Dual DVI Matrox or 2 GeForce Cards? 3D modeling?

[leobag]

Excuse my lack of knowledge in this subject, but I need your opinions... I have two 1280 x 1024 DVI LCD Monitors, I RARELY play games, usually just graphics (Photoshop, Illustrator, etc...) and web/media content (Flash, Premiere, Director, etc). So, when using those "high pallet" applications, I really benefit with two monitors. I would like to hook these up via DVI because I would guess that is the best option.

Ultimately, I plan on beginning 3D art/animation (i.e. Cinema4D, Lightwave, etc...). Keeping the price affordable, what are the best cards for this kind of work? Are Matrox cards weak performers when using 3D Modeling applications? Are nVidia/ATI better?

The only affordable Dual-DVI single card solution (that's an option for me) is the new Matrox G550 Dual-DVI card/cable bundle. Other than that, I would need a DVI AGP card and a DVI PCI card. I have only seen one DVI PCI nVidia card (GeForce 2 MX400 by Inndo3D). So, one option would be to get that + another AGP DVI card (plenty available). One other option (which I'm NOT sure will work), would be going the ATI route... One AGP DVI card (7500 or 8500 Radeon) and one Macintosh PCI Radeon 32MB card (the Mac version one has a DVI connector on it). I am not sure if this would even work, in this solution, I am hoping the Windows drivers would handle the "Mac ATI card" correctly.

Any advice?
Leo B.

[Wombat]

I doubt that the Mac card would work in PC systems, since there is unlikely to be driver support for the card. The G550 might be your best bet, with the dual DVI version at $199. Check the "Matrox Hardware" forum though. There have been conversations recently about the refresh rates with two DVI monitors connected. You may want to have two cards just for that reason.