Has anyone tried this graphic card? It looks awesome, but I'm hesitating since it cost ~$370. I have a G400 and its great, but 3 monitors would be nice!
Matrox Parhelia
- Thread starter MRacer
- Start date
i owned a G400 too, and was looking to buy the parhelia...but after seeing it...i got a GeForce4.
The Parhelia's three monitors is awesome, but heavily OVERPRICED considering its performance. Its 3D performance leaves a lot to be desired (about the speed of a GF4 MX460). For games, you might get 3-screen Quake3 working smoothly, but games utilizing the Unreal2 engine - forget it.
The 16x fragment AntiAliasing it beautiful to look at, but again makes the card even slower.
Summary: The Parhelia is good if you do web development, programming, video editing, or if u want to make your PC look like it's from the movie SWORDFISH. Otherwise get a GeForce/ATI.
The Parhelia's three monitors is awesome, but heavily OVERPRICED considering its performance. Its 3D performance leaves a lot to be desired (about the speed of a GF4 MX460). For games, you might get 3-screen Quake3 working smoothly, but games utilizing the Unreal2 engine - forget it.
The 16x fragment AntiAliasing it beautiful to look at, but again makes the card even slower.
Summary: The Parhelia is good if you do web development, programming, video editing, or if u want to make your PC look like it's from the movie SWORDFISH. Otherwise get a GeForce/ATI.
forgot to add... Matrox is renoun for image quality, and the Parhelia doesn't disappoint.
If you want to see benchmarks of the Parhelia vs ATI/GeForce cards, check it out here: http://www.tomshardware.com/graphic/20030120/index.html
If you want to see benchmarks of the Parhelia vs ATI/GeForce cards, check it out here: http://www.tomshardware.com/graphic/20030120/index.html
I agree with Neo.
Most games will not run on three monitors. If you have three monitor configuration all set up, go for it. You could use the three monitors for surfing!
If not, and you don't need three monitors, get a Geforce 4 or Radeon 8500. These cards are the best value on the market. If you want to the absalute best 3d performance, get a Radeon 9700 Pro.
I have had the Radeon 8500 for over a year and I love it. 2d looks good, and 3d performance can still drive the latest games.
Most games will not run on three monitors. If you have three monitor configuration all set up, go for it. You could use the three monitors for surfing!
If not, and you don't need three monitors, get a Geforce 4 or Radeon 8500. These cards are the best value on the market. If you want to the absalute best 3d performance, get a Radeon 9700 Pro.
I have had the Radeon 8500 for over a year and I love it. 2d looks good, and 3d performance can still drive the latest games.
I forgot to add that a good place to purchase computer equipment is
www.newegg.com
They have great prices, service, and an awesome refurbished section.
www.newegg.com
They have great prices, service, and an awesome refurbished section.
I am running right now on a Parhelia, and I love it - 3D is decent, 2D is great - but if you're running a G400 now, I would wager that 3D is not high on your list.
For running any 3D games/applications, I went ahead and bought an Athlon 2600/NForce2/Radeon 9700 AIW and use that - no reason to install games on my main PC, IMO.
To me, with the Parhelia, you can't go wrong - the only thing I wish it allowed was 1600x1200x3 screens, but I tend to prefer 1280x1024x3 anyway... But I would like the option.
FYI, from Multiwave.com, I got the Parhelia, and 3 NEC 21" black monitors for around $2k; not too bad, considering what I now have. The file server is running dual head on a G400Max, and the gaming machine shares a head through a switch box with the Parhelia.
I've been very happy with my setup, don't really have much negative to say about the Parhelia. Yes, 3D is slow, but how much of that do you really need? It all comes down to what you're looking for.
For running any 3D games/applications, I went ahead and bought an Athlon 2600/NForce2/Radeon 9700 AIW and use that - no reason to install games on my main PC, IMO.
To me, with the Parhelia, you can't go wrong - the only thing I wish it allowed was 1600x1200x3 screens, but I tend to prefer 1280x1024x3 anyway... But I would like the option.
FYI, from Multiwave.com, I got the Parhelia, and 3 NEC 21" black monitors for around $2k; not too bad, considering what I now have. The file server is running dual head on a G400Max, and the gaming machine shares a head through a switch box with the Parhelia.
I've been very happy with my setup, don't really have much negative to say about the Parhelia. Yes, 3D is slow, but how much of that do you really need? It all comes down to what you're looking for.
Thanks for all the great replies. I tend to use the card for work so the 3d doesn't really concern me. I tend to connect to several (like 4-5) computers at work from home at one time and my dual monitors are always clump up. So if the Parhelia is what it claims to be, then I'll give it a try.
Computer games are nice, but I just don't have time for them anymore. Hell, I don't even have time for my XBox. I must be getting old or something...
Thanks for the help.
-MR
Computer games are nice, but I just don't have time for them anymore. Hell, I don't even have time for my XBox. I must be getting old or something...
Thanks for the help.
-MR
MRacer: Just so you're aware, many GeForce and ATI cards offer dual-head (x2 monitors) and are considerably cheaper.
Two big considerations before going three monitors are 1) deskspace, esp. if they are 17"+, and 2) HEAT... three CRT monitors produce a lot of heat.
burbel: i didnt know there was a restriction on resolution for 3x monitors. Do u simply need a card with more memory perhaps? (3 monitors @ 1600x1200 would be very sweet)
Two big considerations before going three monitors are 1) deskspace, esp. if they are 17"+, and 2) HEAT... three CRT monitors produce a lot of heat.
burbel: i didnt know there was a restriction on resolution for 3x monitors. Do u simply need a card with more memory perhaps? (3 monitors @ 1600x1200 would be very sweet)
I've been doing fine on a small curved computer desk (purchased at Eurway) with 3 21" monitors on it - if these can fit, almost anything else can fit.
To be honest, I would be very tempted to get 3 of the nice looking Dell LCDs, 19" with the thin silver bezel - and those would fit anywhere...
The Parhelia has the restriction, the 256Mb version has the same restriction - I would bet that it's a restriction on the bandwidth of the card's secondary channel, since the primary channel feeds one display and the secondary channel gets split - it's effectively running 2560x1024x32bpp, which is a lot of information to be shuttling.
Also, if you are tempted to stay dual head, I would recommend just keeping your G400 - I have used both GeForce 3 and 9700 Pro cards, while they seem to be reasonably stable, I would not consider them in the same league as the G400 drivers - those have been rock solid in 2D. Now, 3D, the roles completely change - I wouldn't trust my Matrox nearly as much as I would the other cards - different markets, different focus for the drivers.
Oh, last time I checked, Dell has a sale on the LCDs - 19" for around $699, IIRC, they might still have a discount going on - go to their small business site, not personal site.
To be honest, I would be very tempted to get 3 of the nice looking Dell LCDs, 19" with the thin silver bezel - and those would fit anywhere...
The Parhelia has the restriction, the 256Mb version has the same restriction - I would bet that it's a restriction on the bandwidth of the card's secondary channel, since the primary channel feeds one display and the secondary channel gets split - it's effectively running 2560x1024x32bpp, which is a lot of information to be shuttling.
Also, if you are tempted to stay dual head, I would recommend just keeping your G400 - I have used both GeForce 3 and 9700 Pro cards, while they seem to be reasonably stable, I would not consider them in the same league as the G400 drivers - those have been rock solid in 2D. Now, 3D, the roles completely change - I wouldn't trust my Matrox nearly as much as I would the other cards - different markets, different focus for the drivers.
Oh, last time I checked, Dell has a sale on the LCDs - 19" for around $699, IIRC, they might still have a discount going on - go to their small business site, not personal site.
One other possibility - while not as "slick", you could get a Matrox G200 PCI card, and use that to run another 2 monitors, for a total of four - a lot of folks that like having multiple monitors go that route, and you should be able to find a G200 pretty cheaply (not sure if they ever made the G400 PCI or not).
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