Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.videocards.matrox (
More info?)
Arthur Hagen wrote:
> Ender.Wiggin <wigginender@hotmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> I have seen DOOM3 running on a Matrox Parhelia 128MB card using the
>> same beta driver and it does indeed run but rather slow at 640 x 480.
>> For today's gaming needs, buy ATI or Nvidia based products.
>
> I put in an ATI 9600XT in my machine yesterday, so I could play Doom 3
> better than with the Parhelia-128R. And yes, it is faster. But the card
> is
> going out again. I find that the ATI card is problematic compared to the
> Matrox Parhelia, at least for anything *except* playing the latest games.
>
> - When using two independent monitors, you can only get Direct3D on *one*
> monitor.
> - When the card gets warm, higher resolutions start shaking.
How high is "higher"? Have you tried additional cooling?
> - The gamma curve is higher order, and not a predictable one you can
> easily
> adjust with a single value. You can choose between distinguishing dark
> colours and distinguishing midtones, but can't get both.
> - There's no video overlay on a second monitor.
> - You can't even drag windows using overlay between monitors.
> - Whenever opening display properties, at least one of the monitors will
> shake wildly and draw horisontal black flickering lines for a second or
> so.
That is not normal.
> - There's no way to add "missing" resolutions, or delete ones you don't
> want.
Third party utility called "powerstrip".
> Many of the above problems are presumably because the cards only have a
> single RAMDAC, but some seems to be because the card is cheaply made, with
> only a single thing in mind: Gaming.
Uh, a Parhelia costs approximately 3 times what a 9600XT costs. I think it
is unreasonable to expect the same quality of secondary components. You
migh want to try a Fire GL T2.
>> The only insolvable problem is that people are trying to run software
>> on hardware that does not support it. It is not that hard to
>> comprehend. Kind of like putting unleaded gas in your engine that runs
>> on leaded gas. DirectX 9.x requires hardware to run all these effects
>> in the games, and the current line of Matrox graphics cards simply do
>> not support them.
>
> True, but on the other hand, they support a lot of things that a gaming
> card
> doesn't support. Just the inability to watch TV on my 17" monitor while
> working on the 19" is enough that the 9600XT goes out again, only to be
> used as a spare.
?????? Why are you unable to watch TV on your 17" monitor while working on
the 19"? That mode of operation works very nicely on all current ATI
boards. In display settings, look at "overlay".
--
--John
Reply to jclarke at ae tee tee global dot net
(was jclarke at eye bee em dot net)