Matrox Millennium
G450
When Matrox got in touch with
us about reviewing the Millennium G450 it brought up a couple of interesting
issues. While the original G400 had been a very big step forward in display
quality and 3D displayed effects there have been several cards released since
then that offer similar quality with higher performance. So the question became
could a video card designed for the business world compete with cards that
were geared towards the home consumer or gamer? The gears started turning
in my head and I decided this would be a very interesting review.
|
Features |
The
Board |
- 0.18 micron technology
- AGP 1X, 2X, 4X
- 360 MHz RAMDAC
- 32 MB DDR memory
- 256-bit DualBus
- DualHead Display
- Environment-Mapped
Bump Mapping
- Integrated TV
encoder and DVD playback
- 2048 x 1536
max resolution primary display, 1600
x 1200 secondary display
|
|
First
Impressions
One thing that is very noticable
is how scanty the packaging for this unit is. Other manufacturers have gone
to boxes large enough to hold a motherboard. That may do wonders for keeping
the things from walking off store shelves but to the uneducated buyer it gives
the impression of more product. I'm pretty wary of marketing concepts that
were perfected by cereal makers.
Inside the box resides the card,
which was surprisingly small. It is nearly identical to a Voodoo 3 3000 in
size that I compared it to - but the PCB of this board is packed full of many
more components. What is immediately apparent is that it has the capability
for dual display which Matrox calls DualHead. Another thing that stood out
was that the unit doesn't feature a fan on its heatsink - and the heatsink
is equipped with a grounding wire! I began to wonder just how much static
electricity can a video card make?
Also included in the box is a
thorough instruction manual, the dongle cable that allows the second unit
to display on a television, and the driver CD. I have to point out that the
manual included with this card is a real hard-bound book. No wimpy quick hookup
guide here folks. So we've covered the very basic information here. Let's
talk about what could make this card interesting to you.
