Noob when it comes to three monitor setups (Flight Sim fans check in 2 pls)

[MisterJackson]

I repair PC's all day long, but I've yet to set up a three monitor display. A friend of mine is needing me to help him tomorrow. He wants a three monitor setup for MS Flight Sim X.

He already has one 19" LCD. I don't know the make/model of that, but I'm assuming it's prob VGA.

I recently set him up with an EVGA 8800GT, so he's got two DVI outs.

He'd like to keep the current monitor he has in the mix as opposed to three matching monitors.

What I have for him are two brand new Optiquest Q91b monitors to go with the one he has. Both are DVI and VGA.

His PC is a newer Gateway, model unknown, but I know he has only PCI slots left for expansion. I'm assuming that's all that matters.

It's also Windows XP MCE 2005.

My main question is this. Can I run the two Optiquest DVI monitors off his 8800GT and then the third monitor via the onboard VGA and have this work for Flight Sim X? Or am I going to need to set him up with a decent PCI video card in this scenario? If so, what will do at minimum? I have an ATI PCI 7000 64mb card on hand, but will pick up something better for him if that won't work.


I think I covered all the info needed, but please feel free to pm or post to me if I haven't.

I thank any and all in advance for you help.

 

[mwmorph]

Your 2 choices:
http://www.matrox.com/graphics/en/gxm/home.php

 

[MisterJackson]

Originally posted by: mwmorph
Your 2 choices:
http://www.matrox.com/graphics/en/gxm/home.php

So a second PCI video card won't work at all??

Edit: Eh...it's lookin' that way...thanks for the advice mwmorph

 

[tynopik]

whether the onboard vid will work with a 2nd video card or not depends on the motherboard/bios

i have an older system that consists of onboard vid + pci card to drive 2 lcds and it works

since it's not vista, you should be able to add pci cards out the wazoo and have them all work

vista requires the same driver to run all the cards so they would have to all be the same family

but since you aren't running vista that isn't an issue (just to clarify)

that said, FSX as i understand it is a pretty demanding title so
1) the onboard video is probably going to be sucky
2) i'm not sure how much better a pci card can be with the limited bandwidth

i know he wants to use his existing system, but you may have to end up getting a new system with 2 x16 pci-e slots (or at least x16 + x4)

 

[ther00kie16]

I was under the impression that you can mix video cards (even nvidia & ATI but not in vista). however, for PCI, you'd be limited to something like 2400pro or 1550, which won't be markedly better than 780g IGP so it depends on what his IGP is as you can try that first.

 

[Pollock]

I'm not a pro with integrated video, but I believe that usually it gets disabled if you have anything discrete. I have triple monitors using my 8800GTS and a PCI 6200 - a PCI one, because my SLI board sucks and can only use the second PCIe 16x slot for SLI. But, if it's a chipset like P35 and the board has two PCIe 16x slots (I'm getting one in a couple days), it should be possible. I could sell you my 6200 in a few days, even.

Also, since you want to run FSX...any PCI card is going to get squashed. They just don't make any good ones anymore. Matrox stuff, as mentioned, is probably the only way to go about it.

 

[SolMiester]

I dont think the matrox tripple head will be any good, as its only for 2d....

 

[mwmorph]

Originally posted by: SolMiester
I dont think the matrox tripple head will be any good, as its only for 2d....

http://www.matrox.com/graphics...roducts/th2go/home.php

Surround Gaming
Three screens enable a totally immersive Surround Gaming experience, allowing you to see the gaming environment as if you were looking through an extra wide-angle camera lens; it just makes your games more fun. Matrox TripleHead2Go is the only solution on the market to enable Surround Gaming by expanding supported 3D games across three displays and providing a much wider in-game field of view (FOV). Bridging the gap between virtual reality and reality, this panoramic view of the game fully engages your peripheral vision on the side displays, with the main point of focus on the center display. TripleHead2Go supports over 200 popular games including Raven Software and id Software's Quake 4?, UbiSoft's Brother's in Arms: Earned in Blood?, Microsoft's Age of Empires III?, 10tacle studios AG's GTR?, Microsoft's Flight Simulator 2004: A Century of Flight and many more, and is compatible with many high end gaming GPU solutions including SLI. Find out more.