three monitor setup?

[kermalou]

my buddy asked me today how to run three monitors from the same computer and I couldn't tell him, since i know only about dual monitor setups (thanks to this forum).

does he just need another video card? a specific video car?

thanks

 

[josh6079]

Matrox.

Click

 

[Maxspeed996]

For around $400 for the triple head . ......which looks cool as hell btw. I have a question.
my 7800gs has DVI and VGA outputs....couldn't I just get another card and using the nvidia display manager use it to just output video across three monitors like this for a heck of a lot cheaper? What are the benifits of buying this too?

 

[Maxspeed996]

$400 for that device seems expensive.....for what it does.

 

[josh6079]

Originally posted by: Maxspeed996
For around $400 for the triple head . ......which looks cool as hell btw. I have a question.
my 7800gs has DVI and VGA outputs....couldn't I just get another card and using the nvidia display manager use it to just output video across three monitors like this for a heck of a lot cheaper? What are the benifits of buying this too?

I don't think so because you even lose dual monitor support when using SLI. Triple monitor would probably be out of the question.

 

[Lonyo]

Better off buying a PCI card (financially better off that is), and using it, if you don't intend to game on all 3 monitors. Plus it gives you a backup card if your main one ever dies.

 

[rbV5]

Originally posted by: Maxspeed996
For around $400 for the triple head . ......which looks cool as hell btw. I have a question.
my 7800gs has DVI and VGA outputs....couldn't I just get another card and using the nvidia display manager use it to just output video across three monitors like this for a heck of a lot cheaper? What are the benifits of buying this too?

Sure could, and it will have much better gaming performance than the Matrox. Probably easiest to get a PCI Nvidia card, or even a cheap PCIe if you MB supports dual PCIe graphics. There are some caveats, so you'd want to research the best combo for your needs.

Also, Nvidia and ATI have IGP motherboard chipsets that allow for additional graphics cards while still using the onboard graphics. I've used this myself with my RS480 MSI board using ATI's "surround view" solution. The onboard uses a reduced function graphics mode in this setup, which I used to drive my LCD for web browsing while using my dual head graphics to drive my gaming display (CRT) and my Widescreen RPTV all at the same time.

 

[Maxspeed996]

Originally posted by: josh6079

Originally posted by: Maxspeed996
For around $400 for the triple head . ......which looks cool as hell btw. I have a question.
my 7800gs has DVI and VGA outputs....couldn't I just get another card and using the nvidia display manager use it to just output video across three monitors like this for a heck of a lot cheaper? What are the benifits of buying this too?

I don't think so because you even lose dual monitor support when using SLI. Triple monitor would probably be out of the question.

This is true. BUT

As an example say you ran .....two X850 cards in PCIe.....using three out of the 4 outputs on the cards. to run 3 19 flat panels......could you enable them all to function as one large monitor, giving you the "surround gaming" as the Matrox advertises?

 

[fbrdphreak]

Matrox Dual Head 2 Go?
http://www.laptoplogic.com/reviews/detail.php?id=129

 

[josh6079]

Originally posted by: Maxspeed996

Originally posted by: josh6079

Originally posted by: Maxspeed996
For around $400 for the triple head . ......which looks cool as hell btw. I have a question.
my 7800gs has DVI and VGA outputs....couldn't I just get another card and using the nvidia display manager use it to just output video across three monitors like this for a heck of a lot cheaper? What are the benifits of buying this too?

I don't think so because you even lose dual monitor support when using SLI. Triple monitor would probably be out of the question.

This is true. BUT

As an example say you ran .....two X850 cards in PCIe.....using three out of the 4 outputs on the cards. to run 3 19 flat panels......could you enable them all to function as one large monitor, giving you the "surround gaming" as the Matrox advertises?

Really? Wouldn't the different cards negatively impact the gaming performance? I would think having one good video card in a PCI-E lane and other cheap video cards in the PCI slots would create some off-balance gaming.

 

[rbV5]

Originally posted by: Maxspeed996

Originally posted by: josh6079

Originally posted by: Maxspeed996
For around $400 for the triple head . ......which looks cool as hell btw. I have a question.
my 7800gs has DVI and VGA outputs....couldn't I just get another card and using the nvidia display manager use it to just output video across three monitors like this for a heck of a lot cheaper? What are the benifits of buying this too?

I don't think so because you even lose dual monitor support when using SLI. Triple monitor would probably be out of the question.

This is true. BUT

As an example say you ran .....two X850 cards in PCIe.....using three out of the 4 outputs on the cards. to run 3 19 flat panels......could you enable them all to function as one large monitor, giving you the "surround gaming" as the Matrox advertises?

Note that three monitor setup and "Surround Gaming" are 2 different solutions.

Normally you cannot span across busses with full hardware acceleration(Crossfire and SLI only support a single display in multi-GPU mode as well), so you wouldn't be able to enjoy most titles spanned across 3 displays with any kind of decent gaming performance. There may be some titles you can take advantage of some menus or perhaps a different view.

The Matrox card is certainly no gaming card, so "surround gaming" is more like Flight Simulator and such.

 

[Maxspeed996]

so if I wanted to run three 19 inch monitors , and play
Guildwars , Oblivion etc....at that resolution.....then I'd have to have the Matrox "black box". It wouldn't be that expensive either I guess , when you look at the screen size of 3 - 19inch flat panels , and the cost of the controller....if you bought monitors with NARROW bezels around the monitor, it would actually look pretty cool...
Oblivion @ 3840 x 1024 ftw!!!! I would think your ONE card running this had better be pretty darn mean....I don't even know if my 7800gs co superclock could run the game at that resolution with ALL of the candy turned on.
Guildwars , yea , I could see it handling that no problem.

 

[Sketcher]

Maxspeed996, check out Matrox TH2Go forums regarding the TripleHead2Go and Triple monitor gaming. They're the ones actually running the gear.

I've used Matrox Parhelia's with triple Dell 2001FP's (20" LCDs) and am on the border of buying the TripleHead2Go. The only thing holding me back is that I'm holding out for news on a DVI version.

I won't post the link but one of the members over there posted a thread with videos of his surround gaming in action.

If spanning across all three monitors isn't necessary; just want the multiple monitors and expanded desktop then simply adding PCI cards is the least expensive way to go. That, or a Parhelia if a single card is desired.