pci-e + onboard video for triple head ?

[demonseed]

Ok, so I have spent the last several years wasting my three 1600x1200 monitors because I run my matrox p750 in triple-head mode, which only supports 1280x1024.

Originally I thought I would just run the card in dual, and get 1600x1200, and plug the third monitor into the onboard video on the motherboard, also at 1600x1200.

This was not possible, however, since the onboard video is AGP and the p750 is AGP, and thus they are mutually exclusive.

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So now I am getting a new workstation and am going to go 3 x 2407wfp - which supports 1920x1200, and I refuse to waste the pixels this time.

However there still does not exist a triple-head card that will do three _digital_ displays at 1920x1200. So once again, I am considering combining an add-in card with the onboard video.

So my question is:

If I get a motherboard with PCI-E on it, can I use the onboard video at the same time as I use a graphics card in the PCI-E slot ? Or will these two conflict with each other just like AGP did ?

Comments ?

(anyone doing this ?)

[schmosef]

PCIe allows for two or more video cards.

I wouldn't get a motherboard with onboard video.

I'd get two PCIe cards of the same make/model (for driver compatibility reasons).

In fact, I've got two nVidia 7600GT based cards in my office PC (where I run triple monitors) and it works great.

[demonseed]

thanks - that's good advice.

The problem is, I'm trying to build a totally fanless, silent system, and was hoping to do it with a pre-assembled system from hush technologies, and it's quite difficult to put two add-in cards of any kind into their systems.

So I'll see what I can do, but just for an explanation, that is why I was looking into the onboard video...

Is there any reason why a triple-digital-1920x1200 card does not exist ? That resolution as been standard and common for at least two years now....

I would think that PCI-E would have sufficient bandwidth to support that ...

[Nowhere]

Perhaps mixing integrated video/chipset nad GFX card from the same manufacturer would be least problematic?... (same driver set after all)

[schmosef]

Actually, my two video cards are fanless. They are they 0db model.

My motherboard is an Asus P5W DH Deluxe. The chipset is fanless. The motherboard comes with a special ultra quiet fan for the voltage regulators that you are only supposed to install if you are using a liquid cooling solution.

I don't know anything about Hush but I've worked with several Thermaltake cases and they are very well made. They have their own liquid cooling solution that's designed to work with their cases too.

I think that the absence of triple head LCD is due to lack of market. Matrox has all the niche market still and the mainstream market would just use two cards.

There is even a motherboard from Asus that supports 4 PCIe video cards.

[Marshmallowman]

yeah 7600gt are quite easy to find in fanless models, I have been thinking about getting one for my htpc.

[Belwarrior]

I am just throwing this up as a suggestion

What about a nf6150 based board with 2 nvidia 7600gs/gt ?
or an amd690G based board with 2 amd/ati vga cards ..

not sure whether the above two onboard solutions support 19x12