Best Dual-Display Graphics Card
Written: Aug 24 '01
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Product Rating:
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Pros: A high-value, versatile graphics card with dual display function.
Cons: Multimedia software is not adequately designed.
The Bottom Line: A high-value & versatile graphics card with dual-display capabilities.
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| kuocdn's Full Review: ATI RADEON® VE, (32 MB) AGP Video Card |
Radeon VE Dual Display Edition 32DDR SDRAM is a high-value versatile graphics card with a 5 year limited warranty. Webmasters would find its multi-display capabilities very useful. Imagine using one monitor for editing html & using another monitor for reviewing html updates. It also allow the viewing of the same document such as a database file in expanded mode involving two screens. However, this option would turn out best if one is using similiar sized screens. The dual monitor support is available for an array of display screens including VGA Monitors, Digital Flat Panel Monitors, & TV Sets. A $30 adaptor for changing the digital flat panel port into a VGA port is included in the package.
ATI HydraVision Multiple monitor Management software also included in the package enable users to arrange screen displays efficiently with hot key shortcuts. It is easy to enable a second monitor without having to reboot. However, zoom function is not available in the second monitor.
Like other latest graphics cards, Radeon VE uses AGP 2x/4x port. It allows 32-bit color for resolutions up to 1920 x 1200 @ 75Hz. The Radeon VE graphics processor uses ATI HyperZ technology that provides improved overall graphics performance. It supports DirectX 8.0 & OpenGL for superior graphics as demanded by latest 3D games.
However even though it is rated as a 2D/3D graphics card, it is designed primarily for 2D-related work such as word-processing. Its core clock speed is halved from 366Mhz to 166Mhz compared to regular Radeon graphics cards due to a single pixel pipeline instead of a double pixel pipeline. This in my opinion only decreases Radeon VE graphics performance by a small scale. Comparing graphics performance with other graphics cards such as GEForce 2-based cards, Radeon VE graphics scores decreases insignificantly when changed from 16-bit to 32-bit while other graphics cards suffer a significant decrease in performance. It would then make sense to run Radeon VE cards at 32-bit mode to obtain the best performance where other graphics cards lag in the 32-bit mode.
DVD playback is made easy by ATI Video Immersion, Integrated Motion compensation, & iDCT. They enable multi-tasking during DVD playback even in basic computer systems. This built-in DVD playback saves users from having to purchase a separate $80 MPEGs/DVD decoder card. However, don't expect this DVD function or other 3D acceleration to be performed on the second monitor. Only its primary port allows for 3D acceleration.
Depending on where the ATI Radeon VE card is purchased as in Europe or North America, different versions (PAL for Europe,or NTSC for North America) are encoded in the hardware as default. This hardware encoding does not enable one to change audio tracks for VCD's at all & the VCD player that came with ATI multimedia software package does not support videoCD (VCD) 2.0 or higher so a third party DVD/VCD software such as PowerDVD or WinDVD is needed to correct this problem. An ATI Multimedia Launchpad will appear on screen every bootup. It narrowed the screen by a little & could sometimes cause problems for other programs to be unable to expand to full screen. As a note, this launchpad also eats up quite a bit of RAM; thus, reducing overall computer system speed.
Overall, I would rate Radeon VE card an above average graphics card if not considering its multi-display function. When considering its multi-display function, I would rate it excellent because there is no dual-display graphic cards that could match Radeon VE card's functionality & versatility & value.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 90
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Epinions.com ID:
kuocdn
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Reviews written: 10
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