Running Dual Monitors on Vista. Current VGA good?

[Mayfriday0529]

I have a PNY Nvidia 7300 GT 256mb PCI-E video card.
Is this video card good enough to run two 21" widescreen LCD monitors?
I already have 1 21" Widescreen LCD monitor running at 1680 X 1050 resolution, thinking about getting a second monitor.

 

[Peter]

You do not have a PCI-X video card. PCI Express it is possibly.

With two monitors, you'll possibly lose the "Aero" window manager and fall back to "Basic" - simply because normal graphics cards can't do 3D rendering on both screens at the same time.

 

[Mayfriday0529]

Originally posted by: Peter
You do not have a PCI-X video card. PCI Express it is possibly.

With two monitors, you'll possibly lose the "Aero" window manager and fall back to "Basic" - simply because normal graphics cards can't do 3D rendering on both screens at the same time.

Sorry you are right PCI-E...
So Aero gone, damn. Only way would be two have two PCI-E video cards? Which I can't do since my machine is a Dell computer.

 

[dderolph]

Is this a case of all or nothing? In other words, there's no way to have Aero on the primary monitor and not on the secondary one? For example, if he were to plop a PCI video card into his computer, a card that would use the same driver as his PCI-E card, could he possibly get Aero just on his primary monitor?

 

[Mayfriday0529]

Originally posted by: dderolph
Is this a case of all or nothing? In other words, there's no way to have Aero on the primary monitor and not on the secondary one? For example, if he were to plop a PCI video card into his computer, a card that would use the same driver as his PCI-E card, could he possibly get Aero just on his primary monitor?

Could the onboard Nvidia graphics controller be activated and then use the same nvidia driver for both devices?

 

[Peter]

Maybe the chipset can keep its own graphics unit enabled alongside a PCIE card ... but I wouldn't bet on it. Very few chipsets can.

And yes, dderolph, it's all or nothing. For Windows, it's one big surface, and the rendering model must of course be consistant across all monitors.

 

[Mayfriday0529]

Originally posted by: Peter
Maybe the chipset can keep its own graphics unit enabled alongside a PCIE card ... but I wouldn't bet on it. Very few chipsets can.

And yes, dderolph, it's all or nothing. For Windows, it's one big surface, and the rendering model must of course be consistant across all monitors.

Originally I tried the system when it came in with the onboard nvidia video card and it was able to run the 21" widescreen monitor with Aero on. So maybe its possible...

 

[Mayfriday0529]

Update:
I contacted PNY the maker of my video card. They said it should be able to run both monitors at their native resolution. They said it should work but didn't specifically say Aero should work. I did ask them but they didn't mention it on the reply.
I'm about to buy the second monitor this week on Ebay. I hope it works.

 

[aka1nas]

I read somewhere that Aero requires 128MB of video memory per display. With a 64MB(128 Turbocache) Geforce 6200 I can run a single 1280x1024 display with Aero enabled, but adding a second display removes the ability to select Aero.

Edit: Here are the Aero Requirements

If you are under 1920x1200, then you only need 128MB of video RAM per display. 1280x1024 or under only needs 64MB per display. Anything above 1920x1200 needs 256MB per display.

With that in mind and my above anecdote, make sure that your card actually has that much video RAM and it's not 256MB with Turbocache. I don't know that the shared memory counts in that case.

 

[Mayfriday0529]

Originally posted by: aka1nas
I read somewhere that Aero requires 128MB of video memory per display. With a 64MB(128 Turbocache) Geforce 6200 I can run a single 1280x1024 display with Aero enabled, but adding a second display removes the ability to select Aero.

Edit: Here are the Aero Requirements

If you are under 1920x1200, then you only need 128MB of video RAM per display. 1280x1024 or under only needs 64MB per display. Anything above 1920x1200 needs 256MB per display.

With that in mind and my above anecdote, make sure that your card actually has that much video RAM and it's not 256MB with Turbocache. I don't know that the shared memory counts in that case.

Thanks for the info, i'll check. PNY USA site is down a lot. Currently down so can't get the specs. I always get confused with video cards on whether it actually has the built in 256 or is it like virtual memory.

Here is the card on Newegg Link maybe someone can look to see if it truly is a 256mb onboard.

 

[aka1nas]

According to the Newegg specs, that's 256MB of actual memory.

 

[Mayfriday0529]

Originally posted by: aka1nas
According to the Newegg specs, that's 256MB of actual memory.

good, i got a good feeling that it might work.

 

[n7]

I am about 98% certain Aero will work just fine on dual displays.

 

[aka1nas]

It definitely works fine with dual displays. I run a 22-inch WS and a 17-inch monitor side-by-side without issues. My GPU has sufficient video RAM according to that link, though.

 

[Alyx]

Aero worked fine for me. I don't run vista as a day to day OS but I've installed it and by default it worked fine. Dual 21" CRT and a 24" Dell. I have a little more graphics horse power but not enough to notice as far as desktop environment is concerned.

 

[Mayfriday0529]

Thats the confirmation that I need.
I finally got the second monitor today through eBay. I should get to test it out by next week. I'll post some pictures for reference.

 

[Mayfriday0529]

Originally posted by: Jnetty99
Thats the confirmation that I need.
I finally got the second monitor today through eBay. I should get to test it out by next week. I'll post some pictures for reference.

I got the monitor and it does work with Vista Home Premium and the Nvidia 7300 GT video card. Aero is still running.