Dual Monitors

[konangrit]

Hi, I currently work with a 19" monitor at 1600 x 1200 resolution on windows XP. If I were to install another graphics card, hook it up to another 19" monitor and set the 2nd monitor to 1600 x 1200 would I effectively have a resolution of 3200 x 1200 between the two monitors?

I know it sounds obvious that this is probably the case, but I've searched the net and can't find the answer. Would like a bit of confirmation before I shell out for a new graphics card and monitor.

Thanks,

Konangrit

[MadFrankie]

yup

[Wash]

I am using a single Graphics card with dual outputs and it works great. The full screen does indeed stretch itself to both screens and is of no value to me anymore.

I have an ATI Radeon VE with 64Meg, w/tv out and dual monitor outputs. Cost 1750 baht.

Good luck.

[monty]

The choice is yours!

You can extend your desktop giving you effectively 3200X 1200 pixels.

A lot of software gives you support for dual monitor setups, example autocad where all the menu's and toolbars stay on one monitor and the drawing/design on the other...

Best quality you'll get with a good (read expensive) dual head graphics card, but you can also mixmatch an AGP card with a PCI card. Might be a bit of a gamble if they work with each other but is a great and cheap way of experimenting if you or a friend have a spare pci card lying around... Not sure though if there are may pci cards around supporting 1600X1200

Cheers,

Monty

[konangrit]

Thanks for your replies, everyone. Thought that was the case. Will probably have to replace my current graphics card with a dual head one as I guess practically all decent cards are AGP now. Could do with a new one anyway, at 2 years old mine is already dated.

Any recommendations on a mid range dual head graphics card?

[Firefoxx]

Pretty much all current ATI cards have dual heads, and most are dual DVI. Some will come with DVI-VGA adapters, maybe even two, but you can buy the adapter separately. I own a 9600pro, which goes for around 5000-6000 baht right now, and does 3d pretty well. Also accelerates video. I also want to go the dual monitor route, but I need to find money for the monitor first.

AGP is the current standard, but PCI-express cards are already appearing, and will replace AGP in the coming years.

A word about the AGP card: there are three types. Make sure your old board can accept the new card.

http://www.ati.com/support/faq/agpchart.html

[40theives]

Want a killer set up? Try dual 21" Fujitsu CRTs. Expensive? I picked up the 2nd hand matching pair at Fortune Town (better than Panthip for 2nd hand gear) for 8,000 baht. A new 21" tv costs that much and we all know moniters have a better resolution. I run it with an aging GF 640 MX 64mb with dual outputs. I used to use the GeForce dual moniter software, but I have come to like the managment built into XP. The GeForce software allows you to have one big resolution such as 3200 x 1200.

Sure they are a bit heavy, but they are cool.

But to be honest I want more... Can I add a 3rd moniter by finding a cheap PCI slot vga card? reccomendations? prices?

A few games take advantage of multiple moniters, but for the most part, you would not need any 3d acceleration for more than one moniter.

If you have any doubt about using mulitple moniters, this should make you a believer.

[exchange1973]

Hi there,

not all decent graphicadapters are AGP. I work with this solution:

PNY Technologies Quadro (NVIDIA Quadro FX) and three ViewSonic 21,3'' LCDs.

The graphicadapter is PCI and supports four screens with 32bit colordepth and a resolution of 1600 x 1200 per screen.

regards and greetings from Berlin.

exchange1973