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  • matrox dualhead + onboard DVI ?

    Hello,

    A few weeks ago I was asking about how to do a triple-head setup at 1920x1200 on all three screens, over DVI.

    The solution seems to be two PCI matrox cards, or one AGP and one PCI matrox card. There is no single card that can do 3x (1920x1200).

    So I am now considering one other solution, and that is to run dual digital 1920x1200 off of either an AGP or a PCI matrox card, and running the third (or maybe the center) monitor off of the motherboards onboard DVI connection.

    So, assuming that my onboard DVI can run 1920x1200, does anyone see any flaws in this strategy ? I am _assuming_ that there are no resource conflicts in running my onboard video along with a matrox card - I assume the PC will just boot onto the onboard, and then my system drivers (matrox supplied X window driver, in this case) will pick up the other two when I start (X) windows.

    Comments ?

  • #2
    In this case, you'll probably have to buy a PCI card, because most motherboards will disable onboard video automatically, if they'll detect an AGP card fitted in the AGP slot. Someone please correct me, if I'm wrong...

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    • #3
      You are correct. The onboard is almost certainly AGP, and you cannot have 2 AGP devices running at once. It will need to be a PCI card if you want to use on-board video.
      Core2 Duo E7500 2.93, Asus P5Q Pro Turbo, 4gig 1066 DDR2, 1gig Asus ENGTS250, SB X-Fi Gamer ,WD Caviar Black 1tb, Plextor PX-880SA, Dual Samsung 2494s

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      • #4
        yeah I figured that - the matrox card I stick in will be the new PCI 650 low profile whatever-the-hell they just came out with.

        Ok, so all sounds good for this plan. thanks.

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        • #5
          What motherboard are you using as I've yet to see one with onboard video that has a DVI connector
          When you own your own business you only have to work half a day. You can do anything you want with the other twelve hours.

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          • #6
            It's still possible, that you'll get only a minimum set of features on your Matrox card, if the onboard video requires to be set as a primary adapter. You may not be able to install Matrox PowerDesk software, if the Matrox card will be configured as a secondary adapter.

            If you want to play safe, then you should get P-Series AGP+PCI cards. This way you could avoid any driver conflicts.

            EDIT: Uups... This will only count, if you use Windows OS. You don't get PowerDesk in Linux/FreeBSD anyway...
            Last edited by Mikko; 10 June 2005, 13:50.

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            • #7
              Originally posted by Taz
              What motherboard are you using as I've yet to see one with onboard video that has a DVI connector
              Well, I am looking at this system:



              and as you can see, the onboard video connector is DVI ... and there is one open PCI slot.

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              • #8
                Nice system. The PSU is only 90W though. You may have to see how much is available for your added card.
                Gigabyte P35-DS3L with a Q6600, 2GB Kingston HyperX (after *3* bad pairs of Crucial Ballistix 1066), Galaxy 8800GT 512MB, SB X-Fi, some drives, and a Dell 2005fpw. Running WinXP.

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                • #9
                  Also it seems to not have gigE onboard - looks like only 10/100 on thta onboard NIC ... which is completely, totally lame.

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