3 Monitors - Which Card?

[Fifth]

Im building a system which will have 3 monitors plus a TV for watching videos, im new to this so not sure how i go about it, il be using the Abit AN8 Ultra, so can you recomend a graphics card, or 2 if its possible.

thanks
5th

 

[rbV5]

Graphic card solution will depend on your actual use of the displays.

 

[mwmorph]

Originally posted by: rbV5
Graphic card solution will depend on your actual use of the displays.

and your budget.

 

[Fifth]

Well, it will never be used to play games, just internet, msn, editing photos, listening to music, and also downloading videos which will be watched on TV so i need TV out.

My whole budget is about £1800 but i can go to £2000 if i need to. (Thats about $3500, stuff usualy costs more over here to)
I havent thought about most of the components yet, so i dont know how much il have for the graphics, this is what i have so far:
AMD 64 X2 4400 - £350
Abit AN8 Ultra - £70
3 TFTs - £600

The rest i havent looked at yet, so i have about £1000 left ($1800) Although i do have plenty left, i dont want to spend loads on a card if i dont need it

5th

 

[rbV5]

You could get a dual DVI 6600 (cheapest dual DVI at newegg) and perhaps an additional PCI board with DVI and TV-out (newegg has a few models <$50) that should take care of your displays.

 

[mwmorph]

Will you use CRT or LCD Monitors?(lcd are much smaller and lighter but dont scale with resolutino well and image quality and color will not be as good as a CRT)
Do yuo care about the software(ex. drivers?) to be easy to use and very powerful or do you not need too much power as far as multi screen?

for 3 crts or 1 lcd, and 2 crts or if you simply want the best multi monitor driver support or if you want best 2d quality on analog displays(all crts and most lcds)
for the 3 displays
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814106154

r if you dont realyl care about the extra energy used, more heat created and all you need is very good 2d qulaity for a great price. this is for 2 digital and 1 analog or 2 analog and 1 digital or 3 analog.
get 2 of these
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102447


i dont know if yuor tv needs composite(the 1 yellow jack), component(the 3 green, red blue cables) or svideo(1 weird multi connector almost like a ps/2 mouse connector cable). tell me that and i can recommend something.

 

[Fifth]

I know CRT is better quality but i have a 19" now and its just to big, so im going to go for 3 LCDs. And for the TV, i can use Composite or S-Video so either is fine.

Im not sure what you mean about - "Do yuo care about the software(ex. drivers?) to be easy to use and very powerful or do you not need too much power as far as multi screen?" Could you explain what you mean please

Also, the site i will be buying my LCDs from (http://www.ebuyer.com), most of the monitors are not digital so il be using 3 analog. Though i would prefer digital, so il have to look for another site with them but still cheap.

 

[mwmorph]

well, matrox has very good software that sloows yuo to customize a lot and change a lot of settings, layoutsas far as multimonitor support is concrned. ati and nvidia have more basic software.

 

[rbV5]

Also, the site i will be buying my LCDs from (http://www.ebuyer.com), most of the monitors are not digital so il be using 3 analog.

If the TFT's are using analog, then the dual DVI card's I suggested aren't needed. You might even look at the Xpress200 and 6100 motherboards with IGP as they support additional graphics cards while using the IGP. One caveat is that my Xpress200 won't support 1280x1024 at 32bit color depth in surround view mode, so you might want to check specs carefully.

If 19" is too big, and the TFT's are going to be using analog connections, look for the cheapest dual head cards that are supported in the motherboard you pick.

 

[Fifth]

Ah, im not that bother about customizing lots, Nvidias nView is what im using right now and i prefer that. Is it possible to use 2 PCI-E graphics cards?

 

[Fifth]

Il look around for digital ones, as id prefer to get the best quality i can.

Is this the card you ment? http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products...cm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=77821

 

[mwmorph]

sure, but you have no need and you will spend more for no reason. those 2 ati radeons will serve your purpose and then some. in fact you dont need a motherboard with pcie since you dont game and thus the bandwith is a lot of overkill for you. the 6600gt is definite overkill since it;s a gamer's card and it supports dual dvi when all you need is analog vga output

 

[rbV5]

I believe it is possible to use 2 PCIe boards, however I've only seen an expensive matrox based on the G550 in PCIe 1X. That 6600GT isn't the model I suggested, its a plain 6600 and much cheaper (well at newegg anyway) Just go to Newegg.com and use their search engine in the video card section to bring up the models, then you can look for those in the UK.

IQ between analog and digital is not so much a difference at lower resolutions, so depending on the native resolutions of your displays, it may not be worth the price difference.

 

[mwmorph]

Originally posted by: rbV5
I believe it is possible to use 2 PCIe boards, however I've only seen an expensive matrox based on the G550 in PCIe 1X. That 6600GT isn't the model I suggested, its a plain 6600 and much cheaper (well at newegg anyway) Just go to Newegg.com and use their search engine in the video card section to bring up the models, then you can look for those in the UK.

IQ between analog and digital is not so much a difference at lower resolutions, so depending on the native resolutions of your displays, it may not be worth the price difference.

well he could buy a sli board which has 2 pci-e x16 slots. there are price premiums but eh...

 

[rbV5]

well he could buy a sli board which has 2 pci-e x16 slots. there are price premiums but eh...

No, thats true, thats where budget and use should be factored in because there are "many ways to skin this cat".

 

[Fifth]

Originally posted by: mwmorph
sure, but you have no need and you will spend more for no reason. those 2 ati radeons will serve your purpose and then some. in fact you dont need a motherboard with pcie since you dont game and thus the bandwith is a lot of overkill for you. the 6600gt is definite overkill since it;s a gamer's card and it supports dual dvi when all you need is analog vga output

The reason i chose that motherboard is because alot of people recomended it for use with the processor im getting, the AMD 64 X2 4400. I know im not a gamer, but i still want a fairly decent graphics card.

The monitors i will be getting will use 1280 x 1024 resolution, so if DVI is better quality for higher resolutions then id rather have it as il already be loosing quality by not haveing a CRT.

 

[rbV5]

The monitors i will be getting will use 1280 x 1024 resolution

To my eyes, on a 17" LCD at 1280x1024 analog~digital.

 

[mwmorph]

Originally posted by: Fifth

Originally posted by: mwmorph
sure, but you have no need and you will spend more for no reason. those 2 ati radeons will serve your purpose and then some. in fact you dont need a motherboard with pcie since you dont game and thus the bandwith is a lot of overkill for you. the 6600gt is definite overkill since it;s a gamer's card and it supports dual dvi when all you need is analog vga output

The reason i chose that motherboard is because alot of people recomended it for use with the processor im getting, the AMD 64 X2 4400. I know im not a gamer, but i still want a fairly decent graphics card.

The monitors i will be getting will use 1280 x 1024 resolution, so if DVI is better quality for higher resolutions then id rather have it as il already be loosing quality by not haveing a CRT.

higher resolutions generally means 1600x1200 or more. 12x10 is a medium resolunion and a 6600 will serve you well.

 

[Fifth]

I am new to this, so it is hard understanding everything, and making the right choice in what to get. I think i need to understand what i need and can do before i pick the cards.

The Abit AN8 Ultra used PCI, so that means i can only use PCI GFX Cads?
Will a PCI-E Graphics card work in both PCI-E x16 and PCI-E x1?
If not, can i use 1 PCI-E x16 card for my main 2 monitors, and get another PCI card for my 3rd monitor and TV?

 

[mwmorph]

Originally posted by: Fifth
I am new to this, so it is hard understanding everything, and making the right choice in what to get. I think i need to understand what i need and can do before i pick the cards.

The Abit AN8 Ultra used PCI, so that means i can only use PCI GFX Cads?
Will a PCI-E Graphics card work in both PCI-E x16 and PCI-E x1?
If not, can i use 1 PCI-E x16 card for my main 2 monitors, and get another PCI card for my 3rd monitor and TV?

AN8 ultra is a pci-e motherboard so it must use pci-e or pci graphics cards. no agp8x.

a pci-e gfx card must be ni the x16(big) slot. only 1 gfx card will fit in the x1 slot and it's a very expensive matrox

yes. go either all ati or nvidia though. ati and nvidia cards in the same machine dont play nice together due to driver issues.