DVI vs VGA et al.

**DaVulf** · 07-12-2006, 10:38 PM

Alright, so after my recent purchase of monitors (2 20.1" LG's with 1400:1 contrast ratio) I'm in the market for a decent video card.

Now, looking at most on the market, they have VGA and a DVI slot, as opposed to two DVI's. What is the difference between them? I have one monitor on DVI and the other on VGA and I can't see much of a difference, if any at all. They are exactly the same monitor, configured exactly the same, so I should technically see a difference, no?

If anyone has a suggestion for a video card, that could work too. I'm looking to spend around $250USD (something close to $300CDN). If there is a really good card that I MUST buy for slightly more than that, it is cool too. I'm just trying to gauge my wallet

.

Doumo Arigatou!

**random25** · 07-12-2006, 10:56 PM

Are you looking for PCI, AGP, or PCI Express ?

**indivision** · 07-12-2006, 11:00 PM

You'll want something with considerable power due to the real estate it needs to refresh. Im using NVIDIA GeForce 7800 GTX. It has two DVI's and I think it might be near that price by now.

I believe that VGA is not as good quality. Though they have greatly improved its performance, you should be able to see a difference with DVI being a little sharper.

**random25** · 07-12-2006, 11:01 PM

VGA is analog, DVI is digital.
If you are running VGA with an analog monitor it would be slower than DVI with a digital monitor.(I think)

**indivision** · 07-12-2006, 11:03 PM

If the monitors are digital it has to convert the VGA connection .... i think also.

**indivision** · 07-12-2006, 11:05 PM

btw. not sure if im a fan of the new avatar random. just doesnt have the same impact i was growing accustomed to with the other.

**random25** · 07-12-2006, 11:11 PM

Yea the old one was good, but i had been using it for so long, i kinda felt it was due for a change. I'm still lookin for something better.

**WannaBe_80z** · 07-12-2006, 11:16 PM

I am a ATI fan myself so anyything ATI in your price range will do you just fine just find a model with 2 dvi's and you will be set.

Trying to gauge your wallet? Where did that gauge go when you bought those 2 20.1" lcd screens?

how much did those set you back?

**gerbick** · 07-13-2006, 12:26 AM

random... I seriously think you need to change that avatar too, dude. I might just have a few for you

I'm going to say my opinion... if you have LCD, go DVI. Seriously... that's digital to digital and it's just that much clearer to me... they say that DVI/LCD can't be calibrated... BS. It can be...

Anyway, it looks like my video card, if not my motherboard, is about to die on my lowly AthlonXP machine, so that means AGP8x cards only. Any recommendations?

**random25** · 07-13-2006, 11:26 AM

Originally Posted by gerbick

random... I seriously think you need to change that avatar too, dude. I might just have a few for you

Yea, send them my way.

I have been feeling so dull, and completely uninspired lately that i cant even think of anything cool.

**DaVulf** · 07-13-2006, 08:38 AM

Wow, lots of replies while I was asleep.

I just bought my MB last year, and it doesn't have PCI-E on it (i should have thought of that) so I'm stuck with AGP cards. The monitors were about $915 for the both of them. This is one of the reasons why I don't have tons of cash to spare

.

Both of these monitors have a DVI input, so I'm assuming they are digital displays. Even so, with a VGA plugged in, I don't see much of a different, except when looking at HRHDVT video.

**Markp.com** · 07-13-2006, 08:42 AM

One more vote for the avatar change

**JWin** · 07-13-2006, 10:27 AM

@Gerbs, you can probably pick up a Radeon 9x00 series card pretty cheap anymore. I've got the 9200se and it works fine, I'm not going to be playing Doom3 with the graphics all the way up anytime soon but whatever.

**DaVulf** · 07-13-2006, 11:04 AM

@Jwin: I'm currently on a 9800 Pro (AGP) that I will be trashing. This card isn't terrible, but I see considerable lag in more recent games (Dark Star One for instance).

@Gerbs: If you want this card, once I buy a new one you can have it as long as I can figure out how to ship it to you.

**gerbick** · 07-13-2006, 12:56 PM

Originally Posted by DaVulf

@Gerbs: If you want this card, once I buy a new one you can have it as long as I can figure out how to ship it to you.

which card?

shipping should be a snap. send via FedEx ground, with charges reversed. I can pay for it... and it should be less than 10 USD that way... take about a week to get here though.

**DaVulf** · 07-13-2006, 01:08 PM

Its a 9800Pro AGP 128mb.

Any suggestions on a new card that won't break the bank?

**gerbick** · 07-13-2006, 01:12 PM

quickly searching around, I found this listing and the prices pretty much hover around 60.00 bucks... which, ain't bad!

As to which? Couldn't tell you right now... I haven't really researched video cards in the last year. And to oppose wannabe, I'm normally a nVidia fan, despite ATi actually having better 2D color gamut quality in their newer cards, I tend to do more 3D on the PC side.

**DaVulf** · 07-13-2006, 01:15 PM

Thanks Gerbs. I'm actually thinking somewhere in the $200-$350 cdn range for a card. I figure if I will upgrade, it might as well last me a year or so.

I'm more of a 3d fellow myself actually.

**DaVulf** · 07-13-2006, 01:15 PM

Here is the card I was looking at.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...Tab=0&NoMapp=0

**mark_my_words** · 07-13-2006, 02:40 PM

Shader Model 3.0

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