Hi all,
I'm looking into buying a dual head vid card that lets me use two monitors instead of one
anyways, i was wondering how it all works... when i search for it i get different stuff such as:
VGA (640x480), XGA (1024x768), SVGA (800x600), SXGA (1280x1024), SXGAW (1600x1024), UXGA (1600x1200), QXGA (2048x1536), 1152x864, 1280x960, 1920x1200, 1792x1344, 1920x1080, 1600x1000
uh.. wtf is all of this mean?
This is what i need -
a vid card, that will let me have two monitors conected, each running at.. in and around 1280x768 and up (it will be run on two LCD monitors each 17" giving a max res of 1280x1024.
uh... cost... i have no idea yet... i dont wanna be bent over for this, thats for sure.
i was thinking around 250 or so.. so i dont need anything high tech. 64mb of memory will be nuff, and 32bit color will suit me fine
thnx,
-tza

ok well i aint no guru on dual display graphics cards, you might wanna ask omfg_dude_wtf hes a pimp at that shiz. Anyways i believe the shiz in parenthesis ( ie: SXGAW (1600x1024)) I think thats the max resolution and SXGAW i believe is the output type (plug or w/e its called) I dunno if this is all correct, im still a noob at this, but like i said before ask omfg_dude_wtf

alright, thanks!

>Matrox < has a video card for 168$ at >New egg.com<

MATROX Model P650 64MB DDR AGP 8X
The Matrox Millennium P650 is the ideal solution for enhancing corporate productivity while minimizing downtime.
Specifications:
Chipset: Matrox Millenium P Series 650
Memory: 64MB DDR
256-bit GPU with 128-bit DDR memory bus
Bus: AGP 8X, 4X, 2X, 1X
OpenGL® 1.3 and Microsoft® DirectX® 8.1 compliant
1600 x 1200 dual digital and 1920 x 1440 dual analog
Ports: Dual DVI

They even have one thats supports 3 Monitors for 350$

Well, in the multi-display department I would have to say Nvidia has the best support. ATI has several dual monitor cards also(which I don't keep up with due to sticking with what I know works). I have never owned a matrox card nor will I ever, until they own in the 3d gaming department. Their graphics are far behind Nvidia's and ATI's, but they do have quality multi-display cards I am told, just not for gaming. Nvidia brings me both.

Are you looking for an AGP or PCI card, and what will you use it for? You can get a PNY dual VGA Geforce FX 5200 128MB AGP for $99 and get the same card in PCI for $109. The primary display will support the resolution you want but the secondary is limited to 1024x768. They will let you play games, just not with all the goodies.

Almost all new video cards come with dual display capability now, but then you might not get the high resoluton you want running to both displays.

Another suggestion would be to add a single(or dual) display PCI card and use it with your high end AGP card. You would then have no resolution restriction on the second display because it has it's own GPU. I only suggest this if you use Windows ME and XP though, they have the best support for multiple monitors.

My system("The Starship") has 6 displays all to itself. I only have 3 video cards which are all dual vga. The all work hand in hand to give me a super sized desktop.

These are the cards I have (All Nvidia):
1)Geforce 4 ti4200 128mb AGP - dual display
2)Geforce FX 5200 128mb PCI - dual display
3)Geforce FX 5200 128mb PCI - dual display

As soon I as I free up another PCI slot I am going for 8 displays. I have to remove my audigy sound card, and replace it with an extigy USB sound device, before I can do it though.

Skulls, that SXGAW is the "name" for the resolution, has nothing to do with the connector or anything. Listen to OMFG's advice, then check his sig for the starship, it rocks.

The other question is if your LCD's have DVI connectors, if so, get a card with two DVI Connectors and forget VGA all together. If your LCD's do not have DVI Connectors, go with two VGA.

Of course, you can always go pick up a Geforce 2/4 PCI card if and keep your current if you're not looking for too heavy of graphics...

thnx everyone,
well, this computer is not going to be used for heavy gaming or anything anyways...
now which conector is the blue one? for the monitor.. is that vga or dvi?
i have one lcd atm, it takes both the blue and the white conectors.
the next lcd will have either one or both.. dont know yet.
how does this work? i connect one monitor to the blue conector, and the other one to the white, install some software and the thing will work?
again, this will not be used for much gaming.. at all...
i was thinking w/ going with 512mb of pc2700. it will have a 40 gig hdd (definatly not much gaming).
any suggestions on a good model?
also... PLZ PLZ PLZ explain to me how this works...
one white one blue, or on blue that is spliced into two..
how do i set primary/secondary?
oh and omfg_dude_wtf that is an awesome set up.
kinda too many monitors tho... would compleatly throw me off
thnx ppls

image borrowed from http://www.tech-report.com
its a nvidia geforce 4 ti 4600
from left to right:
vga head(plug, connector, port, thingy), svideo (some cards have vivo "video in video out"), and last but not least, the dvi head(plug, connector, port, thingy)

true nvidia has built in support, but i know alot of people who dispise the "expanding to both screens" when they click the "maximise" button, or seeing error messages popup half way on each screen.

i use a program called Ultramon with my radeon 9700 pro.


for all you who are obsessed with looking at beautiful things. pcmcia into quad monitor support.(trumpets sound and the clouds part)
imagine two of those hooked up to a 9x media setup

[edit / expantion]

it works because though microsoft has some negative aspects, they have been nice enough to include multimonitor support into their os (i dont know all the technical stuff on how it works, ive just accepted that it works). software is optional. i use ultramon to manage my monitors, but windows will do it fine if you arnt looking to put a different screensaver on each monitor
it also expands the windows start bar and has some cool features that ive gotten used to; it puts the programs running on the current monitor, on its start bar, not the order in which they were opened.

here is a dual monitor properties window.

if you have more than two monitors you would have more than two rectangels.
you can move those rectanges around to mimic the position of your physical setup. and choose which one is the primary one, as well as choosing supported resolutions.

there alot of stuff on the web about mulit monitors.

Attached Thumbnails

 

I have 3 vid cards stuffed into my case, along with a firewire card, a wifi card. Its quite crampped.

If its not anything heavy, look into a Matrox Millenium Dual Head VGA which you can pick up for about $50. 16 MB ram and works great with standard apps. I have one at work and love it... Actually I have a spare AGP version. Hit me up and well work out a $ if interested.

As far as resolutions go, take your standard res and double the horizontal res. 800x600 would be 1600x600, 1024x768 would be 2048x768 and so on.

i have 2 moniters
i use an ati radeon 9800 non-pro
like posted before me, it has a little thing for a second moniter and the little thing in the middle is for a tv hook up,
i can choose either a second moniter or a tv which is right next to my computer.
i use my tv for watching movies from my computer.
remember 2 is better than one and 3 is better than 2.

yeah just ask omfg_dood_wtf.