Advice on dual monitor rig

[imported_zippo]

Hello everyone,

I'm building a dual monitor rig and would appreciate some advice. The purpose of this rig is to run dual monitors while playing online poker. I have ZERO interest in using the computer for gaming since I'm satisfied with GoW and CoD4 on my xbox 360 when I'm unwinding after an 8+ hour poker session. Again the computer's primary focus is handling 8-12 active poker tables spread across 2-3 poker clients. I will have PokerTracker (PostgreSQL database) running as well as PAHUD that overlays the data from PokerTracker to each of the tables that is in play. I normally run iTunes or WindowsMediaPlayer for music during the sessions. Also from time to time I have firefox up with 6-12 tabs open while I'm multitabling. My interest is more on stability therefore I don't have any interest in over clocking.

Another requirement I have is budget. I would like to keep the build as close to $400 (including shipping and taxes) as possible. I have already spent a bit more than I had anticipated on a new monitor but hopefully it will pay off in the end. The monitors that I currently have and will be using are a 22" Samsung 204B (1600x1200) and a 24" LG L246WP-BN (1920x1200).

I think I'll end up going with an AMD based system. The parts I'm considering using are as follows ...

GIGABYTE GA-MA69GM-S2H AM2 AMD 690G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail

Rosewill Stallion Series RD450-2-SB ATX V2.2 450W Power Supply - Retail

AMD Athlon 64 X2 4600+ Windsor 2.4GHz Socket AM2 89W Dual-Core Processor Model ADA4600CUBOX - Retail

2 PAIRS for 4GB total - G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-6400CL5D-2GBNQ - Retail

Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3250310AS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM

LITE-ON 20X DVD±R DVD Burner With 12X DVD-RAM Write Black SATA Model LH-20A1S OEM BK - OEM


I have an older Chenmig Server Case that I never got around to modding with my last build so I'll be reusing that case with fans. I also have keyboard and mouse so those aren't needed.

The biggest thing on my mind is screen clarity & quality. The IGP on the motherboard claims to be ample for everyday usage as well as HD video. Though I have no interest in superb HD video, I am interested in getting clear and crisp text displays on my monitors. I'm also wondering if the dual display ports of the motherboard will noticeable differences in the two monitors. That being that the motherboard can only output to d-sub and dvi-d at once, not 2 d-sub devices or 2 dvi-d devices.

I'm wondering if maybe I should scrap the IGP solution and possibly look for another motherboard w/o onboard video and get a reasonable (less than $60) video card with dual dvi output that can produce clean and crisp text.

Anybody out there have a dual monitor setup that isn't being used for gaming? What video card do you use and how crisp is the text?

 

[Billb2]

Originally posted by: zippo
''the computer's primary focus is handling 8-12 active poker tables spread across 2-3 poker clients. I will have PokerTracker (PostgreSQL database) running as well as PAHUD that overlays the data from PokerTracker to each of the tables that is in play. I normally run iTunes or WindowsMediaPlayer for music during the sessions. Also from time to time I have firefox up with 6-12 tabs open while I'm multitabling.

Those requirements are not really very taxing at all. Two cheep, 32meg PCI video cards would do that easily.

Also, Ultramon will make multi-monitor use much easier and more pleasurable.

Rosewill Stallion Series.......
I'd steer clear of that.
http://www.tomshardware.com/2005/07/11/stress_test/

 

[Fraggable]

Yeah Rosewill really stinks for quality, that's the last PSU you want in there if you're worried about stability.

I would ditch the onboard video and go with a discrete video card. My recent experience with the Nvidia 7150 IGP (which is supposed to be the faster IGP out there) is that it can't even run Windows Media Center menus smoothly when anything else (including Aero) is running. Go for a 2400Pro or something for less than $40.

 

[imported_zippo]

After doing some reading I'm going to go with a discrete video card (8600GT that is dual DVI capable) as well as a different motherboard (GA-M61SME-S2). I also now realize going beyond 2GB of RAM with 32-bit Win XP is really a waste, so I'll also cut back there. Thanks for the power supply input.

 

[Fraggable]

Originally posted by: zippo
I also now realize going beyond 2GB of RAM with 32-bit Win XP is really a waste, so I'll also cut back there.

nooooooooooooooooooooooo! Not another one!

Here's the thing: XP 32-bit will see ~3.5GB of your RAM memory out of the 4 you put in there. So ~512MB of it won't be seen. What's that, $5-7 worth of memory? Don't miss the benefit of that 1.5GB simply because ALL of the second 2GB kit won't be seen.

 

[imported_zippo]

I've read so many different things but I tend to think what your are saying seems correct. That being said I'm still thinking about choosing a mobo with 4 memory slots so I can use 2 1GB sticks and 2 512MB sticks to make 3GB. I've read so many different things about once you break the maximum addressable amount that you run into issues with the allocation of virtual memory with win xp ... I'd just like to avoid that if at all possible.

 

[Dadofamunky]

Originally posted by: zippo
I've read so many different things but I tend to think what your are saying seems correct. That being said I'm still thinking about choosing a mobo with 4 memory slots so I can use 2 1GB sticks and 2 512MB sticks to make 3GB. I've read so many different things about once you break the maximum addressable amount that you run into issues with the allocation of virtual memory with win xp ... I'd just like to avoid that if at all possible.

...good idea...