Wanna go 2 monitor's in Win2k... What other video card should I get?

[Xtremist]

Hey,

Now I'm going out with my girl tonight but there better be twenty replies to this when I get home!!! Maybe I should take that out so I don't get a "OK" from twenty of you Anyway, right now I have a AGP 3D Prophet SDR Geforce 32MB that I attach my Samsung 955DF 19" to. I do a lot of web design work and would like to dock my palette's and the raw HTML/code window on another monitor. Probably 17", or maybe 19" if I can find a good enough deal on one... Been leaning towards 17" cuz then I can take it to LAN Parties easy too (luggin' a 19" is NOT fun ). Anyway, I'm really not sure what video card I should get... All I need it to do probably is 1024 X 768 really good. Past that, I don't really care... Some of you might think that's a low resolution... oh well It's what I like 17"ers to stick with. I run the 19" at like 1152 X 864 or some weird one like that. I don't like it any higher. 1280 X 1024 would be ok if I had a 20 or 21", but, well I'm getting off my own topic now!

Anyway, I'd like several suggestions for a good PCI second video card. It doesn't need to gimmie FPS in Q3A, it just should be able to display text and regular &quot;desktop&quot; stuff exceptionally well, for a reasonable price... If it plays games, that's cool too, cuz there's always SOMEONE who has a POS video card at the LAN Party, so might as well help a guy out, but it's <typo>not</typo> the primary goal here... Any and ALL input will be appreciated... Cheers!

 

[NFS4]

Voodoo 3 2000/3000 PCI

 

[Xtremist]

NFS4 and others... Could you post a general price range for those if you have an idea? I will look it up on my own of course, just might as well weed out the ones that are way too expensive... What too expensive is, I'm not sure yet :-/ Thanx!

 

[Alphacowboy]

Just remember in Win2k you have to run both monitors at the same resolution!!!

 

[NFS4]

2000 - $78
3000 - $86

 

[Xtremist]

Alphacowboy - Are you sure? Of course I haven't tried it yet, but here's what the Win2k help file reads:

To change your screen resolution when using multiple monitors

1) Open Display in Control Panel.

2) On the Settings tab, click the monitor icon that represents the monitor whose screen resolution you want to change.

3) In Screen area, drag the slider to set the resolution you want to use for the selected monitor, and then click OK or Apply to view changes.

They make it sound like you can have different resolutions... I have a friend with THREE monitors hooked up (I call him a freak, but whatever) so I'll ask him about that tomorrow.

NFS4 - Thanx for the prices. That Voodoo3 3000 PCI is looking mighty tempting, and I actually found a PCI one at buy.com! Woohoo! Too bad I can't find a cheap retail 2000 PCI though cuz they have a $30 rebate from 3dfx going on right now

 

[rockhard]

How about a secondhand Matrox G200 PCI?

rockhard

 

[mikepeck]

In win2k you can have different resolutions on the monitors if you have two video cards. Different refresh rates also. I use the voodoo3 3000 pci for my second card on my 17&quot; monitor. IT ROCKS!!! I also do web work and it is great for coding on one, then preview on the other one, or for photoshop/dreamweaver it rocks to have the toolbars on the other mon...

I talked to a Microsoft guy and he is who suggested the voodoo cards. He said that is what Microsoft uses for most of their dual monitors. He said it gives the less problems also. They had a $30 rebate for the voodoo cards awhile ago.. not sure if it is still going on though.

-Mike

 

[Double Trouble]

I'd probably go with a nice cheap Matrox G200. Just about the most stable card there is, compatible with just about everything (no weird hardware incompatibilities), can be purchased cheaply , and the Matrox has just about the sharpest 2D windows video there is.... very pleasing to the eye.

If you wanna play games though, Matrox is not the way to go, and I'd go with NFS's suggestion and get a cheap voodoo 2000 PCI.

Windows 2000 only allows different resolutions if you're using 2 video cards. If you use one card (like the dual head G400), both displays have to use the same resolution.

 

[rockhard]

tagej

Will the 2D quality REALLY be noticeable over say a Geforce2 MX?
Im gettin a secondhand G200 PCI and goin to hook it up with BNC
I aint impressed with my MX for long sessions of browsing

rockhard =)

 

[Xtremist]

Let me ask your guy's opinion on this...

I can get a V3 3000 for about $93 shipped retail
I can get a V3 2000 for about $66 shipped retail AFTER MIR

Which of those two options would you opt for? I haven't discounted the idea of getting a G200 yet, I'm just trying to knock it down to one of the Voodoo's and the G200 to make my final choice... Ok, ok, ok, now my chick's pissed at me so I REALLY am leaving this time, l8r!

 

[rockhard]

Do a search on Auctionwatch.com for Matrox G200.
Theres a couple of PCI ones goin for decent money,

rockhard

 

[SUOrangeman]

FWIW, I've used/still use the following combos in Win2K:

(primary + secondary)
CL Savage4 PCI 32MB + ATi Xpert128 AGP 16MB (2 x 17&quot; on 1024 x 768 with 16 mil)
STB PowerGragh64 3D PCI 2MB + Intel i810 4MB on-board AGP (2 x NEC 19&quot; on 1024 x 768 with 16 mil)
Intel i810 4MB on-board AGP + Maxtrox Mimmennium PCI 2MBAGP (2 x NEC 19&quot; on 1024 x 768 with 16 mil)

BTW, I can change the color depths, resolutions, and refresh rates independently.

-SUO

 

[Xtremist]

I can get a V3 3000 for about $93
I can get a V3 2000 for about $66

Since I could only find a PCI G200 for at least $40 (on an auction), I think I'll at least spend $20 extra for the V3 2000... Can you guys help me decide which I should get though? How much difference will the faster RAM on the 3000 make for games? Like I said, for my friends at the LAN Parties... I'm a nice guy Cheers!

 

[Alphacowboy]

Sorry about that, I thought I read somewhere you couldn't... oops!

 

[xtreme2k]

if you have 2 monitors
does the secondary monitor have the taskbar on it as well?
also how is it possible to default some applications to run on the secondary monitor and some on the primary monitor?
i think they have that in the matrox dual head but then this arent really dual head so what happens with this issue?

 

[rudds]

you should be aware that some video cards will only function as the primary video adapter... i think the g200 is one of these. you should check on that before you sink money into a new card.