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riz 2001-07-01 07:17
I'm planning on running dual 21's @ 1600x1200... currently I'm running a Radeon AIW and an old 4mb PCI card... suffice to say, my output quality is not so great on the second monitor. I recently read up on the Matrox G550 and it has me intrigued.... So, I'm wondering for 2d image quality and system performance, what is better - one card or two? I'd figure two cards with higher ramdacs and more total ram would beat any single card solution for overall 2d image quality and performance... Your opinions are appreciated
riz
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sebastien 2001-07-11 05:06
That is exactly what i am trying to figure out. If you found any article discussion the pros and cons of dualhead vs 2 vards please post it or send me an email
Thank you
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Christian Studer 2001-07-11 08:46
The G550 has a 360 Mhz RAMDAC for the first VGA output, and a 230 Mhz RAMDAC for the second VGA output, max resolution 1600x1200x32 (from the G550 fact sheet).
With two cards, you will of course have a full-performance RAMDAC on each one, but I don't know if it makes any real difference. I would just check with Matrox what refresh rates they support on the second monitor at 1600x1200, running at 60Hz probably isn't what you want.
See Matrox G450 or two video cards for more on dualhead vs 2 cards.
Christian Studer
www.realtimesoft.com
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riz 2001-07-11 14:55
Well, I never did find a definitive answer on which way is best but I can tell you what I went with and my impressions...
My main card is a Radeon DDR 64mb and my second card is a Radeon SDR 32mb... All I can say is, wow, it rocks! 1600x1200 on both monitors @ 85hz with stunning clarity (both cards have 350 ramdacs)!! Absolutely no slow down in pages refreshing, moving windows, resizing windows etc ...my previous 2nd card try was a Xpert 128 16mb and I could not do 1600x1200 on it @ 85hz and there was noticeable lag in resizing and moving windows...
Also, what's really cool is after installing the card, Win2k imediately installed the same drivers as my 64mb DDR card... both cards show up as they should and only one driver set was needed... simple as that
Overall, I did see a noticeable speed difference from 16mb to a 32mb second card but nothing you couldn't live with having a 16mb card... the main difference I'd think is the dual 350 ramdacs which offer awesome clarity at high refresh rates... I'm doubting a 230 ramdac could match a Radeon 350 ramdac
FYI: Fry's has a great deal on the Radeon SDR 32mb PCI card... I got it for a LOW $69.99... Normally it's a $129 card but they had it on special for $99 and there is also a mfg rebate for another $30 off!
Thanks for listening,
riz
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