MatroxG550 - is this still a good card for 2D?

Hi,

Just upgrading some parts of my PC, had the G550 for years, don't play
games, mainly photo editing and video work.

Is there a better card out there, maybe below £150 uk pounds?

Is there a card that does MPEG encoding, like straight from a video
camera to hard drive, or even to my DVD burner.

thanks

al

I'm a Matrox fan from way back, use to have a G400
Just got an ATI 9600 Pro All in Wonder
There is also the cheaper ATI 9000 All in Wonder.
Cards come with a TV Tuner input.

"alans220" <> wrote in message
news:...
> Hi,
>
> Just upgrading some parts of my PC, had the G550 for years, don't play
> games, mainly photo editing and video work.
>
> Is there a better card out there, maybe below £150 uk pounds?
>
> Is there a card that does MPEG encoding, like straight from a video
> camera to hard drive, or even to my DVD burner.
>
> thanks
>
> al
>

Hi,

How is the AIW card, I was thinking of getting one.

The 9000 and the 9600SE are available. about £100 and £160,
do you think the 9600 version would be worth the extra?

There always seems to be people having problems with ATI cards, mainly
driver issues, have you had any problems?


thanks

al

>I'm a Matrox fan from way back, use to have a G400
>Just got an ATI 9600 Pro All in Wonder
>There is also the cheaper ATI 9000 All in Wonder.
>Cards come with a TV Tuner input.
>
>"alans220" <> wrote in message
>news:.. .
>> Hi,
>>
>> Just upgrading some parts of my PC, had the G550 for years, don't play
>> games, mainly photo editing and video work.
>>
>> Is there a better card out there, maybe below £150 uk pounds?
>>
>> Is there a card that does MPEG encoding, like straight from a video
>> camera to hard drive, or even to my DVD burner.
>>
>> thanks
>>
>> al
>>
>

My 9600 Pro AIW works just fine,
But so far I only played the game C&C Generals.

I believe the 9600SE has only a 64 bit memory pathway and slower memory
(200mhz)
The 9600, 9600 Pro, 9600XT have 128 bit memory pathways and faster memory
(300-325mhz)

"alans220" <> wrote in message
news:...
> Hi,
>
> How is the AIW card, I was thinking of getting one.
>
> The 9000 and the 9600SE are available. about £100 and £160,
> do you think the 9600 version would be worth the extra?
>
> There always seems to be people having problems with ATI cards, mainly
> driver issues, have you had any problems?
>
>
> thanks
>
> al
>
> >I'm a Matrox fan from way back, use to have a G400
> >Just got an ATI 9600 Pro All in Wonder
> >There is also the cheaper ATI 9000 All in Wonder.
> >Cards come with a TV Tuner input.
> >
> >"alans220" <> wrote in message
> >news:.. .
> >> Hi,
> >>
> >> Just upgrading some parts of my PC, had the G550 for years, don't play
> >> games, mainly photo editing and video work.
> >>
> >> Is there a better card out there, maybe below £150 uk pounds?
> >>
> >> Is there a card that does MPEG encoding, like straight from a video
> >> camera to hard drive, or even to my DVD burner.
> >>
> >> thanks
> >>
> >> al
> >>
> >
>

al,
I upgraded from my G400Max to ATI AIW Radeon 8500 (128 Mb version) about
a year ago. For 3D, there is no comparison - the ATI card wins hands down.
For 2D, for my eyes they are close but I thought the G400 had sharper and
more vibrant color than the ATI. I use the AIW mainly for the TV tuner,
which is very good, and haven't done any capturing with it like it thought I
would so can't comment there. Upgrading drivers for the AIW is a royal
PITA - - here Matrox wins hands down no question. So my suggestion would be
if you need better 3D and capturing in one card, get the ATI. If you really
like 2D, play few games, and don't like to upgrade drivers alot, stick with
the Matrox. I may just go back to my G400Max and get a TV tuner card
Just my 2 cents - - - Jim

"alans220" <> wrote in message
news:...
> Hi,
>
> How is the AIW card, I was thinking of getting one.
>
> The 9000 and the 9600SE are available. about £100 and £160,
> do you think the 9600 version would be worth the extra?
>
> There always seems to be people having problems with ATI cards, mainly
> driver issues, have you had any problems?
>
>
> thanks
>
> al
>
> >I'm a Matrox fan from way back, use to have a G400
> >Just got an ATI 9600 Pro All in Wonder
> >There is also the cheaper ATI 9000 All in Wonder.
> >Cards come with a TV Tuner input.
> >
> >"alans220" <> wrote in message
> >news:.. .
> >> Hi,
> >>
> >> Just upgrading some parts of my PC, had the G550 for years, don't play
> >> games, mainly photo editing and video work.
> >>
> >> Is there a better card out there, maybe below £150 uk pounds?
> >>
> >> Is there a card that does MPEG encoding, like straight from a video
> >> camera to hard drive, or even to my DVD burner.
> >>
> >> thanks
> >>
> >> al
> >>
> >
>