Matrox cards at DVinfo.net

Andzei Matsukevits · June 16th, 2005, 06:38 PM

I made search but most of results talk about only rtx cards.
Im building new edit station for premiere, and wondering what graphics cards should i get. I dont have money to get matrox rtx 100, i might have choise to get rtx 10. But then, it does not support HD and probably in 5 years i need new computer, so its maybe not very smart to invest in that card. Then i was thinking about Matrox Millennium and Parhelia series. Card must be dual head and also i want to connect video monitor for colors....So what should i get? I'm still leaning on Millenium P or Parhelia, whats the difference? I would not mind to edit in real time, but then and dont wanna spend that much money

thnx

Adam Kampia · June 16th, 2005, 07:45 PM

First off, The Millennium and Parahelia cards are jsut graphics accelerator cards (like NVidia or ATI, but built more for video workstations rather than gaming machines). They have no RT hardware support and whill not help you edit in real time whatsoever.

The RTX cards are not graphics cards. They are RT support cards with an external breakout box for viewing on an NTSC or PAL monitor, and capturing analog. You still need an additional video card (with dual monitor inputs,in your case). The RT series has no HD support, and it most likely never will (the next genration of RT cards will probably take that on).

The Millenium and Parahelia cards might have external monitor output, but I'm not 100% sure.

Now that you know the difference, hopefully your decision will be a bit easier.

I can say this: Stay away from 3D Labs Wildcat series of video cards. Animators and 3D effects guys like them, but I've had more issues with that one little video card than with any other piece of hardware I've ever owned (and its tested to work with Matrox). Tech support is atrociously vague with 3D Labs and driver updates take forever to respond to known issues.

Phil Holder · June 16th, 2005, 10:59 PM

Hi Andzei
The new Parhelia or Millenium P750 graphic cards from Matrox let you operate with 3 monitors. If you have a decent size computer you don't really need an RT or RTX card just use Premiere. The only difference you will encounter is the length of time for rendering and the availability of some effects.

Good luck Phil

Manny Desantos · June 17th, 2005, 05:43 AM

don't get an ATI Radeon 9600XT. It's great for games but doesn't work all that good in a video editing machine.
We have one in our newer RTX.100 suites and the video on the computer monitor looks like crap, it's really jagged looking and hard to see any kind of detail so we have to keep looking at a video monitor.

I also have a 9600XT in my internet machine at home and tried to use it to edit something a couple of weeks ago since my RT2000 machine wasn't capturing correctly.
I could not get the DV video to play smooth at all on the computer screen, it came out of the firewire port into the camera fine while editing, but we didn't want to have to keep looking at a 2.5" LCD as we edited.

In the end I just cleared up some space on the RT2000 machine and copied the project folder over to that machine and edited the project.

June 16th, 2005, 06:38 PM	#1
Andzei Matsukevits Major Player Join Date: May 2005 Location: Tallinn, Estonia Posts: 300	Matrox cards I made search but most of results talk about only rtx cards. Im building new edit station for premiere, and wondering what graphics cards should i get. I dont have money to get matrox rtx 100, i might have choise to get rtx 10. But then, it does not support HD and probably in 5 years i need new computer, so its maybe not very smart to invest in that card. Then i was thinking about Matrox Millennium and Parhelia series. Card must be dual head and also i want to connect video monitor for colors....So what should i get? I'm still leaning on Millenium P or Parhelia, whats the difference? I would not mind to edit in real time, but then and dont wanna spend that much money thnx

June 16th, 2005, 07:45 PM	#2
Adam Kampia Regular Crew Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 58	First off, The Millennium and Parahelia cards are jsut graphics accelerator cards (like NVidia or ATI, but built more for video workstations rather than gaming machines). They have no RT hardware support and whill not help you edit in real time whatsoever. The RTX cards are not graphics cards. They are RT support cards with an external breakout box for viewing on an NTSC or PAL monitor, and capturing analog. You still need an additional video card (with dual monitor inputs,in your case). The RT series has no HD support, and it most likely never will (the next genration of RT cards will probably take that on). The Millenium and Parahelia cards might have external monitor output, but I'm not 100% sure. Now that you know the difference, hopefully your decision will be a bit easier. I can say this: Stay away from 3D Labs Wildcat series of video cards. Animators and 3D effects guys like them, but I've had more issues with that one little video card than with any other piece of hardware I've ever owned (and its tested to work with Matrox). Tech support is atrociously vague with 3D Labs and driver updates take forever to respond to known issues.

June 16th, 2005, 10:59 PM	#3
Phil Holder Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Perth Western Australia Posts: 70	Hi Andzei The new Parhelia or Millenium P750 graphic cards from Matrox let you operate with 3 monitors. If you have a decent size computer you don't really need an RT or RTX card just use Premiere. The only difference you will encounter is the length of time for rendering and the availability of some effects. Good luck Phil

June 17th, 2005, 05:43 AM	#4
Manny Desantos New Boot Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Norfolk, VA Posts: 7	don't get an ATI Radeon 9600XT. It's great for games but doesn't work all that good in a video editing machine. We have one in our newer RTX.100 suites and the video on the computer monitor looks like crap, it's really jagged looking and hard to see any kind of detail so we have to keep looking at a video monitor. I also have a 9600XT in my internet machine at home and tried to use it to edit something a couple of weeks ago since my RT2000 machine wasn't capturing correctly. I could not get the DV video to play smooth at all on the computer screen, it came out of the firewire port into the camera fine while editing, but we didn't want to have to keep looking at a 2.5" LCD as we edited. In the end I just cleared up some space on the RT2000 machine and copied the project folder over to that machine and edited the project.