Matrox Parhelia 256MB – 3676 days old

[Techvillage]

I have been using multimonitor solutions by Matrox at work and home since 1997. I bought a Quad port G200 MMS when they first came out so I could get rid of the multiple Millenium II's I had crammed into my box.

Since then I have seen the graphics card market climb to dizzy heights. And my G200 MMS which is a PCI card with 8MB per chip is really showing it's age now. In XP I have to turn off all XP style graphics, and for my video editing purposes has been getting long in the tooth. The skinflint in me has been holding off for years, coz it was so bloody expensive to buy, I wanted to get every damn pennies worth from it... but today I bit the bullet and ordered a Matrox Parhelia 256MB card - I'm very excited

http://www.matrox.com/mga/products/parhelia/256mb.cfm

It great for video editing and photoshop among other things, and is average in gaming, so all in all it suits me well. I lose my 4th monitor, a TFT panel I bought late last year, but that will be used as a deicated monitor for my new linux FTP and mail server.

Can't wait for it to come

[James]

TV.

I hope it work's out perfectly for You.

[Tuffie]

That sounds like it will be a great setup Tech,I hope it all turns out just as planned for you

[floppybootstomp]

I've always been curious about how that card shapes up.

It costs about the same as the ATI Radeon 9800 Pro, currently about the best gaming card you can buy.

I'll be interested to see what you think of it Tech.

Just a shame you're not into games cos I'd love to know if it can handle game graphics with aplomb. The Matrox blurb says it's good for gaming and with all that memory I think they may well be right.

Perhaps I could send you a *cough* game demo or two to try?

[Techvillage]

I will let u know flops, I might go and get Moha, so I can see what Bits MOHA server is like

I found that Scan was one of few places that stocked the 256 version at £420 including shipping, I paid more than £500 for my G200 MMS card when that came out, so in real terms its quite a bit cheaper.

I would love to get something like the ATI 9800 AIW for another box I have, but all my pennies spent now....

[Techvillage]

Originally posted by floppybootstomp
Perhaps I could send you a *cough* game demo or two to try?

No problemo Card is arriving tomorrow - I don't have much of way in comparison here - I only have the ATI9500 Pro 128 and a GEForce 3 as gaming cards in my other rigs, which the girls use.

But if u want me to try something out for u I will try my best - let me know

[Darcy]

Originally posted by Techvillage:

In XP u have to turn off all XP style graphics and for my video editing purposes has been getting long in the tooth. ** It great for video editing and photoshop among other things, and is average in gaming, so all in all it suits me well.

sounds like u primarily stick to videos for pic capturing, and a lot of it; one should be able to have them 'just so'.

The skinflint in me has been holding off for years, coz it was so bloody expensive to buy, I wanted to get every damn pennies worth from it... but today I bit the bullet and ordered a Matrox Parhelia 256MB card - I'm very excited

wtg, TechV! i'm sure will receive utmost application, and no doubt ... a review?

[Jizzy]

Sounds like a good and expensive setup. Congratulations and good luck .

[Furton]

Nice to have the option of "loosing" a TFT, I haven't even got one yet

get us some gaming results, try using a flight sim or something on all 3 screen at the same time

[Pigflipper]

I think the gaming use of that card, while still very good, is between that of a gf4 ti4800 and a 9700/9800 pro (there is hardly any differene between the two ATI cards). But unlike the gf4 cards, it supports all the dx9 eye candy (think 3dmark2k3), just like the ATI cards do.

[Techvillage]

Got it installed last night - I had to install MS Framework for it to work (it came on the CD) and it uses DirectX 9 too.


Damn - what a difference between this and my G200 MMS- way more than I was expecting.

Everything is, so defined and the colours so vivid. The Matrox desk top software is beautiful. There are photshop plugins that come with it, a monitor colour calibrator,a nd other bits and pieces. And it's fast. There is a game that comes with it that is optimised for the Matrox 3D and three screen view - will be checking that out tonite.

So far, I'm very, very pleased. One is always a little hesistant about spending so much on a VGA card, in case it doesn't come up to expectations, but nope, I'm very happy

[Darcy]

sounding great so far, TechV. i'm sure u'll let us know all the pros & cons once u've explored it more fully.

[ImaginAsian]

Tech - will you consider reviewing it from the perspective of a non-gamer. I am very interested in the results as I am considering a dual setup for gaming....this would make a great article!!

[Techvillage]

Hehe IA, your frightfully optimistic - when I get the Acronis True Image review that I have spent so long on, (True Image 7 is in danger of coming out before I stop fiddling around with it!!) , then yes , it would be review no.2.

[ImaginAsian]

shiet with that track record then, matrox will release two subsequent generations of the Parhelia

[Techvillage]

Originally posted by King Red Karma
shiet with that track record then, matrox will release two subsequent generations of the Parhelia

At least

[Techvillage]

Been living with this card for a few weeks, and thought I would give some feedback....

I luuuuurve this card!

If I could have had sex with this card I would of!

The differences between my old G200 MMS and this one are:-

#1 Speed, very fast.

#2 The software drivers are very comprehensive and complete, they are like a software suite, giving you total, useful, usable control over all apsects of your card.

#3 It just oozes picture quality. The colours are vivid, sharp, defined. It has some of the best anti aliasing I have ever seen. It greats for my video editing, again superb clarity and power where by I can preview on a real TV (it allows u to see much better how it will look on a TV) http://www.matrox.com/mga/workstation/video/home.cfm

4# 1 Billion colours with the photoshop plugin - I have cad/cam monitors so I can see the difference.

Its just a very classy, creamy smooth act.

One of the best buys I have ever made.

Oh, and games in .3 screen are the dogs bollocks

This isn't the fastest gaming card out there by any means, but it does a respecatable job, what awes me about this card, is the visual delight, of seeing every thing so clearly, it's like having high definition TV.

Damn, did I tell u I love this card?

[James]

I am pleased,for You TV! It's great when somthing actually WORKS as promised.

[Alakazam]

I'd say you're a happy camper TV! Every once in awhile we make a purchase that turns out to be exactly what we want, most excellent.

[floppybootstomp]

I searched around Matrox's site, looking at the details for that card, but couldn't ascertain one thing.

Does the Parhelia have a composite video input?

And audio in/out? Or is the audio dealt with by the sound card?

[Techvillage]

No composite input on this card Flops.

The Parhelia is a true grpahics display card only.


The Marvel is Matrox version of ATI's AIW series, but not as good as the AIW series.

Matrox has dedicated Video editing cards , which are basicaly analogue/digital video and audio input/output cards. They are used in combination with your existing graphics card.

For my editing, I have a firewire card which I use for inputting my dv and then edit in Premiere. The finished project is then recorded back onto DV tape in the video camera. A nre buy for me later in the Summer is a DVD Burner, I'm very excited about that, as it allows me to easily distribute my crap

[floppybootstomp]

Thanks for that info Tech, looking like my choice for video editing will be the Saphire ATI 9000 64MB AIW at about £130.00. This card also has stereo line audio input/output.

Believe it or not, ATI's own version of that card has no composite video input.

I don't have a Camcorder, only recording from analogue source (vcr) atm

I think my next major purchase will be a DVD burner, quite fancy the Pioneer A105. Have almost ordered one a few times, but holding back as I have too much other stuff to do for the time being.

Thanks again