Dual Monitors

guitar ed

guitar ed

New member
Hi, guys. I want to set up a second monitor. I have two Nvidia video cards. They are not the highest quality, but the one I'm using is fine. The question is, do I need one card that supports dual monitors, or can I use two single-monitor cards? The cards are identical, so I think it should work this way. Right now, the second monitor is all squiggly, and I'm also able to see the sync pulse scrolling up the screen on the first monitor. I installed all the drivers, so I'm thinking the second monitor is no good. I'll hook it up as the main monitor to be sure, but provided both monitors are good, should I be OK here? Thanks

ed
 
Hi Ed,
I just posted the same kind of question in Mastering/Mixing forum. Check that out there are many useful hints in there that would answer your questions.
 
Two cards should be good, as long as you can fit them both in to your machine (ie. 2 PCI cards). Problems may occur if the cards are identical, you know with driver-sharing and so on.

And you need Win2000 or WinXP...
 
I'm using a Matrox G-550 dualhead AGP card with 2 Envision 17" LCD flatscreens.

The G-550 goes for around 130 bucks, and it does NOT have a fan, that means a slightly quieter DAW.
 
The first one was from compusa for about 600 out the door, the second one was at costco for about 480 out the door.

They are getting cheaper all the time, I just picked up an H/P notebook with a 15" screen, and soon will get a 15" LCD so my notebook setup will have dual displays(when at home).

I want to use the notebook as both a portable recorder(with the addition of possibly an RME multiface cardbus), and primarily as a softsynth "player", I really really really really really want the Native Instruments B-4, Pro-53 and the Arturia modular moog, and the Lounge Lizard electric piano, I am a complete "midiot' but if I can play them in real-time on the notebook, and record them in stereo into my main DAW I'll be a happy camper.
 
Strryder said:
The first one was from compusa for about 600 out the door, the second one was at costco for about 480 out the door.
Click to expand...
Cheap! :)

Multiply that price with 2 and you have what I have to pay... :(
 
Strryder said:
moskus, you use the B-4, how does that sucker sound?
Click to expand...
AMAZING!!! Absolutely fantastic! Seriously.

You need to hear it to believe it. Download the demo... :)
 
I'll probably skip the demo and just buy it, I've been considering it for at least a month or so now, but I'll be needing to get a keyboard controller at the same time, that's why I've been waiting, just letting the ol' wallet recover a little from buying the notebook....
 
Guitar Ed,

You should be able to use 2 cards, yes. You can use 1 AGP and 1 PCI or both PCI's. I'm not 100% sure if there is a motherboard with 2 AGP slots. (or you can use the dual output cards)

The 'sync pulse scrolling up the screen' will probably be related to you sync rate, ie Click Advanced.. on the Settings tab on the Display Properties screen. Click on Monitor and change the Refres Frequency rate to match your Monitors.

I believe that Windows 98, ME, XP & 2000 support dual monitors, but from what I've seend XP is the best when it comes to managing Dual Monitors.

As for the Second Screen, try the same with the refresh rate... or as you mentioned, plug it in as your main monitor to make sure it isn't the screen.

Go from there...

Porter
 
Well, the second monitor is shot. I can pick up another one real cheap. I really want this setup, though. I'm constantly going back and forth between the track view and the piano roll, and I'd love to have them both sitting there full-screen!

I have two identical PCI video cards, and I run XP Pro. I read on here somewhere that if I use two Nvidia cards, the one driver should run them both with no conflicts.

I'll keep you posted, cuz I seem to be in the minority here with this single-monitor crap!!:mad:

ed
 
I thought Windows had problems using two identical hardware-bits (whatever the hardware is). I tried two identical NICs in a machine, and Windows was freaking out. Seems like Windows was thinking: "I just installed the drivers, but look! There's another card I didn't install the drivers for. I just installed the drivers, but look! There's another card I didn't install the drivers for. I just installed the drivers, but look! There's another card I didn't install the drivers for. " Get the idea? It would never get out of the loop....

But of course, that was with Win98, maybe XP is better. :)
 
But as I'm thinking about it, you won't have that problem with monitors. You can (obviously) see what monitor you have connected to which card, and the company computer dude told me that this is most likely not to be a problem with 2000/XP, but the safest sollution would be to get a AGP and a PCI videocard. :)
 
moskus,

I had to NIC's installed (same brand and model)... the only time you would get problems with multiple NIC's is if they had the same MAC address, or the IRQ & DMA's were set identical on the card.

You shouldn't have problems with 2 of the same monitor cards... if should pick up one then another. When you go in to Display Properties you just need to click on the second screen (under the Settings Tab) and check 'Extend my Windows desktop onto this monitor'. XP shouldn't have any problems picking them up either.

Porter
 
The ATI 'Radeon' 7500 or 9000 dual display cards are dirt cheap now. Save yourself a lot of hassle and fussing around with 2 cards, and get one if you can afford to. Less strain on your system too.
 
I just did one mistake when I bought my ATI Radeon 7500...
Do I use the 3D engine? No.
Then do I need it? No.
Is it only making problems? Yes.
Should I have bought a Matrox card? Yes! ;)
 
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