Diamond Speedstar 8MB AGP card...opinions?

[MC]

I have one of these. I don't play games or need 3D really. The only use I have for it is for internet jpegs or whatever; bought it cause it was $45 or so. Do these suck terribly - I haven't run the system with it yet - and will they support decent pics on a 17" monitor?

Thanks -

Mike

[harddisk]

I guess it's pretty OK for 2D, considering it has 8MB and an AGP card as well...
Not too outdated as well...
I think it can support MPEG1 acceleration very well

[pfsal]

It's an average board. On the low end but not too bad.

[BC_1]

Yeah, I bought this card a few months ago to replace my aging ATI RageII. Since I already had a V2 SLI setup handling all my 3D games, all I needed was just a good 2d card for surfing and work. I love my A50. It's a great 2d card for the money ($50-60 OEM). MPEG acceleration is not bad either.

Don't get me wrong, it doesn't compare to the G200, Banshee, or TNT, but if all you're looking for is a decent, cheap 8mb AGP video card to take care of your 2d duties, this is it. Works great with my V2 SLI with no conflicts at all.

One thing I would mention however, if you do get it, stick with the drivers that come with the CD. Diamond overclocked the latest ones (2/9/99) to inflate the benchmarks and it may cause problems on your system.

The reference ones are actually even better (chock full of features, screen position adjust, gamma correction, utility, MPEG player, etc. etc.). If you want to give them a try, go here:

http://www.sis.com.tw/driver/vga_1.html

Get the file named 326Win98.exe. Don't bother with the WHQL certified one.

[This message has been edited by BC_1 (edited 03-16-99).]