Matrox cards

gamerguy127 · Feb 26, 2009, 04:02 PM

matrox graphics cards why are they so expensive i dont understand what there for??

BlueMak · Feb 26, 2009, 08:02 PM

I haven't followed them for years. I had a Matrox Millenium for a while.
Short answer, they went to support other things than games.

Tyrsonswood · Feb 26, 2009, 08:18 PM

I've got a Matrox G50 Millenium right now in my AMD system... paid $5 bucks used at the local surplus store. I think the high prices are because they are normally found in business systems running specialized software, like CNC machines, and other cards are not applicable or would not work (non windows OS, no ability for different drivers, etc.) So when one quits, and exact replacement is the only choice and a business will spend big bucks for one...... or scrap the whole machine.

Mine works great for dual monitor support but it would suck at games, it's not made for that. Gaming isn't something I do, I just needed a dual output AGP card and this fit the bill...... five bucks was also something that got me to buy it.

gamerguy127 · Feb 26, 2009, 11:14 PM

oh thanks for that i just always wondered wat they were because they never give to many specs for them

Matth · Feb 27, 2009, 04:33 PM

Matrox are "professional", like the Nvidia Quadro or the ATI FireGL.

Unlike Nvidia and ATI, it seems Matrox just don't bother with a presence at the lower levels any more

mike2h · Feb 27, 2009, 08:13 PM

back when they were toying with 'gaming' cards their iq was the best hands down. perf wasnt much but iq is what they were/are all about.

gamerguy127 · Feb 27, 2009, 08:56 PM

kl i get it so they kind of got out of touch with the mainstream consumer and never really came back in preffering to sell in bulk to buisnesses and such

Tyrsonswood · Feb 27, 2009, 09:56 PM

Yup..... that card I got used for $5 clams I've seen sold to businesses for $145... and it's just a basic AGP card that has DVI and VGA out.... nothing fancy at all as far as performance goes.... but they can get that in the professional market.... if it were in a computer shop it's about the same $25 VGA card...... They went where the money is....... they will continue to sell the same card for years at that price too, so no R&D needed either

rediculous

gamerguy127 · Feb 27, 2009, 11:16 PM

completely ridiculous but theyre making alot of money for going for the buisnesses and they dont have to make theyre cards look good or have any special logo's, you know making themselfs look good like nvidia and ati have to, to keep people interested so it was a good idea when you look at it that way i suppose

mike2h · Feb 28, 2009, 01:02 AM

not sure what u r saying, but their cards are top notch in the niche the are designed to work in. as has been proven several times, there just isnt room for 3 good graphic card makers in the gaming dept. market share just doesnt support it.
so it was a very good business desicion on their part to carve out their own peice of the pie... fro ma pie that had less competion & more high paying customers.

Tyrsonswood · Feb 28, 2009, 01:08 AM

If you agree with a company ripping of the business sector which in turn charges you more for products or services then, Yeah! I guess it's a good idea... it makes them a lot of money.

I think it's highway robbery. But that's just me.

No offence intended, I just see things differently than most people do.

Back to the original post.... you don't want one of these for gaming, they won't stand up to an ATI or nVidia graphics card. No comparison!

BlueMak · Feb 28, 2009, 01:58 AM

Tyrson, then why don't the companies get graphics cards from Nvidia or AMD?

Tyrsonswood · Feb 28, 2009, 02:15 AM

availability of drivers for non-windows OS for one. Also for a CNC machine, milling widgits for NASA, they don't need a gaming card but they do need the exact same card used in the machine originally if it needs replaced. (The card I have came from a CNC rig BTW, I've no idea what the OS was but it wasn't windows) The Matrox cards are also heavily used in corporate networks, again they don't need the gaming card but do need all work stations on the same page. Matrox is a quality part but not "state of the art" when compaired to what you guys have in your home PCs.

I do bauk at the prices I've seen for them, but hey.... as it's been said it's a nitch market. My agreement or dis-agreement with the pricing doesn't matter in the "real" world.

mike2h · Feb 28, 2009, 04:37 AM

i have no idea were u get that matrox is 'ripping of the the business sector'. maybe you should check out the prices of some of nv's professional cards. if the ywere such a bad value matrox still wouldnt be in business after all these years. while their technology may not to be top of the line i nmany cases they do have some intersting products that i know are popular in pro sector. there is a reason for that.

& blu mak they do buy nv, wich are have very expensive pro cards(as far as i can tell they make the most expensive mainstream vid cards out there. as far as i know, ati doesnt make any pro cards.
i dont know much about pro cards, but tyronwood hit on some of it. gaming cards only have t ofunction under a speciific set of guidlines & really dont have to d oit that well. pro cards have to be able to work under very different circumstances & have much higher demand for iq, durability, & general performance. of course this is fairly vague & a generalisition. & his statement that most of the pro cards wont work as well for gaming as a gaming card does is generally correct. wha the left out is that the opposite holds even more true.

OldBuzzard · Feb 28, 2009, 02:25 PM

The ATI abd nVidia "Professional Cards"a ren't cheap either. This is from a review on PCPerspective:

Quote:

... Pricing

This is the part where some of our regular users will probably gasp in for air: the prices on the professional level cards from NVIDIA and AMD are higher than their similar consumer parts. Exactly what types of prices are we talking about here?

Starting with the NVIDIA offerings, the Quadro FX 4800 sells for about $1570 or so while the FX 3700 goes for a more reasonable $790 or so. The AMD FirePro v8700 card sells for anywhere from $930 to $999 and the FirePro v5700 can be had for as little as $394. What you see then is a progression in card cost: Quadro FX 4800, FirePro v8700, Quadro FX 3700 and then the FirePro v5700. In some cases we also saw performance scale in a similar manner; sometimes not so much. What you need to decide then is how valuable performance is for you in your particular application in comparison to the price tags on these GPUs.

Oh, and heck, you could always get the Quadro FX 5800 with 4GB of memory for $3099! ...

The full review is here:
PC Perspective - Professional Graphics Roundup: NVIDIA Quadro and AMD FirePro

gamerguy127 · Feb 28, 2009, 07:18 PM

i can see now why the matrox cards are expensive and inexpensive at that as buisnesses only want to buy wat they need and if that breaks buy exactly the same thing that they know works untill the cards no longer support what they are doing, also it was a good point about the os thing i hadnt realised that before

Feb 26, 2009, 04:02 PM	#1
gamerguy127 HardwareHeaven Lover Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: England Posts: 168 Rep Power: 29 System Specs	Matrox cards matrox graphics cards why are they so expensive i dont understand what there for?? __________________

Feb 26, 2009, 08:02 PM	#2
BlueMak HH's Asteroids' Dominator Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Hellas->Macedonia->Thessaloniki Posts: 13,465 Rep Power: 349 System Specs	Re: Matrox cards I haven't followed them for years. I had a Matrox Millenium for a while. Short answer, they went to support other things than games. __________________ The people who are regarded as moral luminaries are those who forego ordinary pleasures themselves and find compensation in interfering with the pleasures of others(Bertrand Russell)"You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap women around for five years because they didn't wear a veil,You know, guys like that ain't got no manhood left anyway. So it's a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them." - Lt. Gen. James N. Mattis This is slavery, not to speak one's thought. [Euripides-The Phoenician Women (c.411-409 B.C.)] http://www.macedonia.info/FALLACIESANDFACTS.htm *Sic semper tyrannis.*

Feb 26, 2009, 11:14 PM	Thread Starter #4
gamerguy127 HardwareHeaven Lover Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: England Posts: 168 Rep Power: 29 System Specs	Re: Matrox cards oh thanks for that i just always wondered wat they were because they never give to many specs for them __________________

Feb 27, 2009, 04:33 PM	#5
Matth Flash Banner Hater Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: UK Posts: 3,426 Rep Power: 93 System Specs	Re: Matrox cards Matrox are "professional", like the Nvidia Quadro or the ATI FireGL. Unlike Nvidia and ATI, it seems Matrox just don't bother with a presence at the lower levels any more __________________ Mary had a little lamb, Her father shot it dead Now Mary takes her lamb to school, Between two crusts of bread

Feb 27, 2009, 08:13 PM	#6
mike2h DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: norcal Posts: 6,483 Rep Power: 91 System Specs	Re: Matrox cards back when they were toying with 'gaming' cards their iq was the best hands down. perf wasnt much but iq is what they were/are all about. __________________

Feb 27, 2009, 08:56 PM	Thread Starter #7
gamerguy127 HardwareHeaven Lover Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: England Posts: 168 Rep Power: 29 System Specs	Re: Matrox cards kl i get it so they kind of got out of touch with the mainstream consumer and never really came back in preffering to sell in bulk to buisnesses and such __________________

Feb 27, 2009, 11:16 PM	Thread Starter #9
gamerguy127 HardwareHeaven Lover Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: England Posts: 168 Rep Power: 29 System Specs	Re: Matrox cards completely ridiculous but theyre making alot of money for going for the buisnesses and they dont have to make theyre cards look good or have any special logo's, you know making themselfs look good like nvidia and ati have to, to keep people interested so it was a good idea when you look at it that way i suppose __________________

Feb 28, 2009, 01:02 AM	#10
mike2h DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: norcal Posts: 6,483 Rep Power: 91 System Specs	Re: Matrox cards not sure what u r saying, but their cards are top notch in the niche the are designed to work in. as has been proven several times, there just isnt room for 3 good graphic card makers in the gaming dept. market share just doesnt support it. so it was a very good business desicion on their part to carve out their own peice of the pie... fro ma pie that had less competion & more high paying customers. __________________

Feb 28, 2009, 01:58 AM	#12
BlueMak HH's Asteroids' Dominator Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Hellas->Macedonia->Thessaloniki Posts: 13,465 Rep Power: 349 System Specs	Re: Matrox cards Tyrson, then why don't the companies get graphics cards from Nvidia or AMD? __________________ The people who are regarded as moral luminaries are those who forego ordinary pleasures themselves and find compensation in interfering with the pleasures of others(Bertrand Russell)"You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap women around for five years because they didn't wear a veil,You know, guys like that ain't got no manhood left anyway. So it's a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them." - Lt. Gen. James N. Mattis This is slavery, not to speak one's thought. [Euripides-The Phoenician Women (c.411-409 B.C.)] http://www.macedonia.info/FALLACIESANDFACTS.htm *Sic semper tyrannis.*

Feb 28, 2009, 04:37 AM	#14
mike2h DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: norcal Posts: 6,483 Rep Power: 91 System Specs	Re: Matrox cards i have no idea were u get that matrox is 'ripping of the the business sector'. maybe you should check out the prices of some of nv's professional cards. if the ywere such a bad value matrox still wouldnt be in business after all these years. while their technology may not to be top of the line i nmany cases they do have some intersting products that i know are popular in pro sector. there is a reason for that. & blu mak they do buy nv, wich are have very expensive pro cards(as far as i can tell they make the most expensive mainstream vid cards out there. as far as i know, ati doesnt make any pro cards. i dont know much about pro cards, but tyronwood hit on some of it. gaming cards only have t ofunction under a speciific set of guidlines & really dont have to d oit that well. pro cards have to be able to work under very different circumstances & have much higher demand for iq, durability, & general performance. of course this is fairly vague & a generalisition. & his statement that most of the pro cards wont work as well for gaming as a gaming card does is generally correct. wha the left out is that the opposite holds even more true. __________________

Feb 28, 2009, 07:18 PM	Thread Starter #16
gamerguy127 HardwareHeaven Lover Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: England Posts: 168 Rep Power: 29 System Specs	Re: Matrox cards i can see now why the matrox cards are expensive and inexpensive at that as buisnesses only want to buy wat they need and if that breaks buy exactly the same thing that they know works untill the cards no longer support what they are doing, also it was a good point about the os thing i hadnt realised that before __________________