Well, I broke down and did it: AGP + PCI as my 2 DVI solution. It works. I'm shocked. Like most of you, the idea of running AGP + PCI is fraught with anxiety about stability.
I really didn't want to wait any longer to upgrade my GF 4 4600 (Gainward 2 DVI card) to a top of the line card, so I can run the latest games at highest resolutions and with lots of options turned on. I have 2 Dell 20" LCDs so the thought of having to run them mixed DVI and Analog just wasn't acceptable.
What I have is the following:
Tyan Tachyon G9800 Pro (ATI Radeon 9800 Pro)
Powercolor Radeon 7000 PCI, 32 MB DVI + RGB dual head
Ordered from NewEgg w/ 2 day ship, just under $400.
I'm running an ABIT IS-7E (865PE chipset), P4 2.53, 1 Gig RAM, 430W power supply, Windows XP Professional.
First I installed the Radeon 9800 Pro by itself and installed the latest drivers. The Radeons all have one driver set. Then I installed the Radeon 7000. Computer wouldn't boot. I took it out and checked BIOS settings and changed boot video card to AGP, from its default of PCI. System booted fine and all drivers were installed automatically given the common driver already installed.
I went to display properties and selected the Radeon 7000 as the 3rd monitor (the 2nd port on the Radeon 9800 pro I guess would have been the 2nd- there were 4 displays in the menu) and set its resolution of 1600x1200 and clicked extend desktop, it fired up just fine.
The 2d picture quality is identical; you can't tell any difference whatsoever. I played a few video clips and dragged windows back and forth- works fine. I'm playing just one 3d game right now, Planetside, and it works without problem, it automatically runs on the 1st card, the 2nd monitor stays on. There were no issues with cursors crossing screens.
That's really it. I'm a happy camper- I can maintain these great LCDs for dual displays for work yet still run the latest games, too.
I really didn't want to wait any longer to upgrade my GF 4 4600 (Gainward 2 DVI card) to a top of the line card, so I can run the latest games at highest resolutions and with lots of options turned on. I have 2 Dell 20" LCDs so the thought of having to run them mixed DVI and Analog just wasn't acceptable.
What I have is the following:
Tyan Tachyon G9800 Pro (ATI Radeon 9800 Pro)
Powercolor Radeon 7000 PCI, 32 MB DVI + RGB dual head
Ordered from NewEgg w/ 2 day ship, just under $400.
I'm running an ABIT IS-7E (865PE chipset), P4 2.53, 1 Gig RAM, 430W power supply, Windows XP Professional.
First I installed the Radeon 9800 Pro by itself and installed the latest drivers. The Radeons all have one driver set. Then I installed the Radeon 7000. Computer wouldn't boot. I took it out and checked BIOS settings and changed boot video card to AGP, from its default of PCI. System booted fine and all drivers were installed automatically given the common driver already installed.
I went to display properties and selected the Radeon 7000 as the 3rd monitor (the 2nd port on the Radeon 9800 pro I guess would have been the 2nd- there were 4 displays in the menu) and set its resolution of 1600x1200 and clicked extend desktop, it fired up just fine.
The 2d picture quality is identical; you can't tell any difference whatsoever. I played a few video clips and dragged windows back and forth- works fine. I'm playing just one 3d game right now, Planetside, and it works without problem, it automatically runs on the 1st card, the 2nd monitor stays on. There were no issues with cursors crossing screens.
That's really it. I'm a happy camper- I can maintain these great LCDs for dual displays for work yet still run the latest games, too.
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