Upgrade dual CRTs to Dual LCDS

[Leros]

I currently have two CRTs and am going to be upgrading to two LCDs. My x800 only has one DVI port. So one monitor will be DVI and the other will be VGA. The one with the DVI will be used for gaming. Is the difference going to be noticeable enough to bother me?

 

[remagavon]

Yes. It's impossible to get the color exactly right unless you're using both through DVI. I had 2x 2001fps, and my whites on the vga output *always* looked more yellowish than the LCD on the DVI interface.

 

[Leros]

Would it make sense to get a cheap DVI capable card for my 2nd monitor? Do they even make PCI video card with DVI output?

 

[Leros]

I found a PCI 9200SE with DVI.

Would it be noticable having one monitor on the AGP x800 and one on the PCI 9200? Or would it be just as fluid as my current setup with two monitors on one card?

 

[Leros]

bump

 

[Matthias99]

Originally posted by: JToxic
I found a PCI 9200SE with DVI.

Would it be noticable having one monitor on the AGP x800 and one on the PCI 9200? Or would it be just as fluid as my current setup with two monitors on one card?

It will work fine if you just use the second monitor as part of your desktop. You won't be able to drag video overlay windows or 3D apps between them, though!

With some monitors, DVI and VGA look similar; with others, as noted, the color balance can be a bit off via VGA.

 

[phaxmohdem]

I've got my dual 19" samsung panels side by side one in DVI, the other in VGA on my x800XL. The DVI one, is slightly crisper, and more vivid w/ the colors, however to me the difference is VERY minimal, and I don't even notice. I have to REALLY try to see the difference. I think alot will come down to the panels that you use, and how they interpret the signals from the VGA/DVI ports. If you are really worried about it, I'd save up for a nicer card with dual DVI outputs. PCI cards are crap IMO.