Is G400max dual-head right board for Win NT?

[Nate]

I'm about to upgrade systems, and want to be sure I'm making the right moves. I'm not a gamer, and I use NT systems because as an illustrator (sometimes doing 3d, mostly high-end photoshop and fractal-painter work for magazines, books, etc.) I need the dual-processor setup.

My main interest in the G400max dual-head is the ability to operate 2 monitors side-by-side with the art on one and the palattes/tools on the other - superior quality in 2d is imperative.

When reading Matrox specs on the G400max, it says "limited dual-head capabilities in Windows NT" - - - exactly what does this "limited" mean. Will I get dual-monitor capabilities with NT or not?

Recommendations, ideas and suggestions very appreciated. (Please keep it simple - I'm a "doodler" - not a tekkie.)

Thanks!

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Nate Owens
artist/illustrator
webbit to: www.nateowens.com

[RoGuE]

Yes, dual-monitor works fine using Windows NT. You have to have the same resolution/colour depth on both monitors however. Also unlike Windows 98's multi-monitor, all pop-up windows, etc will appear in the middle, i.e split over both screens. (Win 98 treats each monitor as a different display, WinNT treats them as one big one).

Also if you aren't interested in games, you'd be better off with a standard 32MB card rather than a MAX.

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aka Chris H

[Nate]

Thanks....

When you say "standard 32 bit card rather than max...." specifically, which card are you referring to?

I don't shop around for cards a lot, so I'm a little vague on this....

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Nate Owens
artist/illustrator
webbit to: www.nateowens.com

[Maggi]

go'n'get it !!!



RoGue meant the standard 32MB DualHead version, that should fullfill all your needs if you're not a hardcore gamer ...

I use such a non-MAX daiy for 8-10 hours with PhotoShop, Illustrator, Freehand and all alike under NT ... very pleasing with two monitors !!!

And the next advantage is that you could use the 2nd vga connector to play your AVI, MPEG or whatever videostream onto TV or VCR, which is very helpfull to send or present a layout to your clients ...

(they just love seeing their project on TV ... )

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Cheers,
Maggi
________________________

Working Rig:
Asus P2B-DS @ 103MHz FSB
Double Pentium III-450 @ 464 MHz
4 x 128MB CAS2 SDRAM
Matrox Millennium G400 32MB DualHead
Nokia 445Xi (21")
Nokia 447Xpro (17")

Home Rig:
Asus P2B-S Bios 1010 @ 112MHz FSB
Celeron 300A @ 504MHz
2 x 128MB CAS2 SDRAM
Matrox Millennium G400 32MB DualHead @ 150/200MHz
CTX VL710T (17")

[Nate]

Hey - what a bunch!

Thanks for the info... certainly provides food for thought regarding my choices. The resolution is a factor I will have to think about....

Maggi wrote... "I use such a non-MAX daiy for 8-10 hours with PhotoShop, Illustrator, Freehand and all alike under NT ... very pleasing with two monitors !!!..."

Question, Maggi.... what resolution are you using (bit depth or number of colors) when you work with the dual monitor setup?

I certainly came to the right place to find answers - - many thanks!

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Nate Owens
artist/illustrator
webbit to: www.nateowens.com

[RoGuE]

Multi-Monitor is excellent.

On Win98 I use 1152x864x32bit on each screen.

On WinNT I use 2304x864x16bit across both screens.



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aka Chris H

[Satch]

Rogue,
how did you set up 2304x864x16bit, since I'm unable to find it in the list; it only shows 2048*768 & 2560*1024.

Thanks.

[Maggi]

Hi Satch,

just open up Matrox Display properties, and move the slider really slow, so that you won't miss the mentioned resolution ...

1280x480 is also in there (double low res)

LOL


------------------
Cheers,
Maggi
________________________

Working Rig:
Asus P2B-DS @ 103MHz FSB
Double Pentium III-450 @ 464 MHz
4 x 128MB CAS2 SDRAM
Matrox Millennium G400 32MB DualHead
Nokia 445Xi (21")
Nokia 447Xpro (17")

Home Rig:
Asus P2B-S Bios 1010 @ 112MHz FSB
Celeron 300A @ 504MHz
2 x 128MB CAS2 SDRAM
Matrox Millennium G400 32MB DualHead @ 150/200MHz
CTX VL710T (17")

[Maggi]

and Nate:

I answered your e-mail, but for the others ...

1280x1024x32bpp@85Hz on 1st and
1280x1024x32bpp@75Hz on 2nd display

[Satch]

I've find it,
It was actually missing, since my second monitor was not reporting 1152x864 resolution support. Once manually enabled, here it was: 2304x864