Video Card Recommendation

[O]

It's time to upgrade video card. Currently I have a ATI Rage 128 PRO AGP X4, running on a P3 with a gig of memory, XP Home.
What I want is to be able to run dual monitors. I'm not much of a gamer but I do a lot of cad work including rendering.
Any suggestions?

 

[Cardinals.Ken]

How much are you willing to spend?

 

[O]

Ideally, under two hundred.
But, I have been known to be a spender.

 

[Cardinals.Ken]

ATI Radeon 9800 Pro (8x AGP, 128 DDR) is commonly available for around $200. Check www.pricewatch.com for the best online prices.

 

[Ryanwb]

You ain't gonna get the full effects out of that baby with a P3

Maxtor makes a totally decent dual monitor video card. You can't ride with the big boys until you have atleast a Prescott processor baby!

 

[CardinalMike]

It's time to upgrade video card. Currently I have a ATI Rage 128 PRO AGP X4, running on a P3 with a gig of memory, XP Home.
What I want is to be able to run dual monitors. I'm not much of a gamer but I do a lot of cad work including rendering.
Any suggestions?

Since you aren't a gamer I would suggest you don't get a regular consumer card like what Ken suggested. While it's screaming for games it is not suited for CAD work. Unfortunately the cards that are, are fairly expensive with the top of the line well over $1000.00. However there are some basic cards that are around the 260 dollar range that are solid for a home CAD system.

Here is one of them: http://www.ati.com/products/fireglt2-128/index.html

Also Matrox and 3D Labs still make similar cards. You might even be able to find a refurbished one for a bit cheaper. My advice is to check out pricewatch.com or newegg.com to price these.

Cardinal Mike!!

 

[Ryanwb]

You ain't gonna get the full effects out of that baby with a P3

Maxtor makes a totally decent dual monitor video card. You can't ride with the big boys until you have atleast a Prescott processor baby!

Duh, not Maxtor but Matrox....I use one in my office but it is only a 16 MB card