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Best budget vid card for dual monitors

B

bocamojo

Senior member
I'm trying to help a friend buy a budget video card for a dual monitor setup. He has a 1.33TB with a 4x AGP slot. Wants a single card to do the dual monitors. Not a heavy gamer... Does some web design and other basic stuff. I recommended the ATI Radeon VE, but it seems they're hard to find at a reasonable price with the DVI connector included (retail box). The OEM version seems to be around 45-65 bucks, without the connector. We found the retail box for around 85-100 though, which seems awfully pricey for such an outdated card. Anyone have any suggestions on a better budget deal, or can anyone point out the best place to buy an ATI Radeon VE (retail w/ dvi connector). Thanks.
 
what kind of monitors is he going to put on the card? Dual VGA? Dual DVI? One DVI/One VGA?

If he wants the best dual VGA monitor card out there get the Matrox G400. Since it's a couple years old you won't be able to play any current games though.....at least not that well.
 
Bocamojo -

Outpost.com is listing the retail box Radeon VE for $49.99, but it's 'Call for availablility' status. A few weeks ago the Houston Fry's listed this card as $60.00, 'Everyday low price'. If you have a Fry's in your area, scan the paper and see if they're advertising this. Or try out outpost and see if they come back in stock.

I just picked up this card a few weeks ago. It works pretty well, and RTCW runs fine for me (although I'm not too picky about FPS)

Good luck.
 
If you can find a Matrox G400 at a reasonable price, those (and the G450) are great dual monitor cards. G450s are still pricey. I saw OEM versions of (G450s) for $79 at Newegg.

I would check Pricewatch.com. I saw retail Radeon VE boards starting at $39 on up. Shipping is kinda steep with $10+ in most cases.
 
rather get g450 dh instead of g400 because the secondary ramdac on the g450 is equal to the primary one but on the g400 it is much worse... or was that g550.. not sure.. just .. well the g400 still beats all other cards in dualhead anyways, mostly because good drivers.
 
***UPDATE***

My friend purchased a 64MB SDR Retail Radeon VE (dual 15 pin heads instead of secondary DVI connection) for 60 bucks, including shipping. I think he'll be quite satisfied with it. Thanks for all the help.
 
I have a "Powered by ATI" card in my machine RIGHT NOW that uses Dual VGA + S-vid/Composite TV out.
Might have a seller already, I hope. They definately exist.
 
I saw some on newegg that have an s-video out, regular VGA output then a larger VGA output. Do i need to get some kind of adaptor to use the larger one? Am I able to use all 3 at the same time? Also, do you have to have a seperate mouse/ keyboard for each instance? I'm totally in the dark here, sorry for all the ?'s. thanks for your help
 


<< Do i need to get some kind of adaptor to use the larger one? >>


Yes you need a dvi-vga adapter. It should come with the card though.



<< Am I able to use all 3 at the same time? >>


Yes, the 2 montiors will be split and the tv will be a clone of the first monitor.



<< Also, do you have to have a seperate mouse/ keyboard for each instance? >>


No, you dont have separate computers, you just have a larger desktop area. For example, the left monitor would be your left half of the screen and your right monitor would be your right half. So you can have to full size windows open on the same desktop. If you go left with your mouse pointer on your right monitor, you will end out in your left monitor, etc 🙂
 
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