What PCI DVI card do I need to do 3 screens at 1600x1200 ?

[jbrooks]

Hello,

I invested a lot of money into three 21" LCDs with 1600x1200 resolution ... and I have a matrox p750

and of course, I didn't realize that it only drove two monitors at 1600x1200, and downgraded to 1280x1024 when driving three.

Further, after looking at all the super-high end cards that matrox offers, none of them can drive three 1600x1200.

So, I need to buy a second graphics card, PCI, with DVI output. Which one should I buy ?

I want to do a three screen stretched desktop, just like I was doing with my p750, but with all three @ 1600x1200.

Is there a matrox card I could get that would integrate well with powerdesk, and I wouldn't need to run two different control panels ?

I guess at the end of the day, this is better because I can drive all three panels with digital DVI instead of just the center one as DVI and the two side monitors as digital....

Anyone else doing this ?

[bsdgeek]

Will this fit the bill?

[rylan]

That card is $2500 :P

[jbrooks]

No, I think you misunderstand - I am not looking to replace my p750, I am looking at using the p750 for two displays, and buying a second video card (PCI, DVI-out, and hopefully passively cooled) to drive the third screen....

anyone ?

[az]

The G450PCI might fit your bill. I don't know, though, if two separate cards will allow you a stretched desktop. You might want to ask in the Matrox Forums.

AZ

[Kruzin]

No matter what card you get, if you are running two video cards, you will not get a stretched desktop. You will only be able to get an extended desktop, with at least one display running in independant mode. Stretched desktop is only possible if all displays are running off the same card.

[jbrooks]

that's lame. I wonder why they decided to cripple the p750 and have it only support low resolutions in 3-display mode.

[Kruzin]

Because they can sell the QID cards for a much higher price as a specialty card. Most users don't need 1600x1200 on triple displays. Those who do are a minority, thus a 'specialty' segment that they can make more $$ off of...

[jbrooks]

Well, if they are going to be idiots and cripple the card for no reason, they should print on the box and on their web page in big bold type:

DO NOT BUY THIS PRODUCT IF YOU HAVE NICE OR LARGE MONITORS AS IT WILL NOT WORK AT ALL AND WILL CAUSE YOUR PANEL INVESTMENT TO BE A WASTE OF MONEY.

Really, it's the least they could do.

On another topic, I thought winXP had some kind of built in multi-monitor support - does that also not support three-screen stretch ? Is the built-in support only for two screens ?

[jbrooks]

Let me clarify - above, it was stated that if I bought a second PCI video card that I could not use the matrox tools to do 3-screen stretch....

But what if I buy a second PCI vid card and forget the matrox tools completely and do a three-screen stretch with the built-in winXP multi monitor functionality? Will that work ?

Or some third party multiple monitor management ? I mean, there has to be some way to use two vid cards to do three screen stretch @ a normal (non-crappy) resolution without buying some $2500 card...

[bsdgeek]

I don't think so, but one plus is that the QID is $500. The HR256 is the $2500 card.

[Chrono_Wanderer]

jbrooks, its actually a smart move by Matrox. People who want these things are likely pros, and they will shell out any amout of money just for that. Besides, even NVIDIA does that with their Quadro NVS series that support 4 DVI monitors, they are freaking expensive.

You should look at a Gainward GeForce FX 5200 PCI with 64MB RAM in that case. It has one DVI port, and 1 HD15 port on it.

Personally, if I plan on that kind of setup, i'd go for NVIDIA, since DVI by itself has "good enough quality", cheaper, and has much greater 3D power.

XFX has just launched a GeForce FX 5700 Dual DVI card, it can do dual 1600x1200 i think.

+

the gainward I jsut mentioned.

That way I won't have to worry about graphics drivers in conflict.

G450 PCI won't do it, the DVI only goes up to 1280x1024...

[jbrooks]

So, you are saying if I use a " Gainward GeForce FX 5200 PCI " in conjunction with my p750, I can then use the built-in windows multi monitor support and do a three screen stretched desktop, with all screens at 1600x1200 ?

As far as it being a smart move by matrox, it is more of a bait and switch - they are betting that people will look at the specs of their cards, see that they are 1600x1200, and see that it supports three screens, and then not notice that they downgrade the resolution when you add the third screen.

Well matrox, it worked! You suckered me with it!

[Kruzin]

For stretched mode to work, Windows must see it as only one GPU. Has nothing to do with Matrox's drivers or utils. With two cards, it will only work in independant mode on the third display. You could stretch your desktop on the 2 displays connected to the P, but the one off the PCI card will be independant.

[jbrooks]

oh, I see. Ok, so the built-in windows multi display technology really doesn't support stretched mode at all unless you already have a multi-out card to begin with.

Ok, well I am not going to throw $4000 in LCD investment down the toilet, so I guess I have to buy this "QID" card.

Anyone want to buy a barely used p750 ? (WARNING: don't buy this unless you are only going to use it with crappy, low resolution monitors...)