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Colin 2003-06-11 09:24
im thinking on a 3 monitor setup, im wondering wether i should go get my self a new dual head card or get 2 new single head cards (still using my original card in both cases). what advantages/disadvantages are there to both and what would the price diference be.
Thanks
Colin
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ecarlson 2003-06-11 14:28
Matrox makes a few. There's a PNY Quadro card and an ASUS card if you like NVidia cards. There are also some 3DLabs Oxygen cards. I don't know if there are any ATI based cards.
I don't know which cards are better, though I do like my PNY GeForce4 Ti4200 card, which has dual VGA outs (though only one of the outputs supports DVI).
Of course, it also depends on your budget, and what applications you plan to use with the the card. I mostly use 2D apps, so I don't know much about 3D performance issues.
- Eric www.InvisibleRobot.com
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ecarlson 2003-06-11 14:30
OOPS! I posted the above message in the wrong thread. I'll repost it in the correct thread.
- Eric www.InvisibleRobot.com
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Ed 2003-06-12 12:19
I just started to look into that... I think the first thing you have to know is at what resolution you want to run each monitor. Some dual/tripple cards require that you run all monitors at the same resolution. If you have the money and you are running 3 monitors at the same resolution, and you are running in analog mode, and the resolution is 1280x1024 or less then the Matrox Parhelia seem to be the way to go for now. See http://www.matrox.com/mga/products/comp_chart/gseries_pseries_parhelia.cfm -- all 3 monitors in one card and they are supposed to be somewhat integrated. Otherwise you will probably need to get at least 2 cards. Probably a PCI and an AGP.
If you are a gammer and must have the latest and greatest, ATI seems to be at the top right now, but they are not big in dual monitor cards. But again the $400 card of today, will be outdone by the $150 card of a year from now. Nvidia and Matrox are also worthy choices. ATI has some compatibility issues with some ASUS motherboards and ViewSonic flat screen pannels.
If you are not sure your configuration will work, get your stuff from a place with a liberal return policy.
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Ed 2003-06-12 12:28
Sorry I read your post again and I now noticed that you want to keep your current card. I presume that is an AGP. If so, you probably want to look at the Matrox Millennium G450 PCI which for $115 will get you two monitors. Check http://www.matrox.com/mga/products/mill_g450/pci.cfm
If you find another PCI card that runs two monitors and you like better let me know as I'm shopping for one. :-)
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fargis 2003-06-18 12:49
I got hold of an Elsa Gladiac 511 a while back. GeForce2 MX PCI, dual head, and TV-out capability.
You wish to keep your original card in both cases, so i'm assuming it's half decent! If you're not bothered about 3D performance on the 2nd and 3rd displays, then you might as well just find a cheap dual-head PCI card (or even two old single-head PCI cards, whichever comes cheaper). It'll be a doddle to set up, as long as it doesn't conflict with your original card.
If you are bothered about peformance, then at least one good solution is to get a pair of GeForce4 PCI cards (MX420 or MX440). Same goes for resolutions, the higher you seek, the better the card(s) you must get.
Some general advice would be to stick with the same manufacturer if you can, if only to avoid having loads of different video drivers on your system.
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