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Forums -> Multiple monitors -> 8800 GTS CRT image quality and non 8800 GTS third monitor..?
Peter   2007-03-11 13:09
I'm hoping to move from an old '8800' (ATI FireGL) to a *new* Nvidia 8800GTS (!). My budget does not stretch to two 8800 GTSes, and I wish to run three monitors - two CRT, and one TFT (DVI-D).

Questions - first of all, has anyone tried connecting an 8800GTS to a CRT at very high resolutions (i.e. 2048x1536x75Hz).

Second, has anyone got either XP (preferable) or Vista at a push to work with triple screens using an 8800GTS and another card with different display drivers? The 8800GTS uses its own brand of forceware, and after various hassles with ATI cards I'm minded to go for two Nvidia cards. Thoughts?

(the second card will be something DX9 based, and fairly cheap : it will not be used for heavy gaming)

Cheers!
Anla-shok   2007-03-11 14:59
I have a Asus 8800 on one of my systems running three monitors through a Matrox TripleHead2Go, plus another Monitor on the primary DVI. Looks amazing. You can pickup a dualhead2go for as cheap as a low end graphics card on ebay, and it would let you do everything without any extra software.
Peter   2007-03-11 21:46
Thanks for the reply Anla, you've given me something to think about. I'm pondering my graphics options.

Basically I have an IBM CRT C220p (running at 2048x1536) - has both DVI and HD15 inputs even though it's a CRT (currently using HD15 - it's better on that than a DVI-A), a VP730 (1280x1024 - DVI-D) and a Sun GDM20e20 (1280x1024x76Hz HD15 via 13W3 adaptor). Because they're running at different resolutions and refresh rates (the GDM20e20 *must* run at exactly 76Hz) the Triplehead2Go isn't a viable option.

However, I'm considering two options neither of which are mutually exclusive

First - given the fact the R600 is imminent and Nvidia has a new, post 8800 80nm part in readiness maybe I should wait a small time and get lower powered graphics card(s) first, as a price war may be looming...

Second - I was considering a TripleHead/Dualhead option here as it seems a really nice piece of kit. Unfortunately the resolution support is extremely poor - it won't even support dual 1600x1200, never mind 1880x1440 or 2048x1536 :(. If it did, and had a really clean, lossless signal path it might have been a good option.
Peter   2007-03-11 21:59
Actually, I'm probably being very unfair here. Graphics cards that can output 3200x1200 are rare/non existent, and an analogue output of over 4,000 pixels is in cloud cuckoo land, so who am I kidding?

The triplehead/dualhead would be an option if I got another 1280x1024 TFT, unfortunately I want my CRT to be my main monitor, and having one monitor split in two on either side of it might look a bit odd..
Forums -> Multiple monitors -> 8800 GTS CRT image quality and non 8800 GTS third monitor..?

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