Dual Monitors w/ 2 video cards - Page 2

ESHIREY · 06-24-2004, 09:26 AM

Damn , How did I do that . Can you PLEASE ........... get rid of my double post ? Sorry

Jav400 · 06-24-2004, 09:34 AM

No problem, all taken care of.

ESHIREY · 06-24-2004, 09:36 AM

Thanks buddy .

ESHIREY · 06-24-2004, 09:42 AM

Originally posted by Jav400
Ed is a busy guy, it takes 2 monitors to get everything done.

Either that or I'm just lazy that I don't want all those windows on one monitor . When I surf or read my mail I have to have it full screen .

Jav400 · 06-24-2004, 09:49 AM

Your setup is probably more functional than mine, I have windows everywhere.

ESHIREY · 06-24-2004, 09:51 AM

Well it works for me . And as long as it works for you that's all that counts right ?

Edgar · 06-24-2004, 12:15 PM

There are different ways to get multimonitors.
1. Use a video card that has more than one VGA-video output.
2. Get one or more card that uses different slot, one is agp and the others are pci.
3. Use a video card that has output to TV and VGA-video, but I never tested the output to TV. The TV will be the second monitor.

The program currently support only clone mode and not span mode unless the video card is able to fool the program that both monitors are used by one card. Future render engine will support span mode and the UI will be a mess.

There is a trick that I mentioned above running the screensaver manually in window mode and stretching the window to cover the other monitors.

If I forget other configurations, feel free to correct me or add to what I listed here.

Mage Joe · 06-24-2004, 03:33 PM

This is probably not USEFUL information for anyone but it might be interesting...

I have a Matrox G450 dual head card here at work. With the OLD drivers, the two monitors appeared as a single 2048x768 screen to windows and all programs. MA2wide would span these two monitors as one might hope...but MA2 ran like a crippled slug.

[Oh, by the way, the early beta MA1.1wide worked wonderfully on this configuration, spread across both screens.]

I recently loaded the newest drivers for the G450. Ostensibly this update supports setting different resolutions for each monitor, but it has the side affect that once configured that way (even though both monitors are set the same resolution), WinXP now allows you to "extend desktop across second monitor". For most applications this is MUCH better behaved than the single large virtual screen of the older drivers. As for MA2 -- the good news is that it now runs at a good framerate; the bad news is that it now clones MA2 on each screen as described in this thread. So it's not QUITE as cut-and-dry regarding how it'll behave as it might seem from this thread...it obviously also depends upon the board(s) and the drivers used.

Now at home I have a dual head set-up using an ATI AIW 8500 and an nVidia GeForce 4400ti PCI. This works like I described the G450 with the newest drivers, but MUCH better performance.

[And yes, as someone mentioned, once you've tasted dual-head you'll never again be satisfied with a single monitor.]

Joe

wineandine · 06-25-2004, 05:38 AM

I would like to thank all the contributors for the valuable information from my original post. You all have been very helpful.

Thanks!

06-24-2004, 09:26 AM	#21
ESHIREY Smilie Dragon Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Lebanon, PA Posts: 4,725	Damn , How did I do that . Can you PLEASE ........... get rid of my double post ? Sorry Thank you for taking the time to read this.

06-24-2004, 09:34 AM	#22
Jav400 Administrator Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: Tennessee Posts: 9,725	No problem, all taken care of. Michael Administrator of Inside:SereneScreen Aquarium Forum, Chatroom, Fan Site & *Gallery* DVD Collection

06-24-2004, 09:36 AM	#23
ESHIREY Smilie Dragon Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Lebanon, PA Posts: 4,725	Thanks buddy . Thank you for taking the time to read this.

06-24-2004, 09:42 AM	#24
ESHIREY Smilie Dragon Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Lebanon, PA Posts: 4,725	Originally posted by Jav400 Ed is a busy guy, it takes 2 monitors to get everything done. Either that or I'm just lazy that I don't want all those windows on one monitor . When I surf or read my mail I have to have it full screen . Thank you for taking the time to read this.

06-24-2004, 09:49 AM	#25
Jav400 Administrator Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: Tennessee Posts: 9,725	Your setup is probably more functional than mine, I have windows everywhere. Michael Administrator of Inside:SereneScreen Aquarium Forum, Chatroom, Fan Site & *Gallery* DVD Collection

06-24-2004, 09:51 AM	#26
ESHIREY Smilie Dragon Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Lebanon, PA Posts: 4,725	Well it works for me . And as long as it works for you that's all that counts right ? Thank you for taking the time to read this.

06-24-2004, 12:15 PM	#27
Edgar Prolific/SereneScreen Developer Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Norwalk, CA Posts: 513	There are different ways to get multimonitors. 1. Use a video card that has more than one VGA-video output. 2. Get one or more card that uses different slot, one is agp and the others are pci. 3. Use a video card that has output to TV and VGA-video, but I never tested the output to TV. The TV will be the second monitor. The program currently support only clone mode and not span mode unless the video card is able to fool the program that both monitors are used by one card. Future render engine will support span mode and the UI will be a mess. There is a trick that I mentioned above running the screensaver manually in window mode and stretching the window to cover the other monitors. If I forget other configurations, feel free to correct me or add to what I listed here. *Edgar Tolentino* Prolific Developer www.prolific.com www.LifeGlobe.com

06-24-2004, 03:33 PM	#28
Mage Joe Registered Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Beaverton, OR Posts: 9	This is probably not USEFUL information for anyone but it might be interesting... I have a Matrox G450 dual head card here at work. With the OLD drivers, the two monitors appeared as a single 2048x768 screen to windows and all programs. MA2wide would span these two monitors as one might hope...but MA2 ran like a crippled slug. [Oh, by the way, the early beta MA1.1wide worked wonderfully on this configuration, spread across both screens.] I recently loaded the newest drivers for the G450. Ostensibly this update supports setting different resolutions for each monitor, but it has the side affect that once configured that way (even though both monitors are set the same resolution), WinXP now allows you to "extend desktop across second monitor". For most applications this is MUCH better behaved than the single large virtual screen of the older drivers. As for MA2 -- the good news is that it now runs at a good framerate; the bad news is that it now clones MA2 on each screen as described in this thread. So it's not QUITE as cut-and-dry regarding how it'll behave as it might seem from this thread...it obviously also depends upon the board(s) and the drivers used. Now at home I have a dual head set-up using an ATI AIW 8500 and an nVidia GeForce 4400ti PCI. This works like I described the G450 with the newest drivers, but MUCH better performance. [And yes, as someone mentioned, once you've tasted dual-head you'll never again be satisfied with a single monitor.] Joe

06-25-2004, 05:38 AM	#29
wineandine Registered Join Date: Jun 2004 Posts: 3	I would like to thank all the contributors for the valuable information from my original post. You all have been very helpful. Thanks!