Poor 2D text quality

Question

I've recently purchased a new Dell 8400 and have no complaints about the PC except for the poor quality of the 2D text.  The system has a 19' M993s CRT monitor and a Nvidia GeForce 6800 w/256MB of VRAM.  In addition to all of Dell's recommended driver updates, I've specifically updated the video card drivers from Dell and found a newer one on Nvidia's website, which I installed.  I've also updated the monitor's drivers.  Through Windows, I turned on TrueType (which helped), but the 2D text in MS Office applications, Internet Explorer, etc. is still blurry and poorly defined.  I'm running the screen reso at 1024x768 at 85mhz.  My old HP system using a cheap video card and CRT monitor has 100 times better text quality.  What's frustrating is that pictures, videos, 3D graphics and games look awesome on this system, but simply writing this posting is giving me a headache.   I'd really appreciate any tips to help clear up this annoying and headache inducing problem.   Thanks.   Dimension 8400 Intel P4 3.2 1 GB RAM 160GB HD Dual Drive DVD/DVD double layer RW 19' M993s CRT monitor Nvidia GeForce 6800 w/256MB VRAM

1704_dude · Answer

you might try  the old VGA cable in the new system. Also, you could try to install the old graphics card in the new system (I would do this).   poor 2D quality is normally due to poor VGA output on the graphics card

bigbigrabbit · Answer

Did you resolve this? I've just a got an 8400 with the M993s running on a Raedeon x300se card and am getting eyestrain after a very short time. I'm in the process of troubleshooting to see if it's the monitor or the card and it would be interesting to hear how you have resolved your problem.

jds4711 · Answer

Not really. I set my resolution to 1024x768 at 85 mhz and turned TrueType on. There is a TrueType wizard that walk you through more precise TrueType settings in the Control Panel. This helped clear things up a bit.

I am convinced that it's the video card. The GeForce 6800 evidently has a bad reputation for 2D graphics quality. I don't get headaches anymore, so I can live with the suprisingly bad 2D for the awesome 3D this card produces.

I doesn't seem right that, considering where video/graphics technology is today, we have to settle for this kind of compromise.

Please let me know if you find any better solutions.

Jim

Monitors

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