Forced into dual video cards AGP, PCI: ATI only solution?

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mfavin

Member
Apr 20, 2001
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Well, I guess I have to bite the bullet.

I run 2 LCD monitors using DVI. There are no 2 DVI cards on the market that are a real upgrade (for games) for my Gainward Geforce 4 4600.

I emailed ATI and they said that Hydravision does support multicards, including 1 AGP Radeon 9800 pro + 1 PCI Radeon 7000. This appears to be the only way to run 2 LCDs using DVI.

Does anyone have a setup like this? Does it work well? For that matter, does anyone have experience with Hydravision? Or maybe Nvidia Nview using a similiar scheme (PCI, AGP) might work, with a GF5900?


 
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SickBeast

Lifer
Jul 21, 2000
14,377
19
81
you could run one card on the 9700 and buy a seperate pci card that has a dvi dongle if one exists.

also, you could buy a firegl 9700 card as they do have dual dvi. they are also great for 3d studio/cad work as they have custom hardware driver enhancements for those programs.

the 9700 pro can apparently be bios-modded into a firegl card.

do you notice a difference going from vga to dvi, btw? i have a vga lcd and i'm considering purchasing a 19" DVI based screen to go with my 17-incher. just wondering if you can actually see the difference.
 
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mfavin

Member
Apr 20, 2001
163
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Yes there is a huge difference between analog and DVI, especially for text. Running analog and dvi next to each other is too horrible to comtemplate.
 
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SickBeast

Lifer
Jul 21, 2000
14,377
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Originally posted by: mfavin
Yes there is a huge difference between analog and DVI, especially for text. Running analog and dvi next to each other is too horrible to comtemplate.
Click to expand...

in the reviews of lcds that i've read, they have said the opposite...are you saying that those review writers are corrupt? and isn't there a large price difference between dvi and non-dvi screens? i bought my 17" samsung for $619CDN, and it seemed as though the dvi screens were outside my budget. i could be wrong tho. what is the make of your dvi screens?
 
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SickBeast

Lifer
Jul 21, 2000
14,377
19
81
Originally posted by: MercenaryForHire
Wait. You want dual-dvi for gaming?

I'm confused.

- M4H
Click to expand...

Must be nice, eh?

I would suggest a Matrox G550 or Parhelia for what you are trying to do. Or as others have suggested, take the 5600 route. There may even be a radeon 9600-based card with dual dvi. It's a useful feature and I'm surprised that it isn't more widespread.
 
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mfavin

Member
Apr 20, 2001
163
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Unfortunately, all these cards are slower than the GF 4 4600 I currently have. At this time only the ATI Radeon 9700/9800 for GF FX 5900 are worthy upgrades for my current cards. But none of these cards have 2 DVI ports. (There are the FIRE GL and Quadro cards, but they are way beyond what I'm willing to spend.) There are no 2 DVI cards in the $300-$500 range.


I have 2 DVI LCDs but use them for work too, with lots of windows/text on the screen. In addition, I play games.




 
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Alkaline5

Senior member
Jun 21, 2001
801
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Originally posted by: scottcot
There IS a video card that meets your criteria:

MSI ti4800
Click to expand...

This is basically the card he already has.

Wow, this must be an extremely frustrating thread for you, mfavin. I'm afraid I have no first hand experience in this area either, though.
 
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