What are the best video cards to use with Scala 5?

Hardware FAQ Solution #24, Video Cards (last modified 01/22/2009):

PCIeX16

nVidia PCI-Express, (PCIeX16), Graphics Cards

The "very-low-end" and "low-end" cards generally have very poor Heat-Sink-Fan assemblies. Customers should be made aware that these devices are likely to be a future maintenance issue.

"Very-Low-end"/"Low-end" is viewed as single-output, <= 1360x768, three or less "Zones", Limited Video playback--no HiDef. [or dual output, <= 2x1024x768] "Mid-Range" with 512MB is viewed as single-output up to 1920x1080, or two 1360x768, displays with HiDef video clips.

"High-End" is two 1920x1080 HiDef displays, several "zones," multiple HiDef video clips.

ATi RADEON cards are best for 60 FPS Video, Single Output. Dual/Triple-Display is currently only practial with the use of a Matrox GXM. [DualHead2Go / TripleHead2Go--Digital or Analog--3840x1024 max]

NVIDIA GeForce cards are best for limited to 30 FPS video, Dual-Output. Dual-Display possible w/o a Matrox GXM.

Very Low End Discrete Graphics

EVGA 256-P2-N732-LR GeForce 8400GS 256MB 64-bit GDDR2 PCI Express x16 Video Card

ASUS EN8400GS/HTP/256M GeForce 8400GS 256MB 64-bit GDDR2 PCI Express x16

POWERCOLOR 24PRO 256M DDR2 Radeon HD 2400PRO 256MB 64-bit GDDR2 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card

ASUS EAH2400PRO/HTP/256M Radeon HD 2400PRO 256MB 64-bit GDDR2 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready Video Card

Low-End Discrete Graphics

Currently _NO_ Intel Integrated Graphics Processor, (IGP) Chipset is approved! (not i945G, Q963, G965, G33, G35, or any of the X4#-series)

 EVGA 512-P3-N944-LR GeForce 9400 GT 512MB 128-bit GDDR2 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card

PNY VCG94512GXEB GeForce 9400 GT 512MB 128-bit GDDR2 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card

SAPPHIRE 100255L Radeon HD 4670 512MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP

EVGA 256-P2-N741-LR GeForce 8500GT 256MB 128-bit GDDR2 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card

ASUS EN8500GT SILENT/HTP/256M GeForce 8500GT 256MB 128-bit GDDR2 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready Video Card

SAPPHIRE 100206L Radeon HD 2600PRO 256MB 128-bit GDDR2 PCI Express x16 CrossFire Supported Video Card

EVGA 512-P2-N747-LR GeForce 8500GT 512MB 128-bit GDDR2 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card

XFX PVT84JYAJG GeForce 8600GT 512MB 128-bit GDDR2 PCI Express x16 SLI Supported Video Card - Retail 

Intel Q963 or better--AMD/ATi? RADEON Xpress 1150+ or nVidia Geforce 61## strongly preferred.

ATi RADEON Xpress,(RS41x, RS48x, RS69x), IGP chipsets offer better graphics performance than the Intel products--and more flexible 16:9 display mode options.

ATi RADEON Xpress 1200+(1250, 1270, HD3200)

nVidia GeForce 6150LE or better (7050, 7150, 8200)

INTEL _MOTHERBOARD_ CHIPSETS ARE FINE.

Mid-Range Discrete Graphics

EVGA 512-P3-N956-TR GeForce 9500 GT 512MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP

XFX PVT95GYDQ3 GeForce 9500 GT 512MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP

ZOTAC ZT-96SES4P-FSL GeForce 9600 GSO 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16

EVGA 512-P3-N963-TR GeForce 9600 GSO 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP

SAPPHIRE 100256L Radeon HD 4670 1GB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready HIS Hightech H467QS1GP Radeon HD 4670 1GB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP

ASUS EN8600GT SILENT/HTDP/512M GeForce 8600GT 512MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Super Silent Video Card

EVGA 512-P2-N757-TR GeForce 8600GT 512MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail

PNY VCG86512GXPB-OC GeForce 8600GT 512MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card

SAPPHIRE 100207L Radeon HD 2600PRO 512MB 128-bit GDDR2 PCI Express x16 CrossFire Supported Video Card

ATi RADEON X2400PRO or better.

ATi RADEON HD2400PRO or better.

nVidia [[GeForce8400GS] or better.

ATi RADEON Xpress 1200+(1250, 1270, HD3200.

nVidia GeForce 6150LE or better (7050,7150, 8200).

 PCIeX16, (a.k.a. "PEG" cards): nVidia GeForce8600+ w/512MB, Dual DVI-I connectors or DMS-59+"Y-Cable".

If "Dual Output" or HDTV/Component(Y, Pr, Pb) output is required, nVidia products are strongly suggested. If tradition "TV", (NTSC/PAL), capability is desired, ATi products are superior. If "90-degree rotation", (a.k.a."Portrait Mode" is wanted--currently the nV products are better--although in this area the "best" title has been which from Ati to nV and back on a Quarter to Quarter basis.

"Fake Graphics Memory:" Both nVidia and ATi have low end PEG graphics cards that are designated, "TC"(TurboCache)for nVidia, and "HM"(HyperMemory) for ATi. These "special cheap" cards have only 16 or 32 MB of real graphics memory and "use system ram" for the 128MB or 256MB that they report as having to the system. THESE CARDS ARE TO BE AVOIDED! This is an issue with many of the "Mainstream Corporate" PC's from IBM, DELL, HP, FSC, etc.

High-End Discrete Graphics

PNY VCG96512GXEB GeForce 9600 GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16  HDCP

EVGA 512-P3-N863-TR GeForce 9600 GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP

XFX PVT98GYDF4 GeForce 9800 GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP

EVGA 01G-P3-N870-AR GeForce 9600 GT 1GB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP

HIS Hightech H485QT512P Radeon HD 4850 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16

XFX HD-485X-YDFC Radeon HD 4850 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP

GIGABYTE GV-R485MC-1GH Radeon HD 4850 1GB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP

ASUS EN8800GT/G/HTDP/512M GeForce 8800GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card

XFX PVT88PYDD4 GeForce 8800GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card

EVGA 512-P3-N805-A1 GeForce 8800GT KO 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card

DIAMOND 3870PE4512SB Radeon HD 3870 512MB 256-bit GDDR4 PCI Express 2.0 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card

SAPPHIRE 100215L Radeon HD 3870 512MB 256-bit GDDR4 PCI Express 2.0 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card

ATi RADEON X1650/512MB or better.

nVidia GeForce7800?/512MB or better. Dual DVI-I connectors or DMS-59+"Y-Cable".

Very-High-End Discrete Graphics

EVGA 01G-P3-N972-TR GeForce 9800 GT 1GB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP

EVGA 01G-P3-N880-AR GeForce 9800 GTX+ 1GB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP

EVGA 01G-P3-N981-TR GeForce 9800 GT 1GB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP

SAPPHIRE 100259-1GL Radeon HD 4870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP

HIS Hightech H487F1GP Radeon HD 4870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP

DIAMOND 4870PE51G Radeon HD 4870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP

ATi RADEON X3600/512MB or better.

nVidia GeForce8800/512MB or better. Dual DVI-I connectors or DMS-59+"Y-Cable".

SAPPHIRE 100211 Radeon HD 2900XT 1GB 512-bit GDDR4 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card

DIAMOND 2900XT1GPE Radeon HD 2900XT 1GB 512-bit GDDR4 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card

PNY VCQFX5500-PCIE-PB Quadro FX5500 1GB 256-bit GDDR2 PCI Express x16 SLI Supported Video Card

LOW-PROFILE-GRAPHICS CARDS:

Very-Low-End:

DIAMOND Stealth 2400PRO256PEL Radeon HD 2400PRO 256MB 64-bit GDDR2 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready Low Profile Video Card

 Low-end:

XFX HD-435X-YAH2 Radeon HD 4350 512MB 64-bit GDDR2 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready Low Profile Video Card

 Mid-Range:

XFX PV-T95G-YALG GeForce 9500GT 512MB DDR2 128-bit PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Low Profile Video Card

 High-End:

Galaxy 96GFF6VIFCXX GeForce 9600 GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0  x16 SLI Supported Low Profile Video Card

Requirement for "Dual-Link DVI-D

Many of the Very-Low, Low, and Mid-Range cards only support Single-Link DVI or only support Dual-Link DVI on the primary output.

None of the IGP solutions are really ideal for "High Performance" scripts. These are cheap embedded graphics core chipsets best suited for modest needs. Figure a single 1360x768@60Hz display with no more than three frames of which only one is a video file. Do not use Intel 800 or 900 series IGP for InfoChannel 5.

• Intel's G33 chipset has very good performance for an IGP on a par with NVIDIA GeForce6150 and ATi RS4## series. However the Intel Q35, while sharing many of the same performance attributes of the G33 it does not appear to permit the BIOS-selection of the size of the video memory allocation. On our single sample this appears to be set to 64MB. [We have checked the PDF's for two other Q35 systems, and none of them have the "32, 64, 128, 256 MB" options that I see in every G33 board's BIOS]. This means that while appearing to perform great the Q35 failed our stress test in under an hour.

NOTE: The G33/Q35 boards we have access to have considerable compatibility problems with some PCIeX16 Video cards, PCI TV-Capture cards and PCI RAID controllers [some of the problems have been fixed in recent BIOS updates].

Our view is that the G33 and the G35 will be good products for IC5 when the BIOS/chipset bugs are fixed. Reason: Intel appears to have seriously addressed the raw performance of their IGP. The faster FSB's and Memory Bus'es will raise the basic performance of the IGP solution into the territory of some of the lower end 64-bit graphics cards. The Q33/Q35 if it is true that they do not permit variations in video memory allocations are not options for use with IC5. THIS IS AN AREA THAT WILL LEAD TO SOME CONSFUSION AS INTEL CALLS THE "Q33/Q35" CHIPSETS "GMA3100", WHICH IS ALSO THE NAME OF THE "G33" [the "G35" gets the new fancy name of "GMA3500"].

• The NVIDIA GeForce 7050(AMD CPU) and 7150(Intel CPU) IGP's have excellent performance. These are actually "cost reduced" successors to the GeForce 6150, which was a very good chipset for IC5. They work, and work well.
  

• The ATi 690T/V/G. This is AMD/ATi's current IGP. Also known as the "RADEON Xpress 1200/1250". Stable. Using current board samples and drivers these chips are not performing as well as the previous generation ATi IGP product. This confuses us as by every other benchmark. The 3DMark/Sandra chipset should be performing about 7% faster than the RS4##'s, and considerably better than the Intel/NVIDIA chipsets. Its stable and worth watching.

• The VIA CN700. This is the IGP chipset of the current VIA EPIA/Mini-, Nano-, & Pico-ITX boards--as well as the VIA "VESA-Mount Digital Signage Engine". Totally worthless.

NOT YET TESTED/NO OPINION

Intel "X4#" Chipsets/IGP. [e.g. "G43", "G45", etc.]

nVidia GeForce 8200

NOT SUPPORTED

Intel GMA X4500HD has tested as not stable for use with Scala5 Release 4.0 with the currently released Intel XP drivers.

Regards,

Scala Technical Support