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Video card for 2405FPW: Which one ?
- Thread starter stevenj
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That Card will probably be fine, I have run games in 1600 x 1200 and higher on a GeForce 4 TI4600 and they have run pretty smoothly.
If you are going to get a card and your system is AGP then I would go for the 6800GT as it will be perfect for all your computing requirements.
If you want to upgrade your whole system then look at maybe 6600 GT SLI, it would mean a change of mother board and a reinstall of Windows which can be a pain in the ass.
Best bet!!
Nvidia 6800GT!!
Dont go SLI until driver and compatabilty issues have been resolved.
If you are going to get a card and your system is AGP then I would go for the 6800GT as it will be perfect for all your computing requirements.
If you want to upgrade your whole system then look at maybe 6600 GT SLI, it would mean a change of mother board and a reinstall of Windows which can be a pain in the ass.
Best bet!!
Nvidia 6800GT!!
Dont go SLI until driver and compatabilty issues have been resolved.
Unfortunately, it might not be quite that simple. 1920x1200@60Hz is right on the ragged edge of the DVI spec. If you want to use DVI, and I assume you do, your card must be able to output a "clean" 162MHz signal. Can your current card do this? Can the 6800GT? It's hard to know.
While I hate to even acknowlege the existence of Tom's Hardware, this article is pretty good. The short version? The DVI output on older nVidia cards appears to suck at high resolutions, new ATI cards have fantastic output, and cards like the 6800Ultra are somewhere in between.
Another writeup on Extremetech shows similar findings. ATI cards look good. Older nVidia cards are pathetic, while "old" ATI cards like the 9700Pro are decent but not great.
So, is this a real issue? I don't know. I'm concerned by their findings, but I haven't heard any complaints from people unable to get a good picture on their fancy new monitor. Then again, not many folks have these monitors yet. (That's changing this week.)
I would like to hear from anyone who is successfully displaying 1920x1200 via DVI. What card are you using? What is the type and length of your DVI cable. (The cables that ship with most monitors are 2 meters long.) I had my eye on a 6800GT, but if the DVI transmitter is iffy, I might have to go with an X800 XL or something. That would kinda suck since I want the option of SLI down the road.
While I hate to even acknowlege the existence of Tom's Hardware, this article is pretty good. The short version? The DVI output on older nVidia cards appears to suck at high resolutions, new ATI cards have fantastic output, and cards like the 6800Ultra are somewhere in between.
Another writeup on Extremetech shows similar findings. ATI cards look good. Older nVidia cards are pathetic, while "old" ATI cards like the 9700Pro are decent but not great.
So, is this a real issue? I don't know. I'm concerned by their findings, but I haven't heard any complaints from people unable to get a good picture on their fancy new monitor. Then again, not many folks have these monitors yet. (That's changing this week.)
I would like to hear from anyone who is successfully displaying 1920x1200 via DVI. What card are you using? What is the type and length of your DVI cable. (The cables that ship with most monitors are 2 meters long.) I had my eye on a 6800GT, but if the DVI transmitter is iffy, I might have to go with an X800 XL or something. That would kinda suck since I want the option of SLI down the road.
Ding said:
I have a ATI 850XT PE working perfectly at 1920x1200x60Hz over DVI on the HP L2335. Before the card arrived, I tried the monitor on my laptop with a built in ATI 7500 - mostly worked, but got flashes of noise (short bright horizintal lines) too often for me to want to use it permanently.
Word is that if you get a dual DVI Nvidia card, the second non-integrated TMDS is better quality, so that might be an option if you want SLI later.
Ding said:
If you are talking the desktop res @1920x1200, pretty much all NV and ATI newer cards can handle it! I've so far used eVGA 6600GT, BFG 6600GT OC, eVGA 6800 GT, eVGA 6800Ultra,
Sapphire X850 XT PE, ATI X800 XL and I can tell any difference except that the X800 XL made
some pixels flashing (its a faulty card I suppose). Playing games @ 1920x1200 is a whole different story tho...
Well I can give you my experience I wasted 2 weeks trying to get a geforce 6 6600gt (msi nx6600gt agp) to work with a 23" benq fp231w finally after being unsuccesfull (tried everything posible dif freq, updated drivers diff timings....) i gave up and traded the card with a friend for a 9800 pro wich I just had to install and it detected and configured the screen right away at 1920x1200 no problem oh and also I have a laptop with an m10 9600 mobility video and a dvi docking station and that one works fine in full res also.
So for me nvidia is a no go i'll probablly never get a card from them any time soon.
So for me nvidia is a no go i'll probablly never get a card from them any time soon.
its pointless getting a 6800GT over X800 XL ==>same performance with better ws support and at least $120 less. SM3 and HDR, you may say? They are useless on current cards. They wouldnt really help the show until the next releases from both NV and ATI. So what you said is not always true...grdh20 said:
tobygg said:
That's good news. Could you tell us a bit more about that setup? Was the monitor connected via DVI? (I assume it was.) What brand of 6800GT do you have? Does this card have 2 DVI connectors, and if so which of them did you use? How long was the DVI cable?
dnenciu said:
That's interesting, and not totally surprising. The 9800 series does appear to have a slightly "better" DVI transmitter than does the 6800 series. Of course those articles I linked really only tested one card from each series, so it's risky to make assumptions about different cards that are within the same series, especially when they are from different manufacturers.
mLazZzy said:
We're just talking about displaying something like the Windows desktop, or anything really, at 1920x1200, through a DVI connection. Virtually all semi-modern cards can be set to display at that res, but their DVI circuitry still may not be able to output a clean signal. (The signal would be fine from their analog "VGA" connectors.) As you mentioned, we're not talking about the card's abilty to maintain a certain framerate in a game at that resolution. That depends on many factors unrelated to the DVI transmitter.
mLazZzy, just to clarify, all those cards that you mentioned above, did you have all of them connected via DVI to a 1920x1200 monitor? And all of them seemed to output a picture of equal quality? (of the desktop, say) If that's the case, it sounds like the DVI spec is more forgiving than those articles would have us believe.
BONDS said:
Yes, the specs for that card quote: Max Resolution@32bit Color: 2048X1536@60Hz I doubt such a card includes a DVI port, but given how poorly the older nVidia cards seem to support hi-res DVI, maybe that's a good thing. You'd just hook it up with a regular VGA cable.
Please, let's not turn this thread into a flamewar about whose cards are the best for gaming, or which ones are the best bargains. We just need to know what cards work well with the 2405FPW, and by extension any other 1920x1200 LCD monitor. That's a very unique requirement. A card could be able to run Doom3 at 600FPS, and it still might not work well with the 2405FPW. (Where "work" means displaying a good picture at 1920x1200 over a DVI connection.)
There are plenty of other threads and reviews devoted to the question of what cards will run game X the best. We probably don't need to try to rehash them here.
There are plenty of other threads and reviews devoted to the question of what cards will run game X the best. We probably don't need to try to rehash them here.
Ding said:
Yes! you might not notice that my main display for computing is an Apple 23" cinema HD (in sig) and you may not as well know of that the recent Apple displays only have DVI connectors. I didn't run any display tests for comparison but they looked really all the same. Actually, I prefer NV a little better as far as displaying the windows desktop is concerned. @default, it seems a little brighter with NV cards, which the way I'd prefer.
Then again, in this round, ATI really beats NV in terms of driver functionalities including widescreen LCD support. What a shame, NV used to be known for having better drivers.
Ding said:Please, let's not turn this thread into a flamewar about whose cards are the best for gaming, or which ones are the best bargains. We just need to know what cards work well with the 2405FPW, and by extension any other 1920x1200 LCD monitor. That's a very unique requirement. A card could be able to run Doom3 at 600FPS, and it still might not work well with the 2405FPW. (Where "work" means displaying a good picture at 1920x1200 over a DVI connection.)
There are plenty of other threads and reviews devoted to the question of what cards will run game X the best. We probably don't need to try to rehash them here.
ppl are paranoid these days....nobodys born to be a whatever-it-is lover but some narrow-minded guys tend to jump at the first thing they think it's good and dismiss others. not the case here: Ive put my hands on many recent cards and guess what I am using now? (in sig). That was a good reminder tho.... Gracias!
ImLazZzy said:
reply:
tobygg said:
reply:
Ding said:
Please be aware that GF6800GT supporting 1920x1200 doesn't mean it would automatically recognize other wide screen res like 1280x800, 1280x720, 1680x1050 and so forth. All four NV cards I have used didn't while all ATI cards did and even 1800x1125 (16:10) was listed the first time I fired them up. The guy was missing the point that ATI has better support overall for not just 1920x1200.
Hmmm, I forgot about the whole driver aspect of this. What about the nVidia or ATI drivers makes them better (or worse) for the 2405? It sounds like it can be a bit of extra work to "add" the higher (and wider) resolutions to the nVidia drivers, but that it isn't terribly hard to do.
Whoops, ImLazZzy already answered some of that while I was typing. Yes, we will definitely need some other WS resolutions besides 19x12. (I doubt I'll be able to play many games at native res.) I assume all these other resolutions can be added to the nVidia's list somehow? Powerstrip, maybe?
I know that the ATI drivers support a reduced blanking interval on DVI, as well as some other "alternate DVI mode". Do the nVidia drivers have something similar?
What other functionalities were you talking about, ImLazZzy? If any?
Whoops, ImLazZzy already answered some of that while I was typing. Yes, we will definitely need some other WS resolutions besides 19x12. (I doubt I'll be able to play many games at native res.) I assume all these other resolutions can be added to the nVidia's list somehow? Powerstrip, maybe?
I know that the ATI drivers support a reduced blanking interval on DVI, as well as some other "alternate DVI mode". Do the nVidia drivers have something similar?
What other functionalities were you talking about, ImLazZzy? If any?
Ding said:
Let me answer this first - yes, they can be added manually...well, I discussed this in another thread a while ago that whats truly annoying isnt adding the res; its even after adding them in, you still can' t play a certain game @ some ws res. although that game certainly supports those res. An instant recall would be Rome: Total War. Some ( quite a few to be accurate) res./ws res. still wouldnt show up after all possible res. were added...while the XT/PE listed everything all the way up to the top on the in-game gfx config. menu.
I have a dell 8600 that will probably be the main system i'll be using with this display at first... but mostly, I am hoping to pick this screen up to mainly use with a powerbook or mac mini , which I know work just fine with the 23 inch apple no matter what , so it's all good ... however:
I am starting to worry about this working with my 256mb fx5600 (living room PC system) -- I guess before I heard about all these DVI signal issues I would have been quite astonished to find that a 256mb card (of all things) wouldn't work with a 1920x1200 LCD w/ the DVI. It would seem silly...
Anybody know if the fx5600 will handle DVI @ 1920x1200 ?
Ding said:
I have a PNY 6800 GT. Yes, I used DVI. I only had it for about 2 hours, when I found out the component wasn't working so I returned the monitor.
I did NOT have it long enough to be 100% sure it was working fine with no issues (such as any flickering or anything like that) but I've not read about problems with these cards at this resolution being that recent cards seem to support the 'reduced blanking'.
Maad said:
I have a dell 8600 that will probably be the main system i'll be using with this display at first... but mostly, I am hoping to pick this screen up to mainly use with a powerbook or mac mini , which I know work just fine with the 23 inch apple no matter what , so it's all good ... however:
I am starting to worry about this working with my 256mb fx5600 (living room PC system) -- I guess before I heard about all these DVI signal issues I would have been quite astonished to find that a 256mb card (of all things) wouldn't work with a 1920x1200 LCD w/ the DVI. It would seem silly...
Anybody know if the fx5600 will handle DVI @ 1920x1200 ?
I am pretty sure it will. No need to panic....
Maad said:
Hopefully someone with direct experiance with that card will reply, but judging from the performance of a FX5900 that was tested, I'd be pleasantly surprised if it did work. Worst case, perhaps you could use the analog VGA input as sort of a Plan B? (Hopefully, it won't come to that.)
Ding said:
Lucky for me my plan C is to eventually use this with either a powerbook or a Mac mini. In the case of the mini, apple actually goes out of their way to indicate absolute compatibility with their 23 inch (DVI@1920x1200) screens.. Go to this page: http://www.apple.com/macmini/specs.html and do a text search for "154" and you will find this:
Note that the only option for the Mini is the Radeon 9200 ..
On the other hand, if you take a look at the lowest of the Powerbook models, the 12 inch, which has a FX5200Go, here http://www.apple.com/powerbook/index12.html, they state it will also work with the 23 inch with DVI, which is interesting since I am assuming the 5200Go is from the same or earlier chip series as the 5600. This is my only hint that something nvidia has produced that's "lower" than the 5600 *will* work with the 2405FPW.. So when the Dell screen arrives, the first order of business to check that everything is okay will be to hook it up to my girlfriend's powerbook I guess...
Hello all: I am about to order the 2405fpw, and I had a question. The native resolution is 1920 x 1200 @60hz. My video card shows that I can display at 1920 x 1200 but only at 75hz. Can someone please explain to me why or if we need to run the monitor at 1920 x 1200. Is this required for the full widescreen effect or will any resoltion that we select still be "stretched" to fit the entire screen. If your video card is not capable of 1920 x 1200 are you Sh#t out of luck?
BigBalla said:
It sounds like you might be considering running this screen from an analog connection..
You are probably fine , you just have to go in the advanced section of your display properties and "list all modes".. I'm sure that if 75Hz is there, 60Hz will be also..
Does anybody know what 1920x1200 looks like through the analog VGA connection on any other LCD display (or this one?)
BigBalla said:
Relax!
1920x1200 is the native res of a Dell 2405fpw. The windows desktop would look better when the screen is @ its natve res. You can still set the screen to other lower res. supported and your vid card will apply an algorithm to display it in a full screen fashion(stretch the image if you will).
Refreshing rates like 75hz, 60hz are meaningless to LCD's b/c they dont display images by scanning. In this sense, your vid card should work just fine @1920x1200.
Its fairly hard to find a mainstream vid card not supporting 1920x1200 nowadays. Even a Geforce MX400 makes it through analog and pretty much every card with a DVI connector would do the job.
hiro_kunimi
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BigBalla said:
i think that your video card, support " UP to " 75hz, not " only at 75 hz"
i belive that you will not have any trouble with a dvi connection ( and 2405 fpw)
1920x1200 via analog looks very close to via DVI if there is any difference at all. DVI is not as great as they've claimed but its really a GREAT way to mess up the compatibility between two different devices from different manufacturers and make it a lot harder for you to back up media say your DVD movies.Maad said:
esp. when HDMI comes into play.Maad said:uh oh... who to believe ?
Don't believe any of us! We're just speculating. ImLazZzy is just more naturally optimistic than I am!
Until you get a chance to try it out, none of us will really know.I'm guessing that any of the Mac solutions will work well for you. For one thing, they are promising you that it will work, and they are using ATI chips which seem to have superior DVI implementations. I do find it odd that Apple is talking about 154MHz, since I got the impression that 1920x1200@60Hz required 162MHz. Maybe Apple measures these things differently.
And yes, the analog fallback position isn't the end of the world. That would probably look fine.
My 2405FPW still hasn't shipped, dangit!
Ok here is my reply to the people that said that I should add the custom res in the nv driver I did that and it did not work is not just the card is a combination of the screen and card.
I added the custom res and I got a signal out of sinc message on the screen so the conclusion is with nvidia dvi is a hit and miss thing.
And I can tell you on a big screen like that the diff between vga and dvi is like night and day and if you dont believe me give I have pics to prove it anybody interested i can send you the pic.
Now on to nvidia vs ati they both have good and bad points but if you need dvi on a big screen I would take ati over nvidia anytime.
I added the custom res and I got a signal out of sinc message on the screen so the conclusion is with nvidia dvi is a hit and miss thing.
And I can tell you on a big screen like that the diff between vga and dvi is like night and day and if you dont believe me give I have pics to prove it anybody interested i can send you the pic.
Now on to nvidia vs ati they both have good and bad points but if you need dvi on a big screen I would take ati over nvidia anytime.