Doug Shannon 2002-04-20 02:24
I just order 4 19in. Viewsonic GS790 CRT monitors based upon the PCWorld's ratings. Now I need to decide what would be the best video cards to use. I'm thinking either:
Nvidia Geforce4 MX 440 AGP Twin View
Nvidia Geforce2 MX 400 PCI Twin View
or
Matrox G550 dual head AGP
Matrox G450 dual head PCI
Which would be a better solution? I run one 2D graphics application in particular that I need to stretch across all 4 monitors. The problem I'm having with the nvidia cards is finding which card supplier offers the above cards. It seems that some don't offer multi-monitor functionality even thought the chip set is capable of it (i.e. PNY doesn't seem to offer a Geforce2 PCI card with two connectors)
Please help.
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Nite 2002-04-20 05:12
You'll have to go with matrox, or get 3 cards. _no one_ at this moment manufactures a GeForce4-based card with Twinview capabilities in PCI form factor. sad, but true.
\Nite - "can't rain all the time"
Multi-Monitor Gaming Web
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Christian Studer 2002-04-20 06:34
I would also recommend the Matrox cards, you might also want to take a look at the G200 quad card, 4 monitors from a single PCI card.
See this review for more information.
Christian Studer - www.realtimesoft.com
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Doug Shannon 2002-04-20 07:14
If I go with Nvidia I could get a Geforce4 AGP and a Geforce 2 PCI. PNY makes a Geforce4 MX 440 AGP with 2 VGA connectors. Evga makes a Geforce2 MX 400 PCI with 2 vga connectors. I assume this setup would perform better than the Matrox solution since the Geforce chip sets from what I have heard and read outperform the others like Matrox.
2 Questions:
Am I missing something?
Will I be able to open up an application and then stretch it across all 4 monitors if I use a 2 card solution? I ask this because 1 card is controlling 2 of the monitors while the other is controlling the other 2 monitors. In other words, can the 2 cards interact with one another?
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Nite 2002-04-20 07:24
Question2 Answer: Yes they can. That's what we call multi-monitoring in the first place :)
But for the Matrox/nVIDIA thing, if you plan on using only 2D apps and *not* 3D Games, Matrox is the only reasonable solution. Matrox is able to beat up every other card manufacturer in 2D quality and speed. 3D is the weak spot for Matrox.
If you're planning to work across all monitors, be sure to grab a copy of UltraMon here... :)
\Nite - "can't rain all the time"
Multi-Monitor Gaming Web
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