Video card question

[Grand Dizzy]

I'm buying a new video card to support my new LCD monitor which runs at 1900x1200.

I don't play games, so I'm just looking for a cheap card that will display 2D images and video files ok. I think the ATI Radeon 9550 would be a good choice; it's only about £40. I'd considered the 9250, but apparently the 9550 is better, and they're almost the same price. (Any other suggestions would be welcome!)

My problem is, when I look at the online stores, there seems to be several different versions of the same card, all for the same price. For example, the "Club 3D" version, the "Gigabyte" version, the "connect3d" version. I just don't understand why there are all these different versions. Are these all unofficial bootleg copies I'm looking at, or are they all legit ATI cards with slightly different features? If so, which one would be best for me?

All I really want is something that can display 2D images/apps clearly and quickly at 19200x1200 via a DVI cable. Oh, and I need one without a fan because I'm building a silent system.

Can anyone help? Which one should I buy?

[meansizzler]

Basically ATi are the company who make a chipset, and these companies such as sapphire/club 3d/gigabyte, buy the chipsets from ATi and stick them on their own boards which they design, some of them have special features like Video Input and maybe a Silent Cooler, but all in all, performnce of the cards are pretty similar, but brand wise top brands are Sapphire, Asus, HIS, Gigabyte, so if your looking for an ATi board go for either a Sapphire version or HIS...


Well any card should be able to play back video 2D stuff at that resolution, but if you want one that is media center compatible, i'd go with a radeon x700 AGP as it has DVI and Analogue component output, you can just add a Silent cooler to it, such as the Zalman VF700-CU, total is £100

Sapphire X700 £70


Zalman VF 700-CU VGa Cooler £24

Also alot of people on here have the Gigabyte 6600GT Fanless, which is a bit much at £130, but it silent and is similar in performance if not better than the X700..

Gigabyt 6600GT


Just Make sure you know if you need the PCI-E verison or AGP version...

[Grand Dizzy]

Thanks for all the info sizzler!

I know that I need the AGP version for my motherboard. But then again I do plan to upgrade my mb so that's got me thinking now because PCI-E is better isn't it? Hmmm..

I don't use media center (never even heard of it), but I will consider the x700, thanks.

As for cooling. I wouldn't imagine I needed much cooling on my video card. I mean, it won't be doing much work will it? I'm only going to be using it for 2D stuff.

Anyway, cheers for the help