3+ Monitor set up

Quote from Samson77:

Ok guys let me jump in please.

I have a custom built I want to expand from dual to quad.

Current card is a Redeon 8500 128mb

Can I just buy another dual card and instal it to expand to quad is it that easy?

Also

When I boot this machine up it always sounds like a train (grinding noise) for the first 2 minutes or so any opinions?

Runs great through!
More...

Several alternatives, which include
(a) Add Matrox G450 PCI dualhead or G550 PCI dualhead
(b) Replace 8500 with Matrox Quad
(c) Add dualhead Radeon PCI (Radeon7500 or 7000)
(d) Add 2 ATI Xpert 128 singlehead cards..
(e) There are other solutions, too
 
Quote from Samson77:


When I boot this machine up it always sounds like a train (grinding noise) for the first 2 minutes or so any opinions?

Runs great through!
More...

Could be one of the fans - case, CPU cooler, power supply etc. I've noticed that you can identify the culprit by applying a little pressure to each and listening for change of pitch.
 
I'm also considering using one of these Matrox G200 cards, and I'm curious if the driver utilities have a gamma adjustment. I'm using Dell 1905 monitors, and without being able to turn the gamma down on the video card, they are too bright. The ATI 9600 pro I use now has that feature. Any insight would be greatly appreciated.
 
Those G200 cards are of an old vintage and likely do not have gamma adjustment... perhaps check with tech support at Matrox and post findings on the board ?? (My G450 has gamma for primary port, but NOT for secondary port)
 
Update...

I queried Matrox Tech Support, "... the card needs a separate graphics chip for each port for there to be gamma on each port.... only G450 MMS Quad has it..."

For the cards which have "one graphics chip for all ports", there will be gamma adjustment only on primary port... no way to have software update add gamma to other ports.
 
Thanks gnome! I'm still a little confused though, cause I thought the g200 MMS had 8mb chips for each port? So does that mean they do or don't have gamma adjustment?
 
Quote from Farside:

Thanks gnome! I'm still a little confused though, cause I thought the g200 MMS had 8mb chips for each port? So does that mean they do or don't have gamma adjustment?
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The G200 does not have gamma support except [possibly] for the primary port. The 8mb chips are for memory. What's needed is separate graphic chip for each port... G200 has one graphic chip to serve all 4 ports.

You might want to check and see if your 9600 has gamma on both ports... likely not.

I've got Dell 1905s, too, and also find them to be too bright. However, I set my charts to have a black background instead of white.... the display is quite good and does not seem overly bright now.
 
Gnome, my 9600 pro does have separate gamma adjustment for each screen. The catalyst software that ATI uses includes it. I think I may try getting an ATI 9250 PCI, that also comes with the catalyst software, so it should have the separate gamma controls as well for each monitor. Thanks for your help, as usual, you are the man!
 
Quote from Farside:

Gnome, my 9600 pro does have separate gamma adjustment for each screen. The catalyst software that ATI uses includes it. I think I may try getting an ATI 9250 PCI, that also comes with the catalyst software, so it should have the separate gamma controls as well for each monitor. Thanks for your help, as usual, you are the man!
More...

It's only partly software. According to the Tech guys at Matrox, then your 9600 must have 2 graphics chips... one for each port. The 9250 may or may not have that. If you're looking to buy a new card, you might want to verify in advance that the new dualhead card has 2 graphics chips.
 
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