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Drew 2003-07-20 08:03
Hi,
After reading through the forum topics for several hours, I think I have found the ideal setup for my new three monitor setup, but I would appreciate any suggestions or feedback that could help make my decision more successful.
The forum has been very informative, but as I am very new to the multiple-monitor setup "world", a response to the following would be great.
I am looking to buy 3 Planar PX191 19" LCD monitors and mounting them on an Ergotron three monitor support.
While the monitors and mount were relatively easy decisions the video cards, however, were not so straight forward.
I am thinking of purchasing a Gainward FX PowerPack! Ultra/780 XP 256MB Professional GeForce FX 5600 Video Card w/Dual DVI & VIVO for my AGP card, however, I am not sure what PCI video card I should purchase. Obviously, the card needs to have a DVI connection for the third LCD monitor, but I would also like it to be of a newer generation Nvidia chip much the same as the FX5600. Any suggestions?
Also, I am curious whether there are any implications with the Gainward AGP card as it has VIVO and I had read on the forum that some users had some issues with that. Of equal interest is any implications that the use of my SB Audigy 2 Platinum will have on the setup as I have read that there are some sound quality issues with some video cards on the PCI bus.
Thanks a lot for your help; it is greatly appreciated!
System Specs:
MSI 875P Motherboard
Intel Pentium 4 3.2 GHz CPU
1GB Corsair PC3700 Memory
Maxtor 480GB RAID 0+1 Hard Drive Array
SB Audigy 2 Platinum Sound Card
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Drew 2003-07-20 08:40
I'm sorry, I forgot to mention that I am running Windows XP Pro.
Thanks!
System Specs:
MSI 875P Motherboard
Intel Pentium 4 3.2 GHz CPU
1GB Corsair PC3700 Memory
Maxtor 480GB RAID 0+1 Hard Drive Array
SB Audigy 2 Platinum Sound Card
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Drew 2003-07-20 11:16
Sorry, three other points were:
1. The system will be used primarily for gaming.
2. While the cheaper the better, the price isn't quite as important as the setup working successfully.
3. While I have listed Nvidia chipsets as ones that are favored, ATI chipsets aren't out of the question, it just seemed that there were less "issues" with the Nvidia chipsets with display spanning and other issues from what I have read on the forum. Please correct me if I'm wrong.
Thanks again in advance for your help, it's really appreciated!
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Barton 2003-07-21 00:42
Drew,
You are right as far as issues with nVidia chipset boards as opposed to ATI, at least in my experience.
As far as a PCI card, that's a tough one. I know Inno3D does several based on the nVidia MX400 chipset (I'm using one) but when to buy? Inno3D's website shows several resellers but "ResellerRatings.com" does not have very high remarks for any of them. I guess you're on your own for this one.
Regarding your questons regarding the VIVO on the Gainward, I'm using the Ultra750 and have had absolutley zero problems with it, although I have never tried to output to a TV, I have "captured" several short videos and have had no problems. I can't answer the SB Audigy issue. I'm using the SB Live 5.1 and again, no problems.
You will love the Ergotron stand, but be prepared, it's VERY HEAVY once you get the monitors mounted. Take you time puting this together. DON'T RUSH. One screw up and you could puncture the face of your monitor. I would suggest wearing some kind of gloves so you don't get unnecessary finger prints on the face of the monitor. Give yourself lots of space and put down some blankets or towels in case you drop one of the monitors.
Good luck, have fun and be sure to post your completed rig in gallery when your done!
Barton
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Drew 2003-07-21 02:11
Barton,
Thanks for your help; it is appreciated!
I will look around for a good PCI DVI video card, although I haven't had much luck yet.
I will be sure to post a picture and the specs in the database when I'm finished setting it up.
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Barton 2003-07-21 09:46
Drew,
I found this one at AMAMAX.com. It's based on the nVidia GF2 MX400 and its a dual head PCI (DVI&VGA) card for $104.00.
This is the same one I'm using to power my third monitor (I just don't use the other VGA out) and it works just fine.
My only concern is AMAMAX, although; it might be hard for them to screw up a simple order like this one.
Good Luck.
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Drew 2003-07-22 01:16
Thanks Barton, I appreciate the link!
I will give it a shot and hope they come through with my order.
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Drew 2003-07-22 02:43
Perhaps I can ask you a couple more questions, Barton, since your setup appears very close to what I hope to setup.
How do you find the performance of gaming to be with your setup? From what I've read on the forums you primarily play simulator games, however, have you ever tried playing first person games such as Jedi Knight II or Unreal Tournament 2003 with your setup? If so, how was the performance?
My primary concern is for gaming performance as that is the main use of my home PC. Before coming across so much information on multiple monitor setups I was simply going to have one 23" LCD and a high-end gaming card, but the multiple monitor setup intrigued me and after seeing so many great setups it seems like a much better idea - especially since the cost of 3 smaller LCD's is not too different from one 23" LCD.
It appears that multiple monitor support (three monitors in particular) is in it's infancy until ATI and NVIDIA come on board with support for it, but I'd much rather setup something now with multiple monitors if the gaming performance is still good and upgrade my video card later if ATI or NVIDIA start supporting 3 monitor setups.
What are your thoughts?
Thanks for your help! Everything is greatly appreciated!
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Barton 2003-07-22 04:01
Drew,
You're right as far as multiple monitor being in it's infancy when it comes to gaming. While the use of MM's has been around and supported since Windows 98, the gaming aspect is still very new.
Hopefully, someone out there will step up and release a card that can really support the gaming , especially in a digital format. Matrox does a pretty good job for triple analog, but once you've experienced digital, analog taks a back seat.
The only first person game I've really played is "Medal of Honor - Allied Assault." That was pretty cool and it worked fine across dual monitors, but as soon as I went to triple, no go. I thing it was primarily due to the OpenGl and/or DirectX limitations.
I ultimately want to get to where I can open a window in flight simulator, span all three monitors and still keep a 25-30 fps rate. Right now I can span 2 monitors using nView and still keep a 26.2fps rate. nView just can't go to three monitors (or span across two cards). I'm constantly reading the trades and looking on the net for a triple or quad, DVI card that has 128 or 256mb of memory and RAMDAC's of 300mHz or higher.
ATI, Matrox, Appian, whomever..., if you read these posts, PLEASE design something soon.
Later...
Barton
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Drew 2003-07-22 06:08
Barton,
Thanks for all your feedback, it's been really helpful in trying to decide what exactly I do about setting up my three monitor system.
Perhaps you could lend your opinion to the following:
AGP Card: Existing GeForce FX 5900 Ultra
PCI Card: Appian Typhoon with 2 x DVI Connectors
The setup isn't ideal as I wanted to use exclusively Nvidia chipsets, however, given the fact that an "ideal" gaming solution isn't really available I'm not so keen to get rid of my 5900 Ultra as it is very new.
I was thinking perhaps that for those few gaming (or otherwise) solutions that can uniquely benefit from a three monitor setup, the above-mentioned setup will suffice, but in order to maintain performance for other games (or other applications) that only support one monitor, then the 5900 Ultra is still there.
Perhaps (hopefully!) in the near future Nvidia, ATI, or whomever will have a high performance, three monitor supported video card, but until then what are your thoughts on the above mentioned setup?
Thanks a lot for your help, it's been really helpful - it would have been very difficult to figure out otherwise!
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Drew 2003-07-22 06:29
Barton,
Since posting my possible setup, it appears that instead of the PCI Appian Typhoon, I can get the PCI AppianX which they say has suppport for hardware accelerated OpenGL across multiple displays, unlike the Typhoon.
Perhaps this is a better option?
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Barton 2003-07-22 12:17
Hmmmmm... might be an interesting configuration. The only thing that concerns me is ATI drivers conflicting with the nVidia drivers and "HydraVision" conflicting with "nView."
I have absolutely no experience with ATI/nVidia combo setups. Someone else reading this post might have some insight.
I think I would try, if you can, buying the card locally from a dealer and giving it a try. If it works and you can buy it online for a substantially lower price, then you can return it the "retailer." The other benefit of buying it locally is if it doesn't work, it would be an easy return.
If you decide to buy the Appian card online, be sure to pick an "e-tailer" that has an easy return policy. Looking at Appian's website, CDW and PCMALL would be good choices. I have never had a return with either, but purchased items from them and both are tops in the field.
I would be very interested to hear how this works out. I am always looking for other options in case one of my cards goes belly-up.
Barton
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Drew 2003-07-24 01:09
Barton,
Yeah, I was thinking about the same thing with the conflict, however, I have a Radeon 9700 from another PC I can use if that is the case - I'll just switch them out. Hopefully it's that simple.
I suppose we can only hope that someone is working on a high performance video card that supports multiple monitors.
Thanks again for all your help!
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Christian Studer 2003-07-24 16:16
Software conflicts shouldn't be an issue, you can always disable either the nView Desktop Manager or HydraVision, both are optional and not an integral part of the display driver.
I have 3 Nvidia cards and an ATI card installed, no problems. I'm not using either nView or HydraVision though.
Christian Studer - www.realtimesoft.com
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Drew 2003-07-25 01:42
Christian,
If you disable either the nView or Hydravision, can you use a third-party application (like Ultramon) to have those disabled multi-monitor features?
I have been very impressed with the features of Ultramon that I have read about and plan to use it when I have my multi-monitor system set up, however, it would be a shame if some of the functionality was lost because I had to disable the chipset specific software.
Thanks for your help, it's always appreciated!
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Christian Studer 2003-07-25 03:36
UltraMon doesn't have all the features of the other utilities, for example no virtual desktop manager.
You can always run UltraMon together with another utility, there are only minor issues with the nView Desktop Manager and HydraVision, and you can disable features you don't want to use or which conflict with another application.
Christian Studer - www.realtimesoft.com
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