Just until recently, I owned Tyan Tigre MP board that was equipped with
Matrox G550 AGP and Matrox G550 PCI. Due to some requirements, I had to
change the board and migrated to Intel 975XBX2 and could (logically)
remain only with G550 PCI. Unfortunately, due to, now extended, nature of
my job, single PCI video card does not meet my requirements, in addition
that it has to drive two large CRT monitors, and is not ready for new LCD
screens with resolutions larger than 1280x, that are coming to my desk
soon.
Therefore, I planed to migrate on PCI-E graphic cards. I would like to
have dedicated GPU per monitor; now two, soon three, that is three cards
all together, since MMS/QID, Quadro NVS, Xentera GT, FireMV and similar
solutions are currently way beyond my budget. So, I considered low low low
end ATI/nVidia segment, that would even suit me better since i might have
some (light, though) 3D requirements in future.
Now, is anyone aware whether that setup would work well? As far as I can
tell, my board has 3 PCI-E 16x connectors (at least physical), so I doubt
there would be any problems, however, are nVidia/ATI drivers "mature"
enough to handle something like that? Would it be prudent to wait for new
ATI models, for potential price drop in low end segment for both
nVidia/ATI? And further more is it realistic to expect low need models
such as 7100 series for new 8xxx series in period of few next months?
TIA!
--
Documentation is like sex: when it's good, it's very, very good; when it's
bad, it's better than nothing.
On May 13, 8:36 am, Bubba <nickn...@hcp.hr> wrote:
> Greetings,
>
> Just until recently, I owned Tyan Tigre MP board that was equipped with
> Matrox G550 AGP and Matrox G550 PCI. Due to some requirements, I had to
> change the board and migrated to Intel 975XBX2 and could (logically)
> remain only with G550 PCI. Unfortunately, due to, now extended, nature of
> my job, single PCI video card does not meet my requirements, in addition
> that it has to drive two large CRT monitors, and is not ready for new LCD
> screens with resolutions larger than 1280x, that are coming to my desk
> soon.
>
> Therefore, I planed to migrate on PCI-E graphic cards. I would like to
> have dedicated GPU per monitor; now two, soon three, that is three cards
> all together, since MMS/QID, Quadro NVS, Xentera GT, FireMV and similar
> solutions are currently way beyond my budget. So, I considered low low low
> end ATI/nVidia segment, that would even suit me better since i might have
> some (light, though) 3D requirements in future.
>
> Now, is anyone aware whether that setup would work well? As far as I can
> tell, my board has 3 PCI-E 16x connectors (at least physical), so I doubt
> there would be any problems, however, are nVidia/ATI drivers "mature"
> enough to handle something like that? Would it be prudent to wait for new
> ATI models, for potential price drop in low end segment for both
> nVidia/ATI? And further more is it realistic to expect low need models
> such as 7100 series for new 8xxx series in period of few next months?
>
> TIA!
>
> --
> Documentation is like sex: when it's good, it's very, very good; when it's
> bad, it's better than nothing.
You'll be fine. Most cards made after 2000 are compatible with
multiples.
Matrox is still the king of multiple monitor setups though.
On 13 May 2007 10:45:20 -0700, "paulmd@efn.org"
<paulmd@efn.org> wrote:
>On May 13, 8:36 am, Bubba <nickn...@hcp.hr> wrote:
>> Would it be prudent to wait for new
>> ATI models, for potential price drop in low end segment for both
>> nVidia/ATI? And further more is it realistic to expect low need models
>> such as 7100 series for new 8xxx series in period of few next months?
>>
>> TIA!
>>
>> --
>> Documentation is like sex: when it's good, it's very, very good; when it's
>> bad, it's better than nothing.
>
>You'll be fine. Most cards made after 2000 are compatible with
>multiples.
>
>Matrox is still the king of multiple monitor setups though.
>
I will add that it is not generally useful to wait for new
low end models, they tend to have a disproportionately
higher price upon initial introduction to the market,
typically the next higher tiered card from the past
generation can be had for nearly same, sometimes even lower
cost. For example nVidia 7600GS
Bubba wrote:
> Greetings,
>
> Just until recently, I owned Tyan Tigre MP board that was equipped with
> Matrox G550 AGP and Matrox G550 PCI. Due to some requirements, I had to
> change the board and migrated to Intel 975XBX2 and could (logically)
> remain only with G550 PCI. Unfortunately, due to, now extended, nature of
> my job, single PCI video card does not meet my requirements, in addition
> that it has to drive two large CRT monitors, and is not ready for new LCD
> screens with resolutions larger than 1280x, that are coming to my desk
> soon.
>
> Therefore, I planed to migrate on PCI-E graphic cards. I would like to
> have dedicated GPU per monitor; now two, soon three, that is three cards
> all together, since MMS/QID, Quadro NVS, Xentera GT, FireMV and similar
> solutions are currently way beyond my budget. So, I considered low low low
> end ATI/nVidia segment, that would even suit me better since i might have
> some (light, though) 3D requirements in future.
>
> Now, is anyone aware whether that setup would work well? As far as I can
> tell, my board has 3 PCI-E 16x connectors (at least physical), so I doubt
> there would be any problems, however, are nVidia/ATI drivers "mature"
> enough to handle something like that? Would it be prudent to wait for new
> ATI models, for potential price drop in low end segment for both
> nVidia/ATI? And further more is it realistic to expect low need models
> such as 7100 series for new 8xxx series in period of few next months?
>
> TIA!
>
What applications are you using this system for? You state that there
might be 3D at some undefined in the future. If you are doing non-gaming
non-3D for the foreseeable future there is probably little need for
multiple cards. Something as simple as a basic dual-DVI card might be a
good starting point at <$125. A quick search at NewEgg turned up dual
DVI cards as cheap as $110.
> What applications are you using this system for? You state that there
> might be 3D at some undefined in the future. If you are doing
> non-gaming non-3D for the foreseeable future there is probably little
> need for multiple cards. Something as simple as a basic dual-DVI card
> might be a good starting point at <$125. A quick search at NewEgg
> turned up dual DVI cards as cheap as $110.
My local retailer sells Radeon X1050 for ~50$ (DVI + DSUB, so I'd have to
buy two) and Radeon X1300Pro for ~85$. Having one heater in my machine
seems far more prudent that two heaters. Now I'm just not sure if it is
expectable that new Radeon HD 2400 and Radeon HD 2600 come with low prices
(>100 $) or cut current X3xx card prices...
Does anyone know when will Radeon HD series come to stores and what are
expected prices?
--
Documentation is like sex: when it's good, it's very, very good; when it's
bad, it's better than nothing.
> I will add that it is not generally useful to wait for new
> low end models, they tend to have a disproportionately
> higher price upon initial introduction to the market,
> typically the next higher tiered card from the past
> generation can be had for nearly same, sometimes even lower
> cost. For example nVidia 7600GS
Do you think that this patter will be followed by ATI/AMD with new Radeon
HD series? Will prices low end segment of previous generation cards be
reduced accordingly?
--
Documentation is like sex: when it's good, it's very, very good; when it's
bad, it's better than nothing.
On 14 May 2007 19:33:25 GMT, Bubba <nickname@hcp.hr> wrote:
>kony's log on stardate 13 svi 2007
>
>> I will add that it is not generally useful to wait for new
>> low end models, they tend to have a disproportionately
>> higher price upon initial introduction to the market,
>> typically the next higher tiered card from the past
>> generation can be had for nearly same, sometimes even lower
>> cost. For example nVidia 7600GS
>
>Do you think that this patter will be followed by ATI/AMD with new Radeon
>HD series? Will prices low end segment of previous generation cards be
>reduced accordingly?
Yes, but the key is not that previous generation cards are
reduced in price at that point, it is they they fell from
their early, disproportionately high market entry price over
time already, while the new entries into that market still
retain the artifically high price.
Multi GPU setup for multiple monitors 
Linear Mode
