Dual-Link DVI GFX Card

blwest

Junior Member
Mar 31, 2005
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I've just purchased an Apple Cinema 30" display for my powermac. I need to upgrade my graphics card in my PC to support the massive resolution. I was looking on newegg and it shows all the 7800GTX cards only having single-link dvi. Anandtech did a review on the gefen dual-link dvi using a 7800 GTX graphics card. Does anyone know which nvidia cards have dual-link dvi capability?

Thanks!
 

Matthias99

Diamond Member
Oct 7, 2003
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7800GTs and GTXes have one (1) dual-link DVI port, and one (1) single-link DVI port. Some of the Quadros based off of them may have two dual-link ports, but I'm not sure.

All X1800XL and X1800XT cards have two (2) dual-link DVI ports. Not sure about the X1300 and X1600.
 

blwest

Junior Member
Mar 31, 2005
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Why are newegg's, XFX and BFG's specs not equating to the 2650x1600 but rather something like 2048x1xxx? Will newegg take a card back if it doesn't really have the Dual-link DVI? I can be guranteed with the ATI product that I get Dual-Link but I've had driver issues in the past and I like to stick to what I know works.
 

Matthias99

Diamond Member
Oct 7, 2003
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Originally posted by: blwest
Why are newegg's, XFX and BFG's specs not equating to the 2650x1600 but rather something like 2048x1xxx? Will newegg take a card back if it doesn't really have the Dual-link DVI? I can be guranteed with the ATI product that I get Dual-Link but I've had driver issues in the past and I like to stick to what I know works.

The 2048x1536 limit is for the VGA output, not the DVI. That's about all you can do through a 400Mhz RAMDAC.

AFAIK, all the 7800-class cards have a single dual-link DVI; Newegg would probably charge you a restocking fee if you want to return an opened but functional card. You should be able to check with the manufacturer if you want to verify that a particular model has a feature (either they should have more detailed specs on their website, or you can call/email them and ask). Sometimes Newegg and other stores are vague (or flat-out wrong) about a card's features.

Also, if you used ATI cards a long time ago (like in the Pre-RADEON days), they've gotten a LOT better in terms of drivers. If anything, I've had fewer problems with my ATI cards than the NVIDIA ones I owned a few years back.
 

blwest

Junior Member
Mar 31, 2005
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Meh I had a 9600XT and I had all sorts of weird driver issues. I'm also a linux nut so Nvidia is my choice. This is why we live in a country where we can choose! :) We argue amongst eachother but each day I'm proud to have served to allow me and everyone else to argue!

I also looked a XFX, BFG and Giga-byte's home pages and they give the VGA resolution specification, not whether it has a DDL port. I guess I'll try the 7800GT(x) and if it's not supported, I'll add more to the thread.
 

blwest

Junior Member
Mar 31, 2005
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Can anyone else confirm that the GT/GTX's come with at least one Dual-Link DVI port?