[H]elp me setup tri-monitors

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Foolio882

Gawd
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Aug 25, 2002
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Currently I have an ATI Radeon 9700 Pro with a Samsung SyncMaster 955DF Monitor. I also have about 5 extra 17" Monitors. This leads me to only one conclusion...

MOAR MONITORS!

So I want to setup 3 monitors. One for movies and games (the 955DF) and the other 2 for internet and... well I'll find a use, somehow. So what I figure I need to do is buy a PCI videocard with 2 outputs, the most common choices being VGA and DVI. I've been looking at the Radeon 9000 64MB DDR Ram, as it is cheap (only $55,) an ATI card (no driver issues) and PCI. I might go with the 9200SE, as it has 128MB Ram, and I assume this would be better for dual monitors. But i digress...

Once I get the card and install it, will I be able to control everything through Windows (2K Pro, SP4 if it matters) or will I need an outside program to set everything up? The cards i'm looking at also say they only support DirectX 8.1, I'm currently using 9.0b. Problem? Perhaps... Unless I can set each vid card to use a different version. Can I?

Cliffs, for the ADD Crowd:
1) Want to add PCI Vid card to run 3 monitors
2) Can I do it through Win2k?
3) Will I have to run 2 different versions of DirectX? Can I?
4) ...
5) PROFIT!

Edit: Spelling, clarity, and stupidititityness.
 
theres a lot of odd questions spaced closely that arent related, im just gonna give you some info :p

i had my 3 running like this:
ti4200
VGA - mon 1
DVI - mon 2
PCI vid card
VGA - mon3

i just slapped the cards in and then went into BIOS and set the initial display device as PCI slot. if your looking for a dual mon PCI card .... good luck, i think matrox makes them.

as for software .... windows will recognize them and allow a few options thru desktop props>settings tab but i really recommend ultramon. it supports smart taskbar so programs on mon 3 will have taskbar icons on mon 3 and not on your main monitor. it also has cool shortcut key features and CAN *although i hate* integrated options in the r-click menu. its also free. it also works well for games too ...... sometimes games have problems with multimonitors. for starters your not gonna be able to play any games across more than one monitor. i forgot why i said first .... as if i had a list ... anyways ... ultramon will allow you to "disable secondary" which actually disables all monitors except the primary. this keeps your mouse from blindly running onto other monitors even though u cant see it in a game.

sorry if im confusing ...... im really tired, just studied 6 hrs for bio110 test :(
 
Matrox g400(or any of the g cards). They come in both PCI and AGP. I never understood why all these other dual monitor cards have vga and dvi and not dual vga. The Matrox cards are pretty solid. I used a g450 up until I got my radeon 8500, but then I quickly threw an old pci card in so I could get dual monitors back. Hell, you could get a couple g400s and set up five monitors. So long as there's no hardware conflicts or anything, windows will recognize the extra screens. Some dual cards lock the resolutions on both outputs so they both have to be the same, but I know the matrox ones can have independent resolutions. I wouldn't think the directx version thing should matter. If you are running DX9.1 but the cards only support DX8 then they won't support all the extra stuff in DX9.1 but they will still work with DX9.1. Like how new versions of windows still run on old hardware.
 
matrox does make a card with dual VGA outs but i believe they are mad expensive. if my memory serves me right.... like close to $300.:eek: i would suggest using you current vid card for the first two monitors and a second cheapo PCI card for your third. you don't really need anything special when it comes to the PCI card cuz all you're gonna be doin is Internet and stuff like that. which doesn't really take much! so i would do it that way. your not gonna hurt your card any having two monitros hooked up to it b/c it will shut off for games and the like. don't know bout 2k and multi monitors. i have a GF FX card and it has support for setting up multi monitors, so you might wanna check your current cards software. if not i know there are some programs you can use. can't think of them off the top of my head tho.:rolleyes:
 
2000 should support it just fine. Don't quote me though, I don't have any 2000 systems, but from what I've read there should be no problem...

I have my dual head ti4200 in the AGP slot powering my first 2 monitors, and a 2MB PCI card I picked up for 1 dollar. You really don't need more than that for a secondary monitor, mine runs 1024x768 @ 32 bit just fine, and you can't game on your second monitor anyway...

Just make sure the PCI card is in the FIRST PCI slot (usually the one next to the AGP slot). I don't know why this matters, but it does... Also, make sure that "init. display first" is set to PCI in the BIOS and not AGP.

Besides that, everything should be fine... I love triple monitors, I feel disabled when I can only use two for some reason. I don't know how people get by with only one... Yes, I spoil myself. :p
 
Originally posted by lukeh182
matrox does make a card with dual VGA outs but i believe they are mad expensive. if my memory serves me right.... like close to $300.:eek: i would suggest using you current vid card for the first two monitors and a second cheapo PCI card for your third. you don't really need anything special when it comes to the PCI card cuz all you're gonna be doin is Internet and stuff like that. which doesn't really take much! so i would do it that way. your not gonna hurt your card any having two monitros hooked up to it b/c it will shut off for games and the like. don't know bout 2k and multi monitors. i have a GF FX card and it has support for setting up multi monitors, so you might wanna check your current cards software. if not i know there are some programs you can use. can't think of them off the top of my head tho.:rolleyes:
Click to expand...
The old matrox dual vga cards are pretty cheap. My g450 was about $100 new several years ago. Now their triple output card is damn expensive, but I want one.
 
Thanks for all the help guys, although I think a few of you were confused one 2 points:

1) My 9700Pro only has 1 output (dvi) [well, untrue technically, I think it has S-Video out, but I use that for getting sounds with TV]
2) MANY PCI cards come with a VGA and DVI output. Not sure why some of you said they would be hard to find

Thanks for the help everyone!
 
thats strange your card doesn't support 2 monitors.. my 9500pro does :).. and my dual mon setup r great !

btw .. you will need ultramon to get the look you desire.
 
Originally posted by theNoid
thats strange your card doesn't support 2 monitors.. my 9500pro does :).. and my dual mon setup r great !

btw .. you will need ultramon to get the look you desire.
Click to expand...

My old Ti4200 does. That's my only problem with the 9700Pro, doesn't have VGA and DVI out. But i'll gladly sacrifice the VGA out for the TV Tuner :)
 
ebay it dude.

I picked up a Appien Geronimo dual output PCI card for like $25.
Don't bother dropping alot of money on your secondary card, it doesn't need to be that good, besides, it'll be on a pci bus anyway.
Consider upgrading your primary card too, and you'll get another output.
I also happen to think that multiple monitors are great for programmers, who of ten need to look up misc stuff, and don't want to lose there place. Beware if you're a gamer, Call of Duty won't launch if you have multiple video cards.
 
they sell an xtasy 9200 pci card for $80 at compusa. it has both a dvi and a vga port on it.
 
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