Should I choose video card with DVI only or VGA/DVI connectors for best quality?

[felix5]

Just purchased two Dell 19" 1907FP LCD monitors, was wondering which of the following two PCI video cards would work better with DVI out? I think I heard it's better quality if the card is a dedicated DVI only rather than DVI/VGA out? Text sharpness is priority. Right now i'm using onboard VGA on our Dell Dimension 3000 and it's crap. No AGP/PCI-e so the selection is limited.


Powercolor ATI Radeon 9250
http://www.canadacomputers.com/index.ph...wProduct&cmd=pd&pid=005884&cid=999.876

EVGA E-GEFORCE FX5500
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?...84&vpn=128-P1-N320-LX&manufacture=eVGA


Note I'm in Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada and my budget is less than $75 CDN shipping included (the cheaper the better).

 

[darkswordsman17]

That second card only has one port, so you wouldn't be able to run both monitors with it.

For two 1907FPs you'll want dual DVI, or at least I would. It shouldn't be a huge difference, but text sharpness would be one area that it would.

I don't think you'll find a card for that price that has dual DVI.

Just realized I don't know if you were planning on buying two cards or just one.

 

[SniperGuy]

Actually there's a really cheap VGA to DVI adapter you can get so he could run both monitors on a DVI/VGA card. Tis what i'm doing at the moment. I have like 4, they keep coming with every visual thing I buy.

 

[darkswordsman17]

Originally posted by: SniperGuy
Actually there's a really cheap VGA to DVI adapter you can get so he could run both monitors on a DVI/VGA card. Tis what i'm doing at the moment. I have like 4, they keep coming with every visual thing I buy.

A VGA to DVI adapter is pointless, as thats converting it from digital to analog (done on the video card for the analog port), then to digital. Since its already been converted to analog, the loss in signal quality has already taken place, so converting it back to digital is pointless, and would introduce more signal quality loss due to converting the signal again. This signal quality loss is all theoretical, but you'd be just as well off running straight VGA to the monitor.

DVI to VGA adapters make sense because its only being converted to analog once (on the connector) which would be roughly the same as its doing converting it to analog for the analog port of the video card.

Perhaps you're talking about DVI to VGA adapters, as those are common and come with just about every video card anymore (if it has DVI that is).

The 1907FP has both VGA and DVI inputs, so he can run it with any card that has two ports, but he might notice some loss in image quality using VGA.

 

[Rhonda85]

This one costs less and has 128bit memory. I would not recommend 64bit memory unless it was under $30.00

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102527

 

[felix5]

Nope, not interested in dual DVI. Will be only using one monitor at a time.

So no ideas about the DVI only vs. DVI/VGA quality? Maybe i'll just pick up one of each card, if I'm getting the $299 Dimension 1100 system on sale found on RFD forums. Yes, only $299 Canadian dollars + free shipping. Need at least one card though

Originally posted by: Rhonda85
This one costs less and has 128bit memory. I would not recommend 64bit memory unless it was under $30.00

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102527

Thanks, but I'm in Canada. So our computer stuff is always more expensive even after the exchange rate! And NewEgg does not ship to Canada. The major computer stores here are the big chains futureshop, staples, and the smaller ones are Canada Computers, NCIX, etc. Not everyone here is in USA.

Good suggestion on the card though, i was looking at that card but couldn't find the link again. Now that you mention, this is the lowest price I found for this card and it's a local store just minutes from here, sells for $64 + tax which is a bit cheaper than both of the above.

ATI Sapphire Radeon 9250 128M DDR PCI
http://www.guntaiware.com/videocards/

This one looks like it has both VGA & DVI. Looks like passive cooling too. Any idea regarding text quality compared to the eVGA FX5500 which has DVI only? Would the DVI only one be better?

Edit: Added this as one of the poll responses.

 

[darkswordsman17]

Just about any fairly recent card should have good quality. With DVI it they would probably be about equal as far as text quality. I think I'd probably go for the ATi chip, but either one should suit you fine.

Ok, I'm confused. You bought two monitors but will only use them one at a time?

 

[felix5]

Originally posted by: darkswordsman17
Ok, I'm confused. You bought two monitors but will only use them one at a time?

Yes, I did not say that both monitors were for myself. My main gaming PC always had DVI out .. the second LCD isn't really for me.

 

[darkswordsman17]

Originally posted by: felix5

Originally posted by: darkswordsman17
Ok, I'm confused. You bought two monitors but will only use them one at a time?

Yes, I did not say that both monitors were for myself. My main gaming PC always had DVI out .. the second LCD isn't really for me.

Ah, I see, makes sense now.