Another high quality Matrox product!
Written: Oct 12 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Superior image quality, dual head, well rounded card
Cons: Gaming speed, price
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| aflaw's Full Review: Matrox Millennium G400, (16 MB) AGP Video Card |
I have been a long time fan of Matrox ever since I spent a considerable sum of money on the then best graphics card available, the Matrox Millenium which had a grand total of 2MB of memory! I graduated from the Millenium to the Millenium II, then to the G200 Millenium and finally ended up buying the G400MAX and also the G400 32MB.
Matrox is a smaller Canadian company which focuses primarily on video products. They have been producing top notch video cards for several years but have never had the fastest cards available for gaming. Matrox excels at image quality and features. The G400 series is no exception.
There are multiple models of the G400. There is the G400MAX which has 32MB and the dual head feature (more on that later). There is the G400 dual head version with 32MB; the G400 single head version with 32MB; and finally the G400 single head version with 16MB. The retail component here is the G400 dual head with 32MB. Be careful when buying online to ensure you purchase the one you want -- with so many cards using G400, you might be surprised what you wind up with! All of these parts are for your AGP slot, and there is no PCI version.
The most distinctive feature of this video card is the "dual head" feature which places two separate monitor connectors on the card. As you can guess, this allows you to hook up two different monitors at once. Or, you can use a monitor and a TV. Or, you can use a conventional monitor and a flat panel display.
This capability has been available under Windows 98 (and with Macs), but it has not been available in a single consumer grade video card before the G400. This features allows you to have a larger work area -- you could keep open a spreadsheet on one monitor while preparing a report on the other, for instance. Or, you could watch a movie or TV on one monitor while surfing the web for facts (if you were watching debates, for instance). People have often wondered about the usefulness of the feature until they have tried it. Then, they found it indispensable.
The G400 has probably the best image quality of any video card I have ever used, right in keeping with Matrox' reputation. Windows is remarkably crisp and clear, and games are rich and colorful. While gaming speeds are not up to the fastest available from other manufacturers (Nvidia, 3dfx, ATI), the image quality of the Matrox surpasses them all. The G400 also supports a feature called Environmental Bump Mapping, which enables program developers (mostly for games but not completely) to very easily create additional effects on an object or scene which makes that object or scene incredibly realistic. While one card may render a piece of metal as a dull grey with some shadows, EMBM enables the metal to look pitted, worn, and absolutely real looking. While it does come with a performance hit in games, it is an amazing feature.
DVD playback on the G400 is stunning. The G400 includes a DVD player, called Matrox DVD. It is a special version of WinDVD created for Matrox and is a very capable program with some nice features. For comparison, it is a more feature program than ATI's DVD Player which is standard for their products. After using both, I prefer both the DVD playback and the capabilities of the Matrox product.
Installation of the G400 is relatively painless, and Matrox has a slew of choices available. There are installation instructions in multiple languages, and the Matrox CD contains quite a few programs that you might want to install. The G400 installation installs a Matrox Display Properties utility which contains a wealth of features and information. If the thought of dozens of settings frightens you, don't worry -- the package is fine with the default settings. However, if you like to tweak your system for maximum performance, Matrox provides plenty of opportunity.
Matrox is good at releasing driver updates for their cards and generally provide good support for even older hardware. The G400 is supported in multiple operating systems, including Linux.
I would not recommend this game for hardcore first person shooter (Quake, Doom, etc.) game players. While this card is decent for games, it cannot play the latest games at fast speeds like offerings from the other companies. The other downside to Matrox products is usually price. Since Matrox is not a huge company like ATI, and their products are consistently of spectacular quality, they typically have a price premium. Many people consider it well worth it, however.
Overall, if you are a casual gamer and definitely if you watch DVDs on your computer, I would highly recommend the G400. If you have two monitors, you may also want to look at the G400's dual head feature, as many people say they cannot live without it now. While it is starting to show its age compared to some of the newer cards on the market, the G400 is still an excellent choice for a video card. Once you see how well the G400 runs your Windows desktop, you may have trouble looking at anything else.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
aflaw
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Member: Andrew Rush
Reviews written: 9
Trusted by: 2 members
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