dual display vid. card

pcman_03 · 12-14-2003, 11:09 PM

Hope this is the right forum! I am upgrading a computer for a friend that trades stock online. He is using two comps. right now one for research and one for trading at the same time. I was wondering if someone knows of a good dual moniter vid card for $300 or less? Preferably less!!

Thanks

iroc409 · 12-15-2003, 11:01 AM

most of the cards out there should do duallies if they have a dvi and dsub connector, i think most of the nicer ati cards will.

if you're looking for a dual dvi setup, i believe asus makes one with an ati chip.

or, you could look into the ati fire series, most of those have dual dvi outputs. they're a little more expensive, but you can get one for $300 or less. but they go up to about $750 or so.

Tempus · 12-15-2003, 02:28 PM

I can't speak for every card out there but my ATI Radeon 9000, 9500, 9600, 9700 and 9800 all have dual output (one HD-15 and one DVI.) I can't speak to much on the Nvidia side as of late. I've got a GF3 somewhere... I think...

Radeon 9000 series cards are going for around 50-60 bucks these days.

pcman_03 · 12-16-2003, 12:58 AM

Thanks guys. I was looking toward ati. I think I will go with the 9600. What you guys think. Also I would like to here from someone who has used a dual monitor setup how well it worked and which card.

KnightElite · 12-16-2003, 10:16 AM

Using it right now with a 9500 PRO, works awesome.

airspirit · 12-16-2003, 11:51 AM

Or, you can now get a 9800 Pro for $300 shipped ... just a thought ... be on top of the world, so to speak. It works very well for dual heads for me. I've also used a 9500 Pro for dualling out and it was outstanding as well (though not quite as nice for games ... but I'm a framerate/quality whore so don't mind me).

One thing to keep in mind: if you are planning on using linux, consider that ATi cards are sometimes a bit of a pain in the ass to configure correctly. If that is the case, you may want to consider a NVidia card. Otherwise, ATi is your answer.

Oh, and if you want to do it on the ultra-cheap, you can get certain matrox dual head cards for under $40 ... just a thought. Again, though, they aren't the easiest things to configure under Linux. Under windows, all of the above are easy to use, and the ATi cards with the downloadable software (hydravision, I think) seem to be a bit more feature rich ... the NVidia cards don't have quite as nice dual head support in windows for some of the extras like simple screen rearrangement and screen swap buttons.

My 9800 Pro does dual 1600x1200 19" without skipping a beat.

pcman_03 · 12-17-2003, 12:08 AM

Thanks again. Yea airspirit if it was for me that might be a problem with linux, but the guy I am building it for is lucky to work with windows little alone even try to mess with linux. I think I will be going with the 9500Pro because he does not care about gaming so the 9800 would be wasted.

Diggrr · 12-17-2003, 06:41 AM

Well, I loved my Matrox with dual heads. Unlike the others listed, it had dual controlers on-board, and you could mix and match the type of monitor you installed. Dual controllers allow the card to process each monitor's picture seperately, and allows completely different settings between the two.
The only downside was that the dual controllers take up some card real-estate, so they aren't known to have a huge ammount of memory.

It actually played games pretty well, but no where near spanking an ATI or GForce. It's made for businesses, and does a great job at imaging, it also had the clearest text of any I've owned.

Just an alternative. What this guy wants to do, is what the Matrox was made to do.

KnightElite · 12-17-2003, 12:56 PM

Hmm... I'm running my two monitors at different settings on my 9500 PRO. The one is a 19" Daytek, running at 1600x1200, 75Hz refresh rate, teh other is a 15" Hansol running at 1024x768, 70Hz.

pHaestus · 12-17-2003, 01:40 PM

I use dual displays on my notebook (ATi mobility 7500) and it also handles different settings just fine.

Diggrr · 12-17-2003, 07:04 PM

Well, it seems that ATI has caught up. So you can mix/match CRT, DVI, Analog flat panels, or even Televisions?, and they can run two DVI's at once?, and you can play a different movie on each screen simultaneously?...huh. Matrox is <$150 too.

There are cards available for running 3 monitors as well for $230 @ directron.

All I'm saying is that the world doesn't end at ATI and GF. He wanted options, and I gave him one that no-one else mentioned.
They have decent, inexpensive cards that do what he wants done.

pHaestus · 12-17-2003, 07:24 PM

Yea my mobility 7500 will do multimon on up to three screens: the notebook's lcd, the VGA out, and S video out. I honestly haven't tried all 3 at once; I'd have to lug a monitor up next to the TV to do so and that's a fair amount of effort.

Caeberos · 12-17-2003, 07:31 PM

Just adding that you can always add a cheepie PCI card to the computer for Dual Monitors, I did it sucessfully with a GeForce 2 Ultra and a S3 ViRge (yes i know i am not at the technology forefront) running a 17 inch and 15 inch at different settings.

pcman_03 · 12-18-2003, 04:41 PM

Hey all I appreciate the feedback. I think the 9500 is still the way to go because of the dvi connector for lcds, and also I think he will like the option to be able to out put to tv.

Hellion_Prime · 12-19-2003, 11:48 AM

How about this one ? Its got 2xDVI which would be sweet for dual LCD goodness.

12-14-2003, 11:09 PM	#1
pcman_03 Cooling Neophyte Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: USA Posts: 21	dual display vid. card Hope this is the right forum! I am upgrading a computer for a friend that trades stock online. He is using two comps. right now one for research and one for trading at the same time. I was wondering if someone knows of a good dual moniter vid card for $300 or less? Preferably less!! Thanks

12-15-2003, 11:01 AM	#2
iroc409 Cooling Savant Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: midwest side, yo Posts: 596	most of the cards out there should do duallies if they have a dvi and dsub connector, i think most of the nicer ati cards will. if you're looking for a dual dvi setup, i believe asus makes one with an ati chip. or, you could look into the ati fire series, most of those have dual dvi outputs. they're a little more expensive, but you can get one for $300 or less. but they go up to about $750 or so. __________________ :shrug:

12-15-2003, 02:28 PM	#3
Tempus Cooling Savant Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Michigan, USA Posts: 456	I can't speak for every card out there but my ATI Radeon 9000, 9500, 9600, 9700 and 9800 all have dual output (one HD-15 and one DVI.) I can't speak to much on the Nvidia side as of late. I've got a GF3 somewhere... I think... Radeon 9000 series cards are going for around 50-60 bucks these days. __________________ Thou art God.

12-16-2003, 10:16 AM	#5
KnightElite Cooling Savant Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Saskatoon, Saskatchewan Posts: 294	Using it right now with a 9500 PRO, works awesome. __________________ Can anyone else here say that they have a watercooled monster that's 45" tall?

12-16-2003, 11:51 AM	#6
airspirit Been /.'d... have you? Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Moscow, ID Posts: 1,986	Or, you can now get a 9800 Pro for $300 shipped ... just a thought ... be on top of the world, so to speak. It works very well for dual heads for me. I've also used a 9500 Pro for dualling out and it was outstanding as well (though not quite as nice for games ... but I'm a framerate/quality whore so don't mind me). One thing to keep in mind: if you are planning on using linux, consider that ATi cards are sometimes a bit of a pain in the ass to configure correctly. If that is the case, you may want to consider a NVidia card. Otherwise, ATi is your answer. Oh, and if you want to do it on the ultra-cheap, you can get certain matrox dual head cards for under $40 ... just a thought. Again, though, they aren't the easiest things to configure under Linux. Under windows, all of the above are easy to use, and the ATi cards with the downloadable software (hydravision, I think) seem to be a bit more feature rich ... the NVidia cards don't have quite as nice dual head support in windows for some of the extras like simple screen rearrangement and screen swap buttons. My 9800 Pro does dual 1600x1200 19" without skipping a beat. __________________ #!/bin/sh {who;} {last;} {pause;} {grep;} {touch;} {unzip;} mount /dev/girl -t {wet;} {fsck;} {fsck;} {fsck;} {fsck;} echo yes yes yes {yes;} umount {/dev/girl;zip;} rm -rf {wet.spot;} {sleep;} finger: permission denied

12-16-2003, 12:58 AM	#4
pcman_03 Cooling Neophyte Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: USA Posts: 21	Thanks guys. I was looking toward ati. I think I will go with the 9600. What you guys think. Also I would like to here from someone who has used a dual monitor setup how well it worked and which card.

12-17-2003, 12:08 AM	#7
pcman_03 Cooling Neophyte Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: USA Posts: 21	Thanks again. Yea airspirit if it was for me that might be a problem with linux, but the guy I am building it for is lucky to work with windows little alone even try to mess with linux. I think I will be going with the 9500Pro because he does not care about gaming so the 9800 would be wasted.

12-17-2003, 06:41 AM	#8
Diggrr Cooling Neophyte Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Michigan, USA Posts: 5	Well, I loved my Matrox with dual heads. Unlike the others listed, it had dual controlers on-board, and you could mix and match the type of monitor you installed. Dual controllers allow the card to process each monitor's picture seperately, and allows completely different settings between the two. The only downside was that the dual controllers take up some card real-estate, so they aren't known to have a huge ammount of memory. It actually played games pretty well, but no where near spanking an ATI or GForce. It's made for businesses, and does a great job at imaging, it also had the clearest text of any I've owned. Just an alternative. What this guy wants to do, is what the Matrox was made to do.

12-17-2003, 12:56 PM	#9
KnightElite Cooling Savant Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Saskatoon, Saskatchewan Posts: 294	Hmm... I'm running my two monitors at different settings on my 9500 PRO. The one is a 19" Daytek, running at 1600x1200, 75Hz refresh rate, teh other is a 15" Hansol running at 1024x768, 70Hz. __________________ Can anyone else here say that they have a watercooled monster that's 45" tall?

12-17-2003, 01:40 PM	#10
pHaestus Big Player Making Big Money Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: irc.lostgeek.com #procooling.com Posts: 4,782	I use dual displays on my notebook (ATi mobility 7500) and it also handles different settings just fine. __________________ Getting paid like a biker with the best crank... -MF DOOM

12-17-2003, 07:04 PM	#11
Diggrr Cooling Neophyte Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Michigan, USA Posts: 5	Well, it seems that ATI has caught up. So you can mix/match CRT, DVI, Analog flat panels, or even Televisions?, and they can run two DVI's at once?, and you can play a different movie on each screen simultaneously?...huh. Matrox is <$150 too. There are cards available for running 3 monitors as well for $230 @ directron. All I'm saying is that the world doesn't end at ATI and GF. He wanted options, and I gave him one that no-one else mentioned. They have decent, inexpensive cards that do what he wants done. Last edited by Diggrr; 12-17-2003 at 07:17 PM.

12-17-2003, 07:24 PM	#12
pHaestus Big Player Making Big Money Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: irc.lostgeek.com #procooling.com Posts: 4,782	Yea my mobility 7500 will do multimon on up to three screens: the notebook's lcd, the VGA out, and S video out. I honestly haven't tried all 3 at once; I'd have to lug a monitor up next to the TV to do so and that's a fair amount of effort. __________________ Getting paid like a biker with the best crank... -MF DOOM

12-17-2003, 07:31 PM	#13
Caeberos Cooling Neophyte Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: New York Posts: 32	Just adding that you can always add a cheepie PCI card to the computer for Dual Monitors, I did it sucessfully with a GeForce 2 Ultra and a S3 ViRge (yes i know i am not at the technology forefront) running a 17 inch and 15 inch at different settings.

12-18-2003, 04:41 PM	#14
pcman_03 Cooling Neophyte Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: USA Posts: 21	Hey all I appreciate the feedback. I think the 9500 is still the way to go because of the dvi connector for lcds, and also I think he will like the option to be able to out put to tv.

12-19-2003, 11:48 AM	#15
Hellion_Prime Cooling Neophyte Join Date: Nov 2000 Location: Arlington, MA, US Posts: 90	How about this one ? Its got 2xDVI which would be sweet for dual LCD goodness. __________________ That which does not kill me had BETTER do enough damage to keep me from firing back!

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