Recommendations for good dual DVI video card

dqtus · Apr 7, 2008

Hi,

I've been out of the hardware loop for a while so I'm looking for some good advice. I'm looking to get a second wide screen monitor which uses DVI but my current video card an ATI Sapphire x800 GTO only has 1 DVI output and 1 VGA. I'm not really big on gaming but I would like something nice but doesn't need to be overclockable. Anyways, I've only used ATI cards my whole life hence I'm posting here but I'm also open to Nvidia cards since they seem to be getting good reviews recently. Basically I want something with dual DVI and not too pricey (maybe under $100) and better than my x800 GTO which I've been very fond of and has served me well. Please suggest away, thanks!

hafa · Apr 7, 2008

If you're looking to stick with ATI, the HD3650 isn't a bad deal for $89.

Shiggity · Apr 7, 2008

hafa said:
If you're looking to stick with ATI, the HD3650 isn't a bad deal for $89.

+1 to this suggestion, it is an excellent card for multimedia purposes and can do medium / lite gaming.

You also get 512MB of memory, which is a big plus if you are running high resolutions on both monitors.

If you want a card with HDMI, you'll have to pay slightly more, as this card doesn't have an HDMI input.

dqtus · Apr 7, 2008

Sorry to be a newb about this but do you know if the x800 had HDMI on it? I think my current widescreen has HDMI support but you're saying that in order to achieve that I would need a card with that support? Any ideas on a good and cheap HDMI card with the above mentioned criteria. The other wide screen Im thinking of getting is one of the Apple Cinema Displays. Thanks for all the help so far =D

Shiggity · Apr 7, 2008

dqtus said:
Sorry to be a newb about this but do you know if the x800 had HDMI on it? I think my current widescreen has HDMI support but you're saying that in order to achieve that I would need a card with that support? Any ideas on a good and cheap HDMI card with the above mentioned criteria. The other wide screen Im thinking of getting is one of the Apple Cinema Displays. Thanks for all the help so far =D

Er sorry I was wrong, the x800 does support it. I confused myself because some cards have direct HDMI ports, but the composite port (circular one) is adaptable to HDMI.

Stick with the HD3650

dqtus · Apr 7, 2008

Shiggity said:
Er sorry I was wrong, the x800 does support it. I confused myself because some cards have direct HDMI ports, but the composite port (circular one) is adaptable to HDMI.

Stick with the HD3650

ah ok so the HD3650 has HDMI support right? Will take a look at this then =D

moto211 · Apr 7, 2008

Shiggity said:
Er sorry I was wrong, the x800 does support it. I confused myself because some cards have direct HDMI ports, but the composite port (circular one) is adaptable to HDMI.

Stick with the HD3650

are you sure HDMI is done through the composite port? on my 3870, i use a adapter that turns one of the dual link DVI ports into a HDMI port.

Shiggity · Apr 7, 2008

I thought it was adaptable through :

TV-Out HDTV / S-Video / Composite Out

I could be wrong, please correct me if I am.

dqtus · Apr 7, 2008

Hey guys, I forgot to ask but was there a specific maker that is better for ATI cards? My current x800 is from sapphire. Is there a better maker? So far I have liked sapphire. And also about the HDMI DVI question, were you guys referring to the TV-out as HDMI capable or DVI? Not sure if the DVI has 2 different types. Anyways, here is one I was looking at and wasn't sure how I could tell if the DVI can support HD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102726

Shiggity · Apr 7, 2008

K, if you want HDMI, use one of these. I was right that you could adapt an s-video out cable to HDMI (but that requires a multiple hundred dollar converter, so obviously you don't want that).

It uses one of the DVI slots to plug-in HDMI. DVI is the video for HD and HDMI just adds sound to that via a converter like this (as is to my understanding)

@ sapphire, I had a sapphire x800 like yours and it never gave me any problems for 4 years, they are one of the best ATI card makers imo.

Those converters run around 15-30$ depending on if you want the fancy gold plated ones or not.

hafa · Apr 8, 2008

dqtus said:
Hey guys, I forgot to ask but was there a specific maker that is better for ATI cards? My current x800 is from sapphire. Is there a better maker? So far I have liked sapphire. ...

Sapphire is a bulk OEM producer that builds to ATI's spec. From 2000 to 2004, we installed 150 (+/-) Sapphire cards and had no failures. I cannot comment, however, on their newer products. Please note that the card that I linked to at Mwave is made by Sapphire:

Mwave said:
Mwave Part Number: AA72638
Manufacturer Part Number: 100236L
Manufacturer Web Site: www.sapphiretech.com

dqtus · Apr 8, 2008

Shiggity said:
K, if you want HDMI, use one of these. I was right that you could adapt an s-video out cable to HDMI (but that requires a multiple hundred dollar converter, so obviously you don't want that).

It uses one of the DVI slots to plug-in HDMI. DVI is the video for HD and HDMI just adds sound to that via a converter like this (as is to my understanding)

@ sapphire, I had a sapphire x800 like yours and it never gave me any problems for 4 years, they are one of the best ATI card makers imo.

Those converters run around 15-30$ depending on if you want the fancy gold plated ones or not.

Cool thanks for the info so basically DVI monitors are HD enabled right? I dont really care much for the sound but I just want to have a good image so I guess I don't need the MI part of it. I was just a little confused since I want to get a monitor with HD capabilities. My current one doesnt have an HDMI input but it's DVI so that means I got HD on it right?

ratbuddy · Apr 8, 2008

Take a look at this if you can swing the price. It's got a DVI and an HDMI port, and it the undisputed top value in video cards. For today, anyway. For $50 more than the 3650 you are going to get about 4x the performance. http://www.gpureview.com/show_cards.php?card1=557&card2=554

The card: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814261002

BTW, don't jump down my throat you ATI guys, he said he was open to Nvidia suggestions.

dqtus · Apr 8, 2008

ratbuddy said:
Take a look at this if you can swing the price. It's got a DVI and an HDMI port, and it the undisputed top value in video cards. For today, anyway. For $50 more than the 3650 you are going to get about 4x the performance. http://www.gpureview.com/show_cards.php?card1=557&card2=554

The card: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814261002

BTW, don't jump down my throat you ATI guys, he said he was open to Nvidia suggestions.

whoa very nice! yea, I dont mind either brand, i just want something good and economical. Maybe I should post this also in nvidia board as well. Anyways does that card come with dual dvi as well? I dont think I'm going to be getting a monitor with HDMI in so it would kind of be a waste to convert HDMI back to DVI if that is even possible

ratbuddy · Apr 8, 2008

dqtus said:
whoa very nice! yea, I dont mind either brand, i just want something good and economical. Maybe I should post this also in nvidia board as well. Anyways does that card come with dual dvi as well? I dont think I'm going to be getting a monitor with HDMI in so it would kind of be a waste to convert HDMI back to DVI if that is even possible

HDMI and DVI are the same thing just carried on a different cable. Only thing HDMI adds is audio. You won't lose anything in conversion..

moto211 · Apr 8, 2008

if your willing to overshoot your budget a little, then this would be a good card to get and it comes with a HDMI adapter:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161219
when i purchased my 3870, i didn't think i would need the HDMI adapter, and then i got it and realized how much easier it is to hook your computer up for home theater use when you only have to hook up one cable.

or for another 10 bucks you can get a 3850 (which has a 256-bit memmory interface...far superior):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161211

if your pc sees any HTPC use, you should get a ATI card. some people say the difference in image quality isn't enough to notice, but i think it is.

dqtus · Apr 8, 2008

moto211 said:
if your willing to overshoot your budget a little, then this would be a good card to get and it comes with a HDMI adapter:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161219
when i purchased my 3870, i didn't think i would need the HDMI adapter, and then i got it and realized how much easier it is to hook your computer up for home theater use when you only have to hook up one cable.

or for another 10 bucks you can get a 3850 (which has a 256-bit memmory interface...far superior):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161211

if your pc sees any HTPC use, you should get a ATI card. some people say the difference in image quality isn't enough to notice, but i think it is.

looks good. I noticed that the 3850 has lower clock values and figured it might be better because it has a higher Stream Processors (320 Stream Processing Units). What exactly does that mean?

moto211 · Apr 8, 2008

the 3650's clock speed is higher to try to make up for lacking features (128 memory interface, less stream processors). as for the 3850 having more stream processors, i honestly can't explain the benefit, but i do know that more is usually better (generally speaking, of course).

here's the wikipedia article on stream processing:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stream_processing

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