Perhaps you are not judging the same "source image"? (you did not post any details so I can only assume) On those old cards you are probably running something like Win98 or XP which has fonts and UI optimized to look nice and sharp on CRTs. Newer versions of Windows with ClearType and UI scaling appear a bit blurry on CRTs because these are designed for LCDs. You should also wait 30-60 minutes for the voltage to stabilize, before that the picture appears lighter, larger, blurrier, skewed and can even have a color tint.

You could try using Irfanview (works in i think most versions of Windows) and load some test patterns fullscreen with 1:1 pixel mapping for your resolution. Make sure to use the same resolution and refresh rate.

I havent noticed any pressing issues with analog output on modern GPUs myself, I was switching some game back and forth (2 PCs, BNC+VGA) using the front-panel slider button and there was no difference. These days I am using a DisplayPort>VGA convertor with its own integrated DAC (500MHz!) for latest GPUs and its just fine. You would really need to dive into relatively special things such as 10-bit colors and ICM/LUT calibration to run into some issues.

Also, the picture appears blurrier (and produces less nits) the higher the refresh rate. Dark text on white background always looks blurry on CRTs (which is why you didnt need anti-aliasing for fonts in older Windows) but I like this imperfection because it adds a slight bloom/softness to games.

I used a GTX 970 on an HP P1230 (can do 2048x1536 at 85Hz or 1600x1200 at 106Hz) for a while and it looked fine in Windows 7 and in Windows 10.

The refresh rate makes the biggest difference in clarity, especially at higher resolutions. Lowering the refresh a bit can greatly improved text clarity.

duga3 wrote:

These days I am using a DisplayPort>VGA convertor with its own integrated DAC (500MHz!) for latest GPUs and its just fine.

Can you tell what converter you're using ? I'm quite interested in such a thing since it seems RGB output is bye bye on new stuff and HDMI converters are not able to do any high resolutions (more than 1920x1080) and/or refresh rates.

Tiido wrote:

duga3 wrote:

These days I am using a DisplayPort>VGA convertor with its own integrated DAC (500MHz!) for latest GPUs and its just fine.

Can you tell what converter you're using ? I'm quite interested in such a thing since it seems RGB output is bye bye on new stuff and HDMI converters are not able to do any high resolutions (more than 1920x1080) and/or refresh rates.

Sure: http://www.sunix.com/product/DPU3000.html You should also buy your own cables, they may not be included. With that you can run resolutions higher than you normally could, thanks to the higher 500MHz pixel clock, such as 3056x1910@60Hz/119kHz. Works fine in any of the highest refresh rates as well (with lower resolutions of course). There is no perceived lag even when I am playing instagib rail mods in Quake III Arena (at 1104x690@160Hz/121kHz).

Thänk you ~
It seems to be quite expensive so I'll have to save up...

Thanks for the quick response! I am a an adept of higher refresh rates, love even the way mouse cursor moves on 120+ hz. So i use only 100+ hz and yes it is blurrier than 60hz, but as i said radeon 9700 and voodoo deals with that just fine.

I didn't know the info about windows 7 fonts on crt, i guess it is a part of the problem since i was using win2000 with my radeons and voodoo and it was indeed much sharper. The hdmi-vga dongle converter i was using is very cheap. Didn't know that there are better solutions like Sunix, so Duga3 thanx, i guess i will try them out.

The DAC MHz specification in the graphics controller's data sheet is what you want to know. There are big differences.

what about this adapters? or is it better to use a native VGA Card with native VGA like 980 Ti ?

Variant 1 (Delock 85262, USB-C DP ALT Mode, ITE IT6516BFN + Cypress) :https://www.delock.de/produkte/865_USB-C--Ste … 2/merkmale.html
Variant 2 (Delock 62967, DP 1.2 -> VGA, Analogix ANX9847): https://www.delock.de/produkte/S_62967/merkmale.html

GokuSS4 wrote on 2020-03-20, 16:42:

what about this adapters? or is it better to use a native VGA Card with native VGA like 980 Ti ?

Variant 1 (Delock 85262, USB-C DP ALT Mode, ITE IT6516BFN + Cypress) :https://www.delock.de/produkte/865_USB-C--Ste … 2/merkmale.html
Variant 2 (Delock 62967, DP 1.2 -> VGA, Analogix ANX9847): https://www.delock.de/produkte/S_62967/merkmale.html

Those converters work fine mostly but they will usually output @ 60Hz wich is straining to look at on a CRT because you will perceive the flicker. Often a converter will also introduce image tearing is the monitor isn't synced anymore. The purpose of those converters is more connecting modern devices to old projectors and TFTs imho.

The VGA out capabilities of a video card depend fully on the integrated DAC. I have no idea how good or bad the one in a GTX 980 Ti is.

Deflektor wrote on 2019-05-11, 12:14:

Hi guys, i have a Crt Sony GDM F520 monitor. So here is the problem - it works great with radeon 9700 - the image quality is jus […]
Show full quote

Hi guys, i have a Crt Sony GDM F520 monitor. So here is the problem - it works great with radeon 9700 - the image quality is just superb, text and images are very sharp. Voodoo 3\5 - also great. Geforce 6600 - a little bit inferior in terms of sharpness but still good. But i want to push it further in more modern games at high framerates.

I've tried using it with MSI 750ti gpu and the result is bad. Really bad - VGA output quality is blurry as hell. Like using a hdmi-vga converter, only it was native vga output. I've used Gtx 460m from laptop - same thing, even worse.

So the question is - what is the most recent gpu with good vga output? Is there any? Anyone tried gt730 with crt? Radeon r7 240?

If they all bad, what is the last gpu generation with good vga output? Something like radeon hd 5770 maybe?

Also, what about the integrated graphics? Maybe Ryzen 2400 with vega on some expensive motherboard with vga output will be better? Please help.

I've seen the same thing. Especially at lower resolutions it's obvious that newer cards aren't producing as crisp an image.
Tested a GeForce GT 240 / GTX 960 and a Radeon X800 / HD6670 and the Radeon was the clear winner, Text was much clearer @ 1024x768 on a 19inch Trinitron.

GeForce 5 FX was the last Geforce to have what I would consider a more industry standard naturally sharp VGA output.
Geforce 6 VGA output in comparison is more saturated. Though visually appealing, it does output a slightly blurrier image, especially text.
Geforce 7 Series cards produces the same saturated image as 6 And I find it tolerable. the GT 240/9600gt/GTX 960 by comparison have awful blurry text. It effects the Bios, Windows/98SE/XP it doesn't matter.

Dothan Burger wrote on 2024-01-20, 19:44:

I've seen the same thing. Especially at lower resolutions it's obvious that newer cards aren't producing as crisp an image. Tes […]
Show full quote

Deflektor wrote on 2019-05-11, 12:14:

Hi guys, i have a Crt Sony GDM F520 monitor. So here is the problem - it works great with radeon 9700 - the image quality is jus […]
Show full quote

Hi guys, i have a Crt Sony GDM F520 monitor. So here is the problem - it works great with radeon 9700 - the image quality is just superb, text and images are very sharp. Voodoo 3\5 - also great. Geforce 6600 - a little bit inferior in terms of sharpness but still good. But i want to push it further in more modern games at high framerates.

I've tried using it with MSI 750ti gpu and the result is bad. Really bad - VGA output quality is blurry as hell. Like using a hdmi-vga converter, only it was native vga output. I've used Gtx 460m from laptop - same thing, even worse.

So the question is - what is the most recent gpu with good vga output? Is there any? Anyone tried gt730 with crt? Radeon r7 240?

If they all bad, what is the last gpu generation with good vga output? Something like radeon hd 5770 maybe?

Also, what about the integrated graphics? Maybe Ryzen 2400 with vega on some expensive motherboard with vga output will be better? Please help.

I've seen the same thing. Especially at lower resolutions it's obvious that newer cards aren't producing as crisp an image.
Tested a GeForce GT 240 / GTX 960 and a Radeon X800 / HD6670 and the Radeon was the clear winner, Text was much clearer @ 1024x768 on a 19inch Trinitron.

GeForce 5 FX was the last Geforce to have what I would consider a more industry standard naturally sharp VGA output.
Geforce 6 VGA output in comparison is more saturated. Though visually appealing, it does output a slightly blurrier image, especially text.
Geforce 7 Series cards produces the same saturated image as 6 And I find it tolerable. the GT 240/9600gt/GTX 960 by comparison have awful blurry text. It effects the Bios, Windows/98SE/XP it doesn't matter.

Thanks for the great info. I ended up using Delock 62967 adapter with my modern laptop (Geforce 2070), and 3dfx voodoo 5 agp for my retro rig (both connected to crt)

Deflektor wrote on 2024-05-03, 17:42:

Dothan Burger wrote on 2024-01-20, 19:44:

I've seen the same thing. Especially at lower resolutions it's obvious that newer cards aren't producing as crisp an image. Tes […]
Show full quote

Deflektor wrote on 2019-05-11, 12:14:

Hi guys, i have a Crt Sony GDM F520 monitor. So here is the problem - it works great with radeon 9700 - the image quality is jus […]
Show full quote

Hi guys, i have a Crt Sony GDM F520 monitor. So here is the problem - it works great with radeon 9700 - the image quality is just superb, text and images are very sharp. Voodoo 3\5 - also great. Geforce 6600 - a little bit inferior in terms of sharpness but still good. But i want to push it further in more modern games at high framerates.

I've tried using it with MSI 750ti gpu and the result is bad. Really bad - VGA output quality is blurry as hell. Like using a hdmi-vga converter, only it was native vga output. I've used Gtx 460m from laptop - same thing, even worse.

So the question is - what is the most recent gpu with good vga output? Is there any? Anyone tried gt730 with crt? Radeon r7 240?

If they all bad, what is the last gpu generation with good vga output? Something like radeon hd 5770 maybe?

Also, what about the integrated graphics? Maybe Ryzen 2400 with vega on some expensive motherboard with vga output will be better? Please help.

I've seen the same thing. Especially at lower resolutions it's obvious that newer cards aren't producing as crisp an image.
Tested a GeForce GT 240 / GTX 960 and a Radeon X800 / HD6670 and the Radeon was the clear winner, Text was much clearer @ 1024x768 on a 19inch Trinitron.

GeForce 5 FX was the last Geforce to have what I would consider a more industry standard naturally sharp VGA output.
Geforce 6 VGA output in comparison is more saturated. Though visually appealing, it does output a slightly blurrier image, especially text.
Geforce 7 Series cards produces the same saturated image as 6 And I find it tolerable. the GT 240/9600gt/GTX 960 by comparison have awful blurry text. It effects the Bios, Windows/98SE/XP it doesn't matter.

Thanks for the great info. I ended up using Delock 62967 adapter with my modern laptop (Geforce 2070), and 3dfx voodoo 5 agp for my retro rig (both connected to crt)

I'm glad you found a solution. I might have to try out the Delock If I ever rebuild my ultimate XP rig again. Can you set higher refresh rates then 60hz with the delock?

Dothan Burger wrote on 2024-05-04, 18:58:

Deflektor wrote on 2024-05-03, 17:42:

Dothan Burger wrote on 2024-01-20, 19:44:

I've seen the same thing. Especially at lower resolutions it's obvious that newer cards aren't producing as crisp an image. Tes […]
Show full quote

I've seen the same thing. Especially at lower resolutions it's obvious that newer cards aren't producing as crisp an image.
Tested a GeForce GT 240 / GTX 960 and a Radeon X800 / HD6670 and the Radeon was the clear winner, Text was much clearer @ 1024x768 on a 19inch Trinitron.

GeForce 5 FX was the last Geforce to have what I would consider a more industry standard naturally sharp VGA output.
Geforce 6 VGA output in comparison is more saturated. Though visually appealing, it does output a slightly blurrier image, especially text.
Geforce 7 Series cards produces the same saturated image as 6 And I find it tolerable. the GT 240/9600gt/GTX 960 by comparison have awful blurry text. It effects the Bios, Windows/98SE/XP it doesn't matter.

Thanks for the great info. I ended up using Delock 62967 adapter with my modern laptop (Geforce 2070), and 3dfx voodoo 5 agp for my retro rig (both connected to crt)

I'm glad you found a solution. I might have to try out the Delock If I ever rebuild my ultimate XP rig again. Can you set higher refresh rates then 60hz with the delock?

Oops, sorry, i rechecked and Delock 62967 is the model that i wanted to buy, but ended up buying Delock 87685. I guess they have the same adapter, only difference is that 87685 have 2 additional outputs - hdmi and dp.
Anyway Delock 87685 basically covers all possible refresh rates of my monitor. It could do 1600x1200 100hz or 1440X1050 120 hz. I've got some other adapters and the max i could go was 90hz at 1600x1200, 100hz at 1440x1050. And it was pretty unstable, many times it goes "monitor out of sync". With Delock i go as high as 2048x1536 85 hz stable, although at that resolution its actually better to stick to 60hz because higher frequencies adds a little bit of blur to the image, that you don't want going up that high.

I actually asked my friend in France to buy it and ship to me in Russia, because it's nowhere to be found at Ru or Chinese online-shops (cost a fortune in euro tbh).

Possible to DiY mod RX 6000-7000s & RTX 2000-3000s' ports?

I was looking for a way to connect modern GPU from NV and AMD to pre-2003 CRT and LCD directly without the signal going thru any external adapter/converter.

Deflektor wrote on 2019-05-11, 12:14:

Hi guys, i have a Crt Sony GDM F520 monitor. So here is the problem - it works great with radeon 9700 - the image quality is jus […]
Show full quote

Hi guys, i have a Crt Sony GDM F520 monitor. So here is the problem - it works great with radeon 9700 - the image quality is just superb, text and images are very sharp. Voodoo 3\5 - also great. Geforce 6600 - a little bit inferior in terms of sharpness but still good. But i want to push it further in more modern games at high framerates.

I've tried using it with MSI 750ti gpu and the result is bad. Really bad - VGA output quality is blurry as hell. Like using a hdmi-vga converter, only it was native vga output. I've used Gtx 460m from laptop - same thing, even worse.

So the question is - what is the most recent gpu with good vga output? Is there any? Anyone tried gt730 with crt? Radeon r7 240?

If they all bad, what is the last gpu generation with good vga output? Something like radeon hd 5770 maybe?

Also, what about the integrated graphics? Maybe Ryzen 2400 with vega on some expensive motherboard with vga output will be better? Please help.

For AMD, I found three RX 550 LPs with VGA ports.
For NVidia, two Zotac 1030s, two MSI 1030s, two Maxsun 1030s, and a Colorful 1030 V5-5. All featured VGA.

I'm asking several DiY 🏪 near me rn if it's possible to put a 600MHz DAC chip and 2nd-hand VGA dongle bracket with 12-pins on RTX 4000s and RX 7000s.

The later cards with VGA use a DP or HDMI to VGA conversion chip and are subject to ~165MHz limit, so no high resolutions and/or refresh rates from those VGA ports.

Tiido wrote on 2024-05-13, 22:32:

The later cards with VGA use a DP or HDMI to VGA conversion chip and are subject to ~165MHz limit, so no high resolutions and/or refresh rates from those VGA ports.

Pascal and Polaris VGA ports are all Limited at ~165MHz ?

Nopa wrote on Yesterday, 01:56:

Tiido wrote on 2024-05-13, 22:32:

The later cards with VGA use a DP or HDMI to VGA conversion chip and are subject to ~165MHz limit, so no high resolutions and/or refresh rates from those VGA ports.

Pascal and Polaris VGA ports are all Limited at ~165MHz ?

I think that Tiido meant that the implementations with an on-board HDMI or DP to VGA converter are typically limited to 165MHz pixel clocks because of the conversion chip used . This is not a GPU architecture limitation, but an implementation/design choice one. This would make sense because those graphics card use lower end GPUs whose added VGA connectivity would likely be meant for compatibility with legacy analogue VGA setups, not high resolution and/or refresh use cases such as yours.

EDIT : To be clearer, since Pascal and Polaris do not have on-chip VGA functionality (no RAMDAC), any card implementation with a VGA port will necessarily use a third-party converter chip. If the card manufacturers chose a third-party converter chip limited to 165MHz (which seems to practically always be the case), that is all you'll get over the VGA port on the card (notwithstanding potential overclocking).

Nopa wrote on 2024-05-13, 21:32:

For AMD, I found three RX 550 LPs with VGA ports. For NVidia, two Zotac 1030s, two MSI 1030s, two Maxsun 1030s, and a Colorful 1 […]
Show full quote

Deflektor wrote on 2019-05-11, 12:14:

Hi guys, i have a Crt Sony GDM F520 monitor. So here is the problem - it works great with radeon 9700 - the image quality is jus […]
Show full quote

Hi guys, i have a Crt Sony GDM F520 monitor. So here is the problem - it works great with radeon 9700 - the image quality is just superb, text and images are very sharp. Voodoo 3\5 - also great. Geforce 6600 - a little bit inferior in terms of sharpness but still good. But i want to push it further in more modern games at high framerates.

I've tried using it with MSI 750ti gpu and the result is bad. Really bad - VGA output quality is blurry as hell. Like using a hdmi-vga converter, only it was native vga output. I've used Gtx 460m from laptop - same thing, even worse.

So the question is - what is the most recent gpu with good vga output? Is there any? Anyone tried gt730 with crt? Radeon r7 240?

If they all bad, what is the last gpu generation with good vga output? Something like radeon hd 5770 maybe?

Also, what about the integrated graphics? Maybe Ryzen 2400 with vega on some expensive motherboard with vga output will be better? Please help.

For AMD, I found three RX 550 LPs with VGA ports.
For NVidia, two Zotac 1030s, two MSI 1030s, two Maxsun 1030s, and a Colorful 1030 V5-5. All featured VGA.

I'm asking several DiY 🏪 near me rn if it's possible to put a 600MHz DAC chip and 2nd-hand VGA dongle bracket with 12-pins on RTX 4000s and RX 7000s.

Such a DAC would need to interface with something on the GPU, like DisplayPort or HDMI signal pins. This is how adapters like the Sunix one mentioned by Duga3 work . DIY-ing a RAMDAC design able to cleanly handle 600MHz analogue output is likely a non-trivial task, but I am no expert on this . That being said, modifying an existing adapter to improve it (swapping out a pin compatible converter chip for one with better specs) might be a feasible option for somebody with the right tools and skillset [2].

[1]
http://www.sunix.com/product/DPU3000.html

[2]
https://www.reddit.com/r/crtgaming/comments/f … 0_alternatives/