Dual monitor cards

Ashton · Post by **Ashton** » Sun Jun 29, 2003 1:47 pm

I just want to get all of your suggestions: what video card do you think I should buy if I want one that has dual monitor support and still has some heft in the gaming arena, but isn't ungodly expensive?

klinky · Post by **klinky** » Sun Jun 29, 2003 4:34 pm

ATI:
$60 Radeon 9100
$120 Radeon 9500
$175 Radeon 9500 Pro

nVidia:
$90 nVidia Geforce4 ti 4200 64MB

klinky · Post by **klinky** » Sun Jun 29, 2003 4:36 pm

If you get a Geforce4 make sure it includes a DVI, DVI interfaces can be converted to analog VGA with a adapter and that's how most cards handle "dual-monitors".

Ashton · Post by **Ashton** » Sun Jun 29, 2003 7:50 pm

klinky wrote:If you get a Geforce4 make sure it includes a DVI, DVI interfaces can be converted to analog VGA with a adapter and that's how most cards handle "dual-monitors".

Does that mean that, in order to run dual monitors I'm going to need some kind of an adapter? Do you think you could go ahead and link me to a page that tells me about that for the GeForce? Thanks

NicholasDWolfwood · Post by **NicholasDWolfwood** » Sun Jun 29, 2003 8:37 pm

IIRC, you don't need the adapter per-say if you have a DVI flat panel and a CRT VGA monitor, but if you just want two CRTs you'd need an adapter to do the DVI-I -> CRT conversion so you can fit the plug on.

Ashton · Post by **Ashton** » Sun Jun 29, 2003 8:43 pm

NicholasDWolfwood wrote:IIRC, you don't need the adapter per-say if you have a DVI flat panel and a CRT VGA monitor, but if you just want two CRTs you'd need an adapter to do the DVI-I -> CRT conversion so you can fit the plug on.

By CRT, you mean normal CRT monitor style plug (don't know what that's called) as apposed to, say, RCA or Coaxial?

NicholasDWolfwood · Post by **NicholasDWolfwood** » Sun Jun 29, 2003 8:45 pm

...monitors don't use RCA or Coaxial, do they?

Ashton · Post by **Ashton** » Sun Jun 29, 2003 9:01 pm

NicholasDWolfwood wrote:...monitors don't use RCA or Coaxial, do they?

Some do.
Besides, it would be much appreciated if you would stop beating up on the poor ignorant members here.

Smartass.

So, you didn't answer my question, what do you mean by CRT in terms of the adapter? If you don't know the name, do you think you might describe it's looks?

klinky · Post by **klinky** » Mon Jun 30, 2003 1:19 am

CRT(Cathode Ray Tube) could mean any kind of connector really. But in the consumer computer sector CRT = VGA = 15pin DB connector. It's a standard monitor connector.

Your video card converts the digital bitmap of your screen into analog signals a CRT monitor can understand.

Now that LCD(Liquid Crystal Displays) are coming out they can do pure digital image transfer. LCDs have a fixed grid of pixels and they look best with a pure digital stream. There are LCDs that hook up via a standard analog VGA connector. However, most use the pure digital DVI(Digital Video Interface) connector.

Video card makers try to please both crowds and being able to sport the "dual-monitor support". Most new cards have a analog VGA connector & a DVI connector. So you can have a LCD and a CRT hooked up at the same time or you could hook up two CRTs so long as you got a DVI -> VGA adapter. You could also probably hook up two LCDs using a VGA -> DVI adapter. That however is like bad idea since your video card is converting you signal to analog and you're converting it back to digital. Totally un-needed. If you want two LCDs you're better off getting a dual-DVI card.

madmallard · Post by **madmallard** » Mon Jun 30, 2003 9:28 pm

dont forget BNC connections!