Choosing a vid card for my dual 17's...please help

[rcurley55]

Sorry for such a newb questions, but I need some help here.

I've been having problems finding a new card for my dual 17" setup....right now I have a Gainward 64mb AGP GF2Ti and a generic 32mb PCI GF2MX running my dual Sony G200's. I run them both at 1600x1200. I don't do much in the way of gaming at all, so that kind of performance isn't necessary. However, I would like to get the best performance possible for my office applications. I also do alot of photoshop work.

I'd like to replace the two cards with one. This will be going in a P4 machine....yet to be determined...I'm waiting for post X-mas sales!!

I had my eyes set on a GF4 4200 for a while, but the specs say that the DVI out will only hit 1280x1024....I NEED 1600x1200 for both. Is there a GF4 that has dual CRT outs?

I'd also like the functionality of an AIW card. I want to be able to watch/record TV with this new setup....should I try ATI's AIW, or should I get a non
AIW card, then get thier add on card?
Anyone else with an Add-on card?
Does an AIW support two CRT's?

Any help/guidance to the economical route to sports/radio in the corner of my screen while I suffer in the home office would be much appreciated. I must say after I have run dual monitors, I will NEVER go with out.

Thanks in advance for your guy's help!!!

 

[AnAndAustin]

Take a browse through the forums there's loads of stuff on dual display.

Anyway, if gaming isn't at all important any Radeon or GF4 will do, pref Rad7500, Rad9000, GF4MX420 or GF4MX440. If you want some decent gaming ability then Rad9000PRO and Rad8500LE are very good and under $100. If you want more gaming ability and to maximise the potential of a P4 then a GF4TI is the way to go. Dual RAMDACs are standard for GF4 and Rad9000 so if they have the ports they'll do DD. Rad8500 DD vary by manu as do clock speeds so you will have to check even if they appear to have the ports. All these options have great image quality and offer dual display although CRT+DVI+TVout is by far the most common although there are CRT+CRT+TVout solutions out there.

As for Radeon AIW they really are the best 'all-in' solution, although nVidia's Pers Cinema isn't too far behind. It is worth considering a seperate PCI TVcard as you can then keep it when you upgrade your gfx card or PC. If you want dual display that rules out Rad AIW as none inc Rad9700-AIW do dual display. So it's a matter of either nVidia PersCin, a 2nd PCI gfx card or a seperate PCI TVcard.

 

[Mac]

Rcurley55,

I don't think it is such a "newbie" question because there are a lot subtleties within the issue. I have been doing searches on both this site and others to find a definitive discussion on this topic and haven't found it yet. If anyone else is following this, please feel free to weigh in your opinion (everyone has one, you know, just like some other things, too ).

Just recently set up a dual monitor system for my wife and working through the tuning. The monitors are a two year old 19" Samsung 900NF using an ATI 8500LE 64MB AGP and a GVision L7EH 17" LCD attached to ATI 7000 PCI w/32MB SDRAM. System is an AMD 1600XP running Win98SE. The Samsung is used for graphic design related tasks while the LCD panel does a great job with text applications and running as an extended desktop.

You probably wonder, why not run the panel off of the 8500LE? It is an OEM card (built by ATI) that has a DVI-D connector instead of the usual DVI-I. The LCD panel uses an analogue input, thus requiring the PCI card. The 8500LE was a mistake because didn't know the difference when purchasing.

Everything seems to be working good but not sure if it is the best solution. Here are some of the questions which come to mind:

Do separate AGP & PCI cards offer better performance than consolidating on a single AGP? Although most of her work is graphics related, the machine is sometimes used for gaming when we have visitors.

When gaming, will running two monitors on a single card degrade the performance even if one is inactive? Will it degrade performance even if running on two separate cards.

Image quality - will a single card or two cards offer the best?

When talking about a single card approach, it then raises a question about available video chips and features. Can the card run monitors at different resolutions and refresh reates? Which offers the best SW and drivers? ATI, nVidia, Matrox?

Also, when considering a single card, I just assumed an ATI 8500 or 8500LE would offer the best value and balance of features, performance and image quality but I'm not so sure with the new lower prices coming out on Ti4200 cards. The Ti4200 are considerably faster in gaming than an 8500 and are now price competitive. Has anyone compared Ti4200 image to an ATI? The Samsung is typically set at 1280X1024, occasionally at 1600X1200. The LCD native resolution, like most 17" panels, is 1280X1024. 32 bit color on both.

Would appreciate input from others, especially if you know of an article which really goes in depth in comparing cards and achieving the best results.

 

[AnAndAustin]

Well here's my views and opinions.

Do separate AGP & PCI cards offer better performance than consolidating on a single AGP? ... machine is sometimes used for gaming

It's far more ideal to have it all in 1 gfx card esp since there is such a large choice of dual RAMDAC equipped gfx cards. In 2D terms there really isn't any advantage esp when you look at the top PCI solutions being equivilent to the bottom end AGP solutions. You tend to get greater flexability and consistency having one card do it all. You no longer have to pay extra or give up any gaming perf to get a card with dual RAMDACs so gaming is really a non-issue.

When gaming, will running two monitors on a single card degrade the performance even if one is inactive? Will it degrade performance even if running on two separate cards.

Short and sweet answer is NO.

Image quality - will a single card or two cards offer the best?

Neither has any advantage over the other, provided all cards both have equally good IQ. There is no degradation from running 2 displays off 1 card nor running them with 2 seperate cards.

When talking about a single card approach, it then raises a question about available video chips and features. Can the card run monitors at different resolutions and refresh reates? Which offers the best SW and drivers? ATI, nVidia, Matrox?

As the cards in question have dual RAMDACs they are fully capable of running 2 simultaneous displays at diff res and refresh rates, and in the case of the Matrox Parhelia you have the ability to run 3. Regarding dual display Matrox were the best for a long time, then ATI caught them up and then recently nVidia caught them both up with the GF4 line of cards. I haven't used all of them, seen enough reviews or heard from enough consumers to say precisely who offers what or even what sw is best/better (inc 3rd party stuff). I'd say they are all very equal.

Also, when considering a single card, I just assumed an ATI 8500 or 8500LE would offer the best value and balance of features, performance and image quality but I'm not so sure with the new lower prices coming out on Ti4200 cards. . .

Well yes the Rad8500 (inc LE) offer great features, perf and value in the US and Canada markets. The GF4TI4200 cards are very good too and although opinion varies image quality and features are very close between the 2 cards. The 4200 is certainly faster and gets much more out of the faster CPUs but the Rad8500 is not too far behind and very much more than sufficient for casual gaming. If you may want an 8500 get one soon as they will be phased out for the inferior but more profitable Rad9000PRO cards. When buying a Rad8500 be sure to check you are getting dual RAMDACs and also check the clock speeds which can vary by manu and also oem/bulk vs retail. Best buy at the mo seems to be the Rad8500LE-128MB, it is wise to get 128MB in any Rad8500 gfx card.

Has anyone compared Ti4200 image to an ATI? The Samsung is typically set at 1280X1024, occasionally at 1600X1200. The LCD native resolution, like most 17" panels, is 1280X1024. 32 bit color on both.

Lots of people and opinion again do vary, it is a very subjective area and hard to quantify. However it is very clear that both Rad8500 and GF4TI4200 offer very good IQ, although the Rads do seem slightly better when you hit 1600x1200 @ 75Hz+ but it is all very close.