I could run my two displays of a 6200 and I do not need dual DVI.

Can anyone confirm WUXGA running through a D-sub cable ?

Aris · Post by **Aris** » Fri Aug 10, 2007 11:28 pm

as far as i know, the connector has nothing to do with what resolution it will or will not run at. The reason most people want dual DVI is because if you hook up dual monitors, one to a DVI and one to a VGA, the picture will look different even on identicle monitors, because DVI will look better.

So yes you can run dual monitors at that resolution off a video card with one DVI and one VGA, but the monitor hooked up to the VGA will look like crap in comparison.

trauma · Post by **trauma** » Sat Aug 11, 2007 5:09 am

bobcb wrote:I could not find a passive and Dual DVI 7600GS, but I recently installed a Gigabyte 8600GT with passive cooling and dual-DVI and have been very happy with it under Linux. Can't speak for how it performs under Windows, but very happy under FedoraCore 7.

Hello Bob,

I too am running Fedora 7, Currently with an XFX 7600GS 500mhz 'extreem' edition with a passive heat sink. Its not a bad little card, but I converting my Fedora box in to a Media PC that will also get a lot of usage; word processing, some rendering, oh.. and Compiz desktop effects...very very kool.

I have been noticing stuttering and stuff, particularly when rung GLXGEARS which nets me 7200fps with standard Nvidia drivers, and only 5800fps with Compiz (FULL) Desktop effects enabled. This stings a little, so was wanting to upgrade my video card to something more.

I was thinking of another XFX, the 7950GT 512m 610mhz 256bit as it has a heat sink and has gotten some excellent review.

But I am thinking I may prefer an 8800GTS even though I wont be needing DX 10, and, I will have to by an after market heatsink to go with it for a media pc. I was thinking of the HR-03 but am not too sure.

How are you finding your 8600GT and have you utilised Compiz with it yet? Just wonding how your going with it.

trauma · Post by **trauma** » Sat Aug 11, 2007 5:14 am

Aris wrote:as far as i know, ATI support for linux still sucks. So if you wanna run linux, you gotta go with nVidia.

2nd That...

ATI support for Linux lags far behind Nvidia; which is unfortunate, but true.

Go Nvidia card unless your an experianced Linux buff, otherwise stick with Nvidia.

pputer · Post by **pputer** » Sat Aug 11, 2007 9:12 am

Which card, though?

I want the card for video encoding, too. I thought the 8600GT was good (or 8500GT) but it doesn't have HD encoding drivers (HD PureVideo) for XP.

I will have a good CPU but the main point for upgrading/new graphics card would be to have it do a bit of the work.

butters · Post by **butters** » Sun Aug 12, 2007 12:01 am

Right now it doesn't make much sense to buy anything in the 7 series. Both the 7600GT and the 8600GT are priced in the $100-130 range. They have the same core clock and memory configuration. But the 8 series is the first of a new generation of GPU architectures. It has more in common with the 6 series than with the 7 series, which was more of a speed bump.

What this means is that NVIDIA will be focusing most of its driver development resources on their new architecture. Performance and even power consumption stand to improve over the life of your investment, whereas the 7 series is in maintenance mode.

For what it's worth, I'm running Compiz Fusion just fine on my measly i855GM laptop. It gets unusable if I turn on the water effect, but that's an annoying, useless effect anyway. Any discrete graphics card on the market right now would be sufficient for a non-gaming Linux box. But by the time you factor in dual-DVI, you're already looking at $100, which means that the 8600GT is the obvious choice.

However, I like the Thermalright HR-03 for its above the card radiator configuration, and I don't believe that either of the two models are compatible with the 8600GT. Can anyone confirm this?

trauma · Post by **trauma** » Sun Aug 12, 2007 12:50 am

I am of the opinion that the HR-03 and the HR-03plus mount differently on cards.

I do know that the HR-03 (non-plus) will mount on my XFX 7600GS-passive whilst the plus version apparently wont. This is a bit of an issue for me as my 7600GS gets a little warm; try 80-85c under load, and I was hoping to get the HR-03plus to tide me over till I splurge out on an 8800GTS. Sorry for the vague answer but I need to research this topic some more.

pputer · Post by **pputer** » Sun Aug 12, 2007 7:10 am

Has anybody shopped for either the Nvidia 8600GT or ATI series of HD 2600 cards? Which model/brand?

If I went with Nvidia, I'm looking at:
BFG 8600 GT OC (565 MHz)
Gigabyte 8600 GT Passive OC (600 MHz)

The Gigabyte is the better choice since it's passive? It's more expensive, though.

I think the Nvidia 8600GT series works better (and cooler?) and if there were XP drivers for it, it would be my choice but I'm not sure about the ATI models since some are passive and some aren't. Many of them aren't listed as passive cards (as far as I can tell).

Also, my plan was to buy the Nvidia and move it to another (Linux) computer when the G92 cards come out and get one of those for the new or more recent computer. However, that depended on how much the new cards would go for. Price is a factor there. I think I'm at a good spot for video cards since I've never owned anything better than an Nvida FX 5200 and ATI X300SE. I'm not a gamer so the card has to be good for playing videos, 3D stuff (maybe) and encoding. I'll have a decent cpu but if I multitask, it would be convenient if the video card does most of the work.

If you looked at the Vista tests, the 8600 series seems to have the best performance among the ATI/Nvidia lines. But, it's taking forever to have drivers for XP (which I'll be using at first).

smilingcrow · Post by **smilingcrow** » Sun Sep 09, 2007 6:23 am

Max Slowik wrote:Man, the 8600 GT doesn't consume any more power than the 7600 GS. I couldn't imagine recommending an older series video card unless it's a really high-end 7-series card that fills the gap between the 8600 GTS and the 8800GTS, like a 7950 GT.

The data I've collected suggests otherwise; the figures are in watts measured at the wall socket with the basline being 0W for integrated graphics:

IGP 0
6200 TC 9
7600 GS 10
HD 2400 XT 23
8400 GS 23
8600 GT 33

The figures will vary depending on the exact model that you measure admittedly but the 7600 GS is still a nice card for dual DVI if you can still find one.

An extra 23W at idle is a waste if you have no use for DX10 or the HD decoding. My system only requires about an extra 30W to decode a HD-DVD which would be very close to that achieved with an 8600 GT but still have the benefit of the lower idle consumption. So the only significant reason to buy an 8 series is for DX10 support. Later on they may improve the HD video quality with the 8 series as well.

klankymen · Post by **klankymen** » Sun Sep 09, 2007 7:31 am

Aris wrote:as far as i know, the connector has nothing to do with what resolution it will or will not run at. The reason most people want dual DVI is because if you hook up dual monitors, one to a DVI and one to a VGA, the picture will look different even on identicle monitors, because DVI will look better.

So yes you can run dual monitors at that resolution off a video card with one DVI and one VGA, but the monitor hooked up to the VGA will look like crap in comparison.

allow me to disagree, if the components are quality it's not really much different:

2xBenQ FP241W, attached to a Gigabyte Passive 6600GT with 1x DVI and 1x D-Sub.

Can anyone tell which monitor is attached to which?
BTW, should be evidence enough for the OP that VGA will do 1920x1200. I previously have used 1920x1440 and 2048x1536 over VGA connectors, on a CRT monitor.

smilingcrow · Post by **smilingcrow** » Sun Sep 09, 2007 9:10 am

klankymen wrote:Can anyone tell which monitor is attached to which?

I think you'd need to see a higher resolution photo to see the difference, well if there was one.

The advantage of DVI from my experience is that the image quality has always been good whereas the output from a D-SUB is more variable. As an example Iâ€™ve looked at a number of motherboards with Intel integrated graphics and most were fine at 1680x1050 but two were below par. Iâ€™d hate to think what those two were like at 1920x1200.

Video card advice request

Video card advice request

Re: Video card advice request

Re: Video card advice request