Can you use two video cards in win2k, with 2 moniters?

[AntMan]

Can you use two video cards in win2k, with 2 moniters?

I have both an agp card and a pci card, both win2k compatible.
Main question is it possible to use 2 video cards on 2 moniters at once, in win2k, and if so, how?

 

[sitka]

Just set it up, and even more one of the monitors goes to a kvm switch. I am so PLUGGED.

 

[AntMan]

forgot to mention this is a dell server im trying to do this on btw...

 

[MrChicken]

They both have to multimonitor compatible, AGP and PCI cards only.
Load 2000 with just one card and then install the second and configure it. look for the check box in the display settings. I havent tried, but I looked at the setup and it sounds easy.

 

[TravisBickle]

real easy, no problem. win2k allocates resources admirably well. once two graphics cards are recognized you can choose to activate your secondary monitor.

 

[sitka]

Hit the F1 key...

*don't put your PCI card in the slot next to the AGP
*Make sure just the AGP is installed and running well
*Turn of computer, install PCI card and hook up monitor, make sure you have the power to the monitor on
*Reboot
* Go into Display and on Settings there should be a pulldown box with the two monitors listed
*There is a check box that says make my desktop extend to this monitor. The display in the drop down should be the new one. If the second monitor wasn't on it will now fire up.

I'm not going to lie and say its not confusing to get it setup the first time but once you get it you will like it. Use Windows Help.

 

[BA]

And if you want the AGP card to be the primary display, go into the BIOS and set that. (PCI is usually default primary display)

 

[SUOrangeman]

Win2K can override the primary display BIOS setting. Heck, it can even change primary displays on the fly.

-SUO

 

[Maximus96]

what is the advantage of having 2 monitors besides a bigger desktop? i got a 19" NEC on the way and an old Stealth II collecting dust...what would be the benefit of having both the 19" and the 17" running together? thanks

 

[Tweakin]

Well, I beg to differ regarding the AGP and Slot1 combo. Win2k will allocate resources and share the irq regardless of where you put your second card. I have three different systems running an AGP with the second video card in slot1 without any problems. As long as the system is ACPI compatable, I wouldn't give it a second thought.

On my latest system, the AGP was a Matrox G400 SH and I used a 8Meg Matrox G200 in slot 1 and loaded win2k while both were installed. I then proceded to update the drivers, and that was that.

As for the 19" and 17", that's what these systems are running. I use the 17 as the second display for an additional browser, management tools, Explorer, etc...and I use the 19" for the majority of information. I also found the best res for eyestrain to be 1152x864 on the 19 and 1024x768 on the 17. The fonts and windows are almost the same size so the screen dosen't jump around when you drag a window between both monitors.

Just a humble opinion....

 

[hans007]

yea it works fine, i've got a g400 32mb sh and a 4mb millenium pci also. You can even put more than one extra card in for like triple or quad monitors.

 

[Grant]

You can also use the new G450 card from Matrox. It allows for using two monitors at once and has the connections. I haven't tried it yet. The girlfriend won it on a context from them and we just got it installed a couple of days ago.

 

[sitka]

I revise my recommendation on using video PCI in slot one. It works there too. Tweakin knows. One more reason to like W2k perhaps.

The biggest reason for duallies has got to be productivity. Any reduction in Min,Max,Cascade,Tile Vert, etc. helps alot. Starting to believe any multitasking operators should have dual.