Help on picking a Video Card for Dual LCDs + 3 short questions

[JaYBirD0613]

My P3 600 is on its last legs and I've finally decided to start building a new system. Here is what I have narrowed my search down to:

P4 2.4 Ghz
512MB DDR RAM
80 GB 7200 rpm
SB Audigy 2 (Will this support 5.1 speakers?)
16x Pioner DVD
Liteon 52/24/52 CDRW
10/100 NIC


Undecided items:

Motherboard - I'm completely lost here. I believe an 845PE is what I need? I used Asus in the past. What is my best bet?
Video Card - I'm leaning towards an ATI AIW 9700. I need to be able to use dual LCDs and would also like the ability to have a TV Tuner but that is not mandatory. I could always buy a cheap TV Tuner card to add later.
Case - Antec SX1040 looks good. Any other suggestions?

One other question - I noticed there is DDR333 and DDR400 Ram. Which is the best fit for the system described above?

Thanx for any help! I built my last system based on suggestions from this forum and it turned out to be awesome! Looking forward to building this one!

Jason.

 

[vetteguy]

Do you want to have dual DVI outputs? If so, the Gainward GeForce4 4600 is the only one I know of that currently has that, although I hope to see it in more cards soon.

 

[JaYBirD0613]

From reading this forum, it appears that there is a divide between people who do and do not belive you can notice a substantial difference with DVI outputs. So I guess I dont need dual DVI outputs. I have a 19" CRT that I will be using for gaming so the card cant be only DVI (not sure if those exist anyway).

 

[Vegito]

On 1280x1024 i coudlnt' tell.. but when i moved to a dell fp2000 20" lcd at 1600x1200.. dvi made a big difference.. now I wish my gf4 ti 4600 was dual dvi.. but it's not..

 

[Nemesis77]

Originally posted by: vetteguy
Do you want to have dual DVI outputs? If so, the Gainward GeForce4 4600 is the only one I know of that currently has that, although I hope to see it in more cards soon.

Parhelia has it as well.

 

[JaYBirD0613]

So can I assume that all the other ATI and nVidia cards can support dual LCDs? (just not dual DVI)

 

[SUOrangeman]

Wow, search is INCREDIBLE!!!!



To answer you latest question, most of the new nVidia-based cards can support two displays ... typically offering one VGA port, one DVI port and one S-Video port. However, you can only use two of those ports simultaneously. Most of ATi's latest Radeons (7500 and later) are outfitted in the same manner.

There may be a few dual-VGA cards still available, but I'm certain that they are among a dying breed.

-SUO

 

[bigshooter]

The 9700pro has DVI out as well as analog. I think most any mid to high end vid card has DVI as well as analog output. The DVI will make a HUGE difference on an LCD. I don't know who says it doesn't, from what I've seen the general consensus (as well as personal experience) says that it does.

 

[JaYBirD0613]

Do most cards that come with a DVI port and analog port also come with a DVI-->Analog converter? Or will I be stuck with one of my LCDs displaying higher quality than the other?

 

[bigshooter]

If you have dual LCD's you don't want to put the analog converter onto the DVI output just to make the displays match. Use one for primary work with straight DVI connection, then put the analog into your other LCD.

 

[JaYBirD0613]

Thanx for the advice. I've decided to go with a 9700 Pro.

Anyone feel like taking a shot at my other questions? I'll recap them here:

1. Will an Audigy 2 support 5.1 speakers?
2. Which motherboard should I go with? I'd like to get an Asus.
3. DDR333 vs. DDR400. Which is the right type of RAM for my P4 2.4B Ghz?

 

[Anubis]

Originally posted by: JaYBirD0613
Thanx for the advice. I've decided to go with a 9700 Pro.

Anyone feel like taking a shot at my other questions? I'll recap them here:

1. Will an Audigy 2 support 5.1 speakers?
2. Which motherboard should I go with? I'd like to get an Asus.
3. DDR333 vs. DDR400. Which is the right type of RAM for my P4 2.4B Ghz?

1) yes
2) dont know
3) DDR333 will be fine. if you wanna Overclock the thing like a crazy man go with DDR400