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Alan Robertosn 2003-06-29 11:49
Hi folks
I'm thinking of creating a multimonitor setup with my next PC (in about a month or two; it'll be running WinXP Pro) & I've been reading around this site to get a feel for things. Just now the graphics card/monitor specifications are a bit 'up in the air' so I'd be grateful for some advice. Here are some questions I've come up with - any help greatly appreciated!
1) 2 vs 3 monitors - I was quite happily planning on 2 monitors, but I've now seen photos of some people's setups that have 3 monitors and they look pretty damn good (see links at end)! Am I right in thinking that it's possible to configure things so that if I went for a 3 screen setup I could define the middle monitor as primary (ie. things aren't limited to one at the far left/right being designated as primary?). From what I've read it sounds like UltraMon will give me a taskbar in the other secondary screen(s)? Are there any particular downsides to running 3 rather than 2 screens (apart from the obvious one of cost!)
2) ATi vs. nVidia - my current PC is running an old Radeon 64MB VIVO. It's fine, but I'm looking for a nice up-to-date card with the new machine (i.e. with reasonably good 3D performance) - any particular recommendations? Is there anything to choose between ATi & nVidia with regards multimonitor support? Would folks advocate a dualhead card or two singlehead ones? Is the Matrox Parhelia any good? (it's just it costs approx. $400 here in the UK for the 128MB version)
3) I'm planning on using 2 (or 3) identical TFT flat panels for my monitors - are there many cards available just now that offer twin-DVI output, or would I have to have one monitor on DVI and the other on analogue VGA? It's just I'm worried about any differences in appearance between screens by mixing DVI/analogue.
4) Video In/TV - I'm quite keen to be able to watch TV on one screen whilst working in the other(s) - am I better having a separate TV card for this rather than getting it built in to the video card? (I read on the site that some cards with built-in TV functionality have problems displaying the TV on a secondary display). I've seen some references to "video overlays on both monitors" if I want to watch video simultaneously on both screens - are there any specific cards that can do this?
5) I'm currently running my single (21" CRT) monitor at 1280x1024 - is 2560x1024 (2 monitors) or 3840x1024 (3 monitors) achievable or is that pushing things too far? What resolution would people recommend? Any particular TFTs that have reasonable refresh rates?
Many thanks & sorry for so many questions, but it's quite a bit of cash I'm thinking of spending and I thought it would be sensible to get some advice from you folks first!
Cheers
Alan
- Gallery images with 3 monitors (& some amazing wallpapers too!)...
Gallery item 350
Gallery item 357
Gallery item 364
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ecarlson 2003-06-29 12:07
Here are a few answers and opinions for starters. Other people can fill in what I left out.
RE: #1 - Yes, the middle can be primary.
RE: #2 - NVidia and Matrox have a good reputation for dual-output cards. I've heard of some image quality issues with dual-output ATI cards.
RE: #3 - You definately want DVI with LCD monitors. There is a recent thread here about cards with dual DVI outputs, so read that thread for some good info.
RE: #5 - 2560x1024 (2 monitors) or 3840x1024 (3 monitors) is perfectly reasonable.
- Eric www.InvisibleRobot.com
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Alan Robertson 2003-06-30 12:15
Many thanks for those replies, Eric - especially useful to know about DVI being the way to go and steering clear of ATi, it sounds like good advice!
Thanks
Alan
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