I have used Matrox cards for years due to their excellent 2D
performance.
In the current crop of ATI and Nforce chip driven video cards is there
a make/model that provides first class 2D performance?
No better than the Maxtrox lines, like a G450. However,
past technological revolution pretty much eliminates 2D
performance as a factor. Enter DVI- every pixel arrives at
the monitor with 100% accuracy even from the cheapest of the
low end video cards.
I'm suggesting that if absolute best 2D is important, you
need a DVI input capable monitor if you don't have one yet,
then randomly grab any video card that has DVI output.
Otherwise, you might mention which slot it'll fit into- PCI,
PCI Express, or AGP. In general the cheapest cards are a
gamble for analog output, their output filter stages may
have parts off spec some and introduce blurring, in addition
to a slower ramdac than newer or better cards. Thus a
mid-grade card from ATI or nVidia is a typical solution but
if you have special needs it would be good to mention those
now.
