How to drive 2 24" lcds?

[jimluu]

Hi. I have 2 dell 24" lcds. Do I need 2 separate cards to drive them or is there a good card that can do the job. I'm really not interested in gaming so super latest gizmo tech is not necessary. I do mostly CAD work. Any recommendations much appreciated. Thanks. Jim.

 

[LOUISSSSS]

u need a video card with 2 x DVI outputs

 

[jimluu]

Can each DVI output display a full 1920x1200?

 

[sgrinavi]

Originally posted by: jimluu
Can each DVI output display a full 1920x1200?

In windows? sure, no prob. Any halfway decent card will handle that all day long.

 

[superunknown98]

you'll want a card that has dual-link dvi ports. I'm not sure single link ports will go that high. So anything recent will do. My radeon 1900gt has them and it's pretty old now.

 

[jimluu]

Thanks for the info. So if I get an nvidia 8800 or something similar with dual DVI outputs, it will run both monitors at full resolution? I thought that a single dvi can't display such a high resolution and you need 2 'dual link'.

 

[Jax Omen]

8800 is far more GPU than you need. No sense wasting money.

Just get the cheapest card you can find that has two dual-link DVI ports.

 

[geoffry]

I believe superunkown is right about needing a dual link DVI for that resolution.

An 8800 GT as far as I know has 2 Dual link DVI connectors and is a decent price.

 

[sgrinavi]

Originally posted by: jimluu
Thanks for the info. So if I get an nvidia 8800 or something similar with dual DVI outputs, it will run both monitors at full resolution? I thought that a single dvi can't display such a high resolution and you need 2 'dual link'.

You do not need dual link, just 2 ports, preferably DVI.

An ATI 3870, or maybe even a 3850, might be a good bet, good solid drivers, low power requirements.

What kind of PSU do you have, any extra power leads? What mother board? Do you have an open PCI-E slot?

 

[jimluu]

I'm planning to use one of those tiny shuttle prebuilt boxes if I can get away with using just one video card. btw, does anyone know if there is a card with 3 outputs?

 

[sgrinavi]

Newegg Link, 4 dvi cards

There are other 3 headed solutions out there as well that will work fine for 2d CAD work, but I think you will find that 2 x 24" LCDs is PLENTY of real estate, it's hard to focus on much more that that.

I do 3dMAX and AutoCAD ADT work, mostly 3d, for a living and actually prefer my pair of 20's (1600x1200) at the office to my 24's at home (1900x1200). You end up moving your head too much otherwise.

 

[ther00kie16]

Originally posted by: jimluu
I'm planning to use one of those tiny shuttle prebuilt boxes if I can get away with using just one video card. btw, does anyone know if there is a card with 3 outputs?

DVI is capable of resolutions of up to 2098x1311 according to wiki. Only for resolutions above that will you need dual-link DVI, so 1920x1200 isn't a problem. As for more than 2 displays, there's no simple way of doing it without the professional cards. If you are building a system from scratch, you should consider integrated graphics, which you can pair additional video cards with to have up to 4 displays.
If you already have a motherboard without integrated graphics however, you'll have to use 2 cards.

 

[sgrinavi]

You could go with a dual card and and a USB video converters

 

[ther00kie16]

Originally posted by: sgrinavi
You could go with a dual card and and a USB video converters

That won't support resolutions higher than 1680x1050. So I think the most cost-effective method for more than 2 displays is still integrated graphics + dedicated graphics card.

 

[Arcanedeath]

Originally posted by: ther00kie16

Originally posted by: sgrinavi
You could go with a dual card and and a USB video converters

That won't support resolutions higher than 1680x1050. So I think the most cost-effective method for more than 2 displays is still integrated graphics + dedicated graphics card.

for more than 2 displays just get a motherboard w/ multiple PCI-E 16x slots and use a pair of cheep dual display cards, much cheaper and easier than getting single graphics card that support more than 2 ports

 

[ther00kie16]

Originally posted by: Arcanedeath

Originally posted by: ther00kie16

Originally posted by: sgrinavi
You could go with a dual card and and a USB video converters

That won't support resolutions higher than 1680x1050. So I think the most cost-effective method for more than 2 displays is still integrated graphics + dedicated graphics card.

for more than 2 displays just get a motherboard w/ multiple PCI-E 16x slots and use a pair of cheep dual display cards, much cheaper and easier than getting single graphics card that support more than 2 ports

He wants to use single card in a sff case so integrated graphics + 1 video card would be best option and cheaper than 2 video cards as well. There's also the new 780a with integrated graphics and 2 pci-e slots.

 

[jimluu]

I finally got around to testing my set up. I have a nvidia 6600gt with dual dvi outputs. Doesn't seem to work real well at all with my dell 24" lcd. If I hook up both monitors, all I get is the windows splash screen then the BSOD. I get the BSOD even if I turn one monitor off. Only when I physically unplugged one monitor did I get a proper boot and display. I downloaded the latest nvidia driver, still same thing. Is it a problem with the 6600gt?

 

[sgrinavi]

Originally posted by: jimluu
I finally got around to testing my set up. I have a nvidia 6600gt with dual dvi outputs. Doesn't seem to work real well at all with my dell 24" lcd. If I hook up both monitors, all I get is the windows splash screen then the BSOD. I get the BSOD even if I turn one monitor off. Only when I physically unplugged one monitor did I get a proper boot and display. I downloaded the latest nvidia driver, still same thing. Is it a problem with the 6600gt?

Maybe... but it could be many other things. 90% of the problems that I have had were caused by RAM issues... is it a new set-up?

 

[jimluu]

This is actually an existing set up. I just noticed that my 6600 card had dual dvi outputs and so I gave it a try.