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I am a true power user, as my .sig plainly shows. I want ONE machine that can do it ALL.
Having said that, I of course have not one, but TWO monitors, using Windows 98 SE and the multimonitor features built into it.
Unfortunately, this setup requred not one, not two, but FOUR video cards to give me the performance I wanted. I had a G200 AGP for Direct3D and 2D performance, a Millennium II PCI for the secondary monitor, and a V2 SLI rig for gaming.
The G400 MAX was the only hope I had for getting rid of all four cards and replacing them with a single solution.
Well, it ain't quite there yet. :-)
I've had the card for all of 5 hours. Here's what I've seen so far:
Issues that need to be addressed:
1) OpenGL doesn't run when DualHead to extend the desktop is enabled. This alone is enough reason to steer clear of the card for gaming purposes.
2) DVD's don't play on the other head. Hardware decoder or otherwise.
3) DVD doesn't play back via a hardware decoder card on the second or primary heads when Multi-Monitor mode is enabled.
3) Vsync is stuck ON. I turned it off from the tweak utility I got from www.g200.com. It's STILL ON. I'm trying to play Half-Life Direct3D, and EVERY FRAME IS CLEAR. Unfortunately, that SUCKS for gameplay.
4) They STILL HAVEN'T FIXED THE MILLENNIUM II PROBLEM!!!!! If you have Matrox video cards in a PC, OpenGL doesn't work. WHY??? Does SOMEONE have an answer???
Impressions:
1) Video quality on the main display is great. Video quality on the secondary flickers a little bit, but that may be the two monitors together. It's not QUITE as stable as a Millennium II, but it's close.
2) Games LOOK gorgeous, even if they're not playing well yet.
3) If hardware-assisted DVD playback, via the G400 or via a decoder overlay, can be made to WORK over the secondary head, this card will be the end-all-be-all, as far as I'm concerned.
4) If the OpenGL issues that surround multi-monitor can be solved quickly, I'll be happy. If not, in go the V2's again. GLide FOREVER!
-----
I think I'll be dropping back to the 5.13 drivers, as they apparently allow vsync to be turned off. More to follow...
And no, my .sig's not changing yet.
----
Follow-up: DVD playback via the softward decoder is far superior in visual quality than the passthrough cabling that is supplied with the Hollwood Plus decoder card. My desktop is at 1280x1024, so this really matters to me.
OpenGL works if you disable the second monitor while playing games. Not as elegant as letting it work with the head running, but much better than having to turn OFF DualHead. Livable.
More to follow.
------------------
Primary System: PIII-540 (450@4.5x120), Soyo 6BA+ III, 256MB PC100 ECC SDRAM, Millennium G200 AGP, Millennium II, Voodoo2 SLI, Two Mitsubishi Diamond Pro 900u monitors, 3Com 3C905, SoundBlaster 32, Altec Lansing AC5 spkrs, 2nd Parallel Port, WD AC41800 18GB HD, WD AC310100 10GB HD, Toshiba XM-6102b CD-ROM, HP 8100i CD-RW, Epson Stylus Pro, Sharp JX-9400 LJ-II compatible, OptiUPS PowerES 650, MS SideWinder Precision Pro USB joystick, Logitech 3-button mouse, Mitsumi keyboard, Win98 SE, Belkin OmniCube 4-port KVM
Secondary System: PII-266, Asus P2B BIOS 1008, 128MB PC100 ECC SDRAM, Millennium II, 3Com 3C590, ADSL Modem 640kbit down/90kbit up, 3Com 3C509, Mylex BT-930 SCSI card, Seagate 2GB Hawk, NEC 6x CD-ROM, Linux distro S.u.S.E. 6.1 (IP Masquerade works!)
Tertiary System: DFI G568IPC Intel 430HX chipset, P200MMX, 96MB of non-parity RAM, Millennium II, 3Com 3C900, SoundBlaster 16 MCD, Fujitsu 3.5GB HD, WD 1.2GB HD, OS of the week
All specs subject to change.
[This message has been edited by IceStorm (edited 09-03-1999).]
Having said that, I of course have not one, but TWO monitors, using Windows 98 SE and the multimonitor features built into it.
Unfortunately, this setup requred not one, not two, but FOUR video cards to give me the performance I wanted. I had a G200 AGP for Direct3D and 2D performance, a Millennium II PCI for the secondary monitor, and a V2 SLI rig for gaming.
The G400 MAX was the only hope I had for getting rid of all four cards and replacing them with a single solution.
Well, it ain't quite there yet. :-)
I've had the card for all of 5 hours. Here's what I've seen so far:
Issues that need to be addressed:
1) OpenGL doesn't run when DualHead to extend the desktop is enabled. This alone is enough reason to steer clear of the card for gaming purposes.
2) DVD's don't play on the other head. Hardware decoder or otherwise.
3) DVD doesn't play back via a hardware decoder card on the second or primary heads when Multi-Monitor mode is enabled.
3) Vsync is stuck ON. I turned it off from the tweak utility I got from www.g200.com. It's STILL ON. I'm trying to play Half-Life Direct3D, and EVERY FRAME IS CLEAR. Unfortunately, that SUCKS for gameplay.
4) They STILL HAVEN'T FIXED THE MILLENNIUM II PROBLEM!!!!! If you have Matrox video cards in a PC, OpenGL doesn't work. WHY??? Does SOMEONE have an answer???
Impressions:
1) Video quality on the main display is great. Video quality on the secondary flickers a little bit, but that may be the two monitors together. It's not QUITE as stable as a Millennium II, but it's close.
2) Games LOOK gorgeous, even if they're not playing well yet.
3) If hardware-assisted DVD playback, via the G400 or via a decoder overlay, can be made to WORK over the secondary head, this card will be the end-all-be-all, as far as I'm concerned.
4) If the OpenGL issues that surround multi-monitor can be solved quickly, I'll be happy. If not, in go the V2's again. GLide FOREVER!
-----
I think I'll be dropping back to the 5.13 drivers, as they apparently allow vsync to be turned off. More to follow...
And no, my .sig's not changing yet.
----
Follow-up: DVD playback via the softward decoder is far superior in visual quality than the passthrough cabling that is supplied with the Hollwood Plus decoder card. My desktop is at 1280x1024, so this really matters to me.
OpenGL works if you disable the second monitor while playing games. Not as elegant as letting it work with the head running, but much better than having to turn OFF DualHead. Livable.
More to follow.
------------------
Primary System: PIII-540 (450@4.5x120), Soyo 6BA+ III, 256MB PC100 ECC SDRAM, Millennium G200 AGP, Millennium II, Voodoo2 SLI, Two Mitsubishi Diamond Pro 900u monitors, 3Com 3C905, SoundBlaster 32, Altec Lansing AC5 spkrs, 2nd Parallel Port, WD AC41800 18GB HD, WD AC310100 10GB HD, Toshiba XM-6102b CD-ROM, HP 8100i CD-RW, Epson Stylus Pro, Sharp JX-9400 LJ-II compatible, OptiUPS PowerES 650, MS SideWinder Precision Pro USB joystick, Logitech 3-button mouse, Mitsumi keyboard, Win98 SE, Belkin OmniCube 4-port KVM
Secondary System: PII-266, Asus P2B BIOS 1008, 128MB PC100 ECC SDRAM, Millennium II, 3Com 3C590, ADSL Modem 640kbit down/90kbit up, 3Com 3C509, Mylex BT-930 SCSI card, Seagate 2GB Hawk, NEC 6x CD-ROM, Linux distro S.u.S.E. 6.1 (IP Masquerade works!)
Tertiary System: DFI G568IPC Intel 430HX chipset, P200MMX, 96MB of non-parity RAM, Millennium II, 3Com 3C900, SoundBlaster 16 MCD, Fujitsu 3.5GB HD, WD 1.2GB HD, OS of the week
All specs subject to change.
[This message has been edited by IceStorm (edited 09-03-1999).]