3 Monitors and best 19" lcd

[russell2002]

Hi,

I need to have 3 19" monitors to get right size desktop I need for graphic design work.

Can anyone tell me if I can buy a graphics card which has 3 outputs, or if I can use 3 graphics cards. Im running Windows 2000 professional.

Also, im thinking of choosing the Sony SDM-S94B 19" LCD or the Sony SDM-X93B 19" LCD. Does anyone have any opinion on these usints or think I could make a better choice.

Thanks for your time.

 

[imported_Kensai]

Matrox produces video cards with 3 outputs, but their performance isn't the greatest. You could go with an AGP/PCI-E video card with dual output and a PCI video card.

Then again, if you haven't built your system yet, you could also run a Tyan K8WE with two PCI-E video cards, not in SLI since both slots are configured for x16 speeds as it has two northbridges. That would be the fastest way to go but also the most expensive.

 

[russell2002]

The matrox ones seem rather expensive,

The NVIDIA Quadro NVS 400 (PCI) is available for around $400 for 4 ourputs. It would be good if I cound find a cheaper solution though.

Can you use 2 X dual output cards ?

 

[twitchee2]

what about dfi-d or dr in non sli mode

 

[JustAnAverageGuy]

19" LCD?

1905FP is a great monitor.

As for video cards?

If all you need are the extra outputs, I'd just get two of these

 

[russell2002]

So I could use 3 SAPPHIRE RADEON 7000 64M PCI Video Card then.......

With your comments about the 1905FP been a great monitor, do you think its good or good compared to the various sony models.

 

[NiKeFiDO]

well you might want to get one good vid card and two crappy or one good and one crappy since a lot of good ones have dual DVI output - also, i suggest at least one CRT for graphic design for "true"/best color. The good vid card ensures that any extra stuff you do, perhaps animation or even gaming if you have the time will be available to you should you want/need it

 

[NiKeFiDO]

last suggestion - make sure your LCDs have 8-bit color, most 19 inch will not have great repsonse times if you get the better color-quality ones (its a basic trade-off of LCDs at this point although its startig to change). Samsung 910T's are good for your purpose (DVI + 8bit color + 19" + mva panel which have slow response time but excellent color production)

 

[russell2002]

I agree, I have Professional 17" sony crt, cost me $1400 new !!!! in 1998. Still looks good. I wanted to get 3 21" crt's but Sony dont seem to do them any more and no one else has anything which gets great reviews.

Im assuming that with the multi monitor stuff its Windows/Drivers which arrange the multi monitor system. So that is does not actually matter what sort of g-card you use.

Is the Radeon 7000 not good, My current graphics adapter is 2.5 years old and has 8mb.... But it works great....and was very great when I bought it.

In what way would a modern card be better.

 

[dguy6789]

You dont need a particulary fast card to do what your doing. The only reason to get a fast and state of the art video card is if you are doing something with intense 3D(which is almost always gaming). Just get a couple of cheap pci video cards and hook up your moniters to each of them. It will work just fine.

 

[NiKeFiDO]

In what way would a modern card be better.

only if he wanted to do intensive animation or gaming if he was so inclined...nice to have the power there if he wants it

The only reason to get a fast and state of the art video card is if you are doing something with intense 3D(which is almost always gaming).

:thumbsup:

 

[russell2002]

In my many years of buying "the best" components and them been surpassed by entry level components within 12 months rather annoying. So I make a point of trying to get away with the mimimum. Except on such things as monitors, which dont go out of date so quickly.

Aditionally, back onto monitors, im stuck between these two models -

Sony SDM-X93B 19"
Sony SDM-S94B 19"

They seem very similar spec wise, but ones more money of course.

 

[sandeep108]

Except on such things as monitors, which dont go out of date so quickly.

Hmmm... Monitors seem to be the only things going out of date very very quickly with sharp price drops and quality / feature improvements practically every month.

I have been intending to buy a LCD monitor and every month I see new models and price drops and especially this month.

When should I take the plunge...? I am very tempted to do it next month and buy a 19" LCD. I have mostly stopped gaming, but may resume. I do watch some movies. I do not have a very good graphics card, but it is pretty ok for my 17" crt at 800x600. I also intend to upgrade my PC in the next few months.

 

[ericlala]

I always suggest the NEC 1970GX. 16 mil colours, 8ms, 700:1 contrast, 400cd/m2. It also has the glass like screen which looks MUCH sharper if you compare with other LCDs side by side. I had no clue about LCDs and when I walked into the store with 15 of them on the shelf, this one clearly stood out in clarity. Please do have a look.

 

[sandeep108]

Thanks for the suggestion. Unfortunately in India, I am not too sure about NECs presence. Samsung / LG / Sony / Philips dominate. That too they do not offer all their models, but they offer reasonable service/warranty. Recently BenQ and Acer have also entered the fray and have dropped prices.

I came across pretty good (and balanced) reports about the Samsung 930B in this forum - very long thread, thereby tempting me to take the plunge and blow up some money.

But I will keep NEC in mind.

 

[Oyeve]

Originally posted by: JustAnAverageGuy
19" LCD?

1905FP is a great monitor.

As for video cards?

If all you need are the extra outputs, I'd just get two of these

I concur. 1905fp is great.

 

[Tostada]

Originally posted by: russell2002
So I could use 3 SAPPHIRE RADEON 7000 64M PCI Video Card then.......

With your comments about the 1905FP been a great monitor, do you think its good or good compared to the various sony models.

Getting three video cards is pretty ridiculous.

It's nice to have your primary center screen on its own video card so that you can upgrade it easily, but you really want a regular PCI card with two DVI outputs for the side screens.

ATI's new FireMV cards are a lot more reasonable than the Matrox stuff:
http://www.ati.com/products/firemvseries/specs.html

Looks like the dual-DVI PCI version is about $160.
http://froogle.google.com/froogle?hl=en...+2200+PCI+-express&btnG=Search+Froogle

So, I guess it'd be cheaper to just get 3 cards. You could just spend $70 on two Radeon 7000 cards. That's pretty subjective if you think the cleaner solution is worth another $90.

 

[Dug]

You do not want the Sony SDM-S94B if you are concerned about color.
It's the best 19" out there for gaming because of superbright (high contrast, really black black's and 12ms response time)
But the colors won't be as accurate as an 8bit panel.