24 Bit Color and Video Cards
I'm in the process of building a new system and have a question for all you videocard experts out there. I remeber a few months back, a big deal was made over nVidia hardware being unable to render in 24 bit color mode.
I'm in the process of building a new system and have a question for all you videocard experts out there. I remeber a few months back, a big deal was made over nVidia hardware being unable to render in 24 bit color mode. If I remeber correctly, the main discussion was regarding perfomance in Half-Life 2 and the resulting visual quality. Now, as I get ready to build this system, I've come to realize that I need 24 bit color for one of the applications I will be running. So I'm curious. I'm planning to get either a nVidia 6800 Ultra or a Radeon X800 XT, but I've been unable to find out if the new generation of nVidia hardware supports true 24 Bit rendering as the ATI cards do.
As it stands right now, I'm tempted to go with the nVidia card, as I have always liked the products. I will be running a PCI Express version of the card, so I'm not concerned about power, because I know I have the proper 6 pin connector and a 600 watt PSU (The AGP to PCI bridge on the nVidia seems kind of funky though, so feel free to comment on that if you'd like). Space isn't a factor either, I have plenty of room left even if I go with nVidia and their crazy 2 slot requirement. But I need the 24 Bit functionality. I know that for games, I can just set it to 16 bit color (with some visual degredation) and still run fine. But my business software will actualy require the 24 bit color (Don't ask me why, I have no idea). So for now I'm on hold. I've looked around and I can't find any discussions that really cover this topic. If there have been some, I apologize deeply for missing them. Either way, if you could help me figure this out, or post a link to an article discussing the issue, it would be great. Thanks in advance.
As it stands right now, I'm tempted to go with the nVidia card, as I have always liked the products. I will be running a PCI Express version of the card, so I'm not concerned about power, because I know I have the proper 6 pin connector and a 600 watt PSU (The AGP to PCI bridge on the nVidia seems kind of funky though, so feel free to comment on that if you'd like). Space isn't a factor either, I have plenty of room left even if I go with nVidia and their crazy 2 slot requirement. But I need the 24 Bit functionality. I know that for games, I can just set it to 16 bit color (with some visual degredation) and still run fine. But my business software will actualy require the 24 bit color (Don't ask me why, I have no idea). So for now I'm on hold. I've looked around and I can't find any discussions that really cover this topic. If there have been some, I apologize deeply for missing them. Either way, if you could help me figure this out, or post a link to an article discussing the issue, it would be great. Thanks in advance.
Participate on our website and join the conversation
This topic is archived. New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be cast.
Responses to this topic
If your application is a standard desktop app, then any modern graphics card will be able to provide 24-bit colour in Windows (it's called TrueColor in Desktop Settings)
The 24-bit issue with nVidia cards only becomes an issue with 3D applications. I too seem to remember something about nVidia cards and 24-bit colour processing, but can't remember anything more than you.
If you're worried about the 24-bit thing in 3D apps, then go for ATI - there isn't much to separate the high end nVidia or ATI cards at the moment, and both are available in PCIe versions.
Rgds
AndyF
The 24-bit issue with nVidia cards only becomes an issue with 3D applications. I too seem to remember something about nVidia cards and 24-bit colour processing, but can't remember anything more than you.
If you're worried about the 24-bit thing in 3D apps, then go for ATI - there isn't much to separate the high end nVidia or ATI cards at the moment, and both are available in PCIe versions.
Rgds
AndyF
Another side note on the graphics display in True Color mode, this is also called 16.7 Million color mode and mode graphics card drivers now call it 32-bit mode because of the extra alpha-channel bit added to the 24-bit True Color mode. So if your driver does not have a specific 24-bit selection but does have the 32-bit selection, then you choose that and the app(s) should work just fine
