2D performance ATI compared to Matrox

Hi,

I recently upgraded my monitor to an iiyama 22 inch Diamnondtron
(HM204DT, Vision Master Pro 514). I'm really satisfied about it.

The only thing that bothers me is a fuzzy image at high resolutions at
high refresh rates (currently 1600 x 1200 @ 85 Hz). The image is
significantly more crisp at lower refresh rates or lower resolutions.

I think this is probably due to my Nvidia Geforce2 MX 400 graphics card.
I read a few posts and articles about blurry 2D quality with these cards.

I'm looking for an upgrade, and although 2D performance is much more
important to me, I wouldn't want to cut back on the 3D performance my
Geforce2 MX had (which isn't great compared to high-end 3D cards nowadays).

So I was considering either a low-end ATI or a Matrox card which would
cost about 100 euros (comparable to about 100 dollars). I don't want to
pay much more than that (the monitor already cost me a fortune)

The problem with the Matrox cards I looked at (G450, G550) was that they
had pretty bad 3D performance (even worse than my Geforce2 MX). They
deliver superb 2D quality though.

On the contrary, the ATI Radeon 9200 card is very good in 3D. I don't
know about the 2D quality. Does anybody know how it compares to the
G450/G550?

I would like to work comfortably in at least 1600 x 1200 @ 85 Hz. This
should feature very crisp image quality. The 2D performance has thus a
higher priority.

Thanks in advance,

--
Jo Vermeulen
Student Computer Science at the tUL
email:
www: http://lumumba.luc.ac.be/jo