PDA

View Full Version : 2D Graphics Card

Long View
August 14th, 2008, 02:10 PM
I'm looking for a 2D Graphics card which creates as little heat as possible. The current card is an Nvidia Geforce 8500 GT which works in a PCI e slot.

Does anyone still make cheap cool 2D cards ? that would work in a PCI e slot ?
JRViejo
August 14th, 2008, 11:49 PM
Google is your friend: 2D Graphics Card PCIe (http://www.google.com/products?q=2D+Graphics+card+pcie&btnG=Search+Products&hl=en&show=dd&checkout=1&price2=100.00&scoring=p&sa=N&start=0) sorted from low $0 to high $100 - Enjoy!
Long View
August 15th, 2008, 06:42 AM
Thanks - only one 2D card - looks like 3D is part of the deal these days ? and no way of knowing how hot they run.
JRViejo
August 15th, 2008, 02:58 PM
Yeah, 3D is the standard these days, and the huge fans on the card is indicative of how hot they run!
lodore
August 15th, 2008, 08:02 PM
couldnt you just of got a motherboard with onboard graphics?
3d graphics cards have been standard for ages.
doesnt mean that you cant get a cheap 3d graphics card which uses little power.
go for one of the ones that are ment for media centre pc's. they have no fan so make no noise. they use a heatsink only and are genrally underclocked.
all computer componants use less power and genarate less heat than the older versions.
so i say just keep your current nvidia card.
Long View
August 16th, 2008, 04:14 AM
current card runs at 52c which I understand is not bad. By underclocking I can reduce this to 48c. Will stay with this card for now but if I could find a better card. The MB has no onboard graphics. it is an Intel DP35DPM recommended to go with the E8400 3.00 GHz
JRViejo
August 16th, 2008, 06:47 PM
Long View, perhaps you can use this nifty program: GPU-Z (http://www.techpowerup.com/gpuz/) to compare your present card specs to any others, during your search for a replacement.
mrhero
August 19th, 2008, 02:16 PM
Once upon a time when there was no 3d cards, the best card manufacturer was Matrox. And they still make and sell pure 2d cards -but not cheap-.
www.matrox.com
Long View
August 19th, 2008, 02:30 PM
I have one machine with a Matrox and thought of them. I have the option to use PCI e 16 or PCI . Not sure if there is any benefit for 2D ?
JRViejo
August 19th, 2008, 03:36 PM
Card manufacturers went the PCI Express way due to faster transmission rates when compared to the old PCI standard (the difference being a direct serial interface rather than a shared parallel bus) so you might not have a choice.

The Matrox M-Series (http://www.matrox.com/graphics/en/press/releases/2008/corpo/mseries/), while expensive, feature Fanless Passive Cooling and a 3 year warranty: M-Series Product Line (http://www.matrox.com/graphics/en/products/graphics_cards/m_series/).