Dual display: GTS2 (AGP) + MX440 = SLOW?

DJFuji

Diamond Member
Oct 18, 1999
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I have an athlon "C" 1.2ghz with 768mb SDRAM running off an IWill KK266. I'm running a dual display setup with my primary card a GeForce GTS2 32MB via AGP. Just purchased a secondary card, the BFG Asylum Geforce4 MX440-SE 64MB w/ TV-out (PCI, obviously).

Everything runs fine except that the second display runs unusually slow. Normal day-to-day operations appear normal but if i try to run a game (kawaks, specifically) on the second display, it's unacceptably slow. Like, 5fps slow. Yet the primary display runs well above 30fps.

Video runs decently on the second display, though it bogs down if i do anything while it's running. Primary display works fine, though.

When running TV-out, dvd's also look really washed out compared to my computer monitor. Is this a common occurrence? I've seen other tv-out setups and i swear the tv display looked pretty close to what was displayed on the monitor...
 

Cerb

Elite Member
Aug 26, 2000
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All I know to say is save up $60 and replace those two with a single video card. Or return the one you just got and then get an AGP GF4MX 440 or Radeon 9200SE with dual outputs, either of which can be had for between $50 and $60.
 

DJFuji

Diamond Member
Oct 18, 1999
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So this is fairly normal? What about tv-out quality? Is it supposed to be noticeably poorer than monitor displays?
 

Cerb

Elite Member
Aug 26, 2000
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I don't know if it is normal or not--I don't know anyone using two monitors who's using multiple video cards. TV-out quality depends on the card itself (or, more accurately, the manufacturer). AOpen's is OK, but their GF4MX is single VGA out.

If gaming isn't important, Newegg has a Sapphire Radeon 7000 at $39, w/ VGA, DVI and TV outputs, and one reviewer used it for dual-LCDs. A similar VE for $45
 

DJFuji

Diamond Member
Oct 18, 1999
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yeah, i was thinking about something like that, but i didnt want to wreck havoc on the system with Nvidia+ATi drivers trying to coexist.

I can't figure out why things run so slowly on the second monitor, though. The video card is probably as fast or faster than my primary.
 

Cerb

Elite Member
Aug 26, 2000
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I don't see why it would be so slow either. Sounds almost like it's giving it to one card, then snatching it away and telling the other card to display instead (over, and over, and over...).
You should be able to uninstall the cards in device manager, shut down, power off, disconnect PSU, yada yada, remove the old cards and install the new card, boot up, and have it work fine. If not, there are utilities to rid you of Detonator remnants.
 

gibhunter

Member
Aug 30, 2002
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You might want to replace it with a single, newer card that has both outputs. Most of the newer cards have tv out built in. Plus it works much better on the newer cards then it does on the old ones where only Matrox really worked well.