3 monitors HELP!!!

B

brockattack

I know that there is a thread that is similar, but I think I have a specific problem.

Right now I can get two monitors running at the same time. I have an ATI Radeon x300 SE PCI express card (I don't know if this is AGP but I don't think so). Today I bought a Radeon 9250 PCI card that is just a PCI and not an express. When I add the 9250 my computer totally disregards the X300. So what happens is my computer is only displayed from the one monitor that is hooked up to the 9250 and not the other two. I have no clue what I'm doing here. How do you get both video (pci express and the regular pci) to work?

Do I need to uninstall drivers. I don't really want to mess with it because I have two running right now and don't want to screw that up too.
 
My experience with video cards thus far has taught me the following: stay away from ATI.

No probs with nVIDIA, PCIex + PCI mix seems to work fine. Also, inbuilt Intel Video - DVI accessed via PCIex extender card and multiple PCI nVIDIA NVS280 cards - again works fine.

Most likely a driver problem with ATI.

Someone with more experience in these matters may care to comment - but for me - no ATIs for multiple output configs.

FWIW, I had many windows BSOD when I had a single output ATI a while back - with multiple revisions of the drivers. Something I have not seen since I ditched it.

Of course, your mileage might vary...
 
Quote from Equalizer:

My experience with video cards thus far has taught me the following: stay away from ATI.

No probs with nVIDIA, PCIex + PCI mix seems to work fine. Also, inbuilt Intel Video - DVI accessed via PCIex extender card and multiple PCI nVIDIA NVS280 cards - again works fine.

Most likely a driver problem with ATI.

Someone with more experience in these matters may care to comment - but for me - no ATIs for multiple output configs.

FWIW, I had many windows BSOD when I had a single output ATI a while back - with multiple revisions of the drivers. Something I have not seen since I ditched it.

Of course, your mileage might vary...
More...

Whoa sailor. Since '98,I've used ATIs in multiple card rigs (and currently) and mixed them with Matrox and Nvidia.... I've NEVER had any trouble with them.

The problems you've experienced are not general to ATI.
 
Quote from brockattack:

I know that there is a thread that is similar, but I think I have a specific problem.

Right now I can get two monitors running at the same time. I have an ATI Radeon x300 SE PCI express card (I don't know if this is AGP but I don't think so). Today I bought a Radeon 9250 PCI card that is just a PCI and not an express. When I add the 9250 my computer totally disregards the X300. So what happens is my computer is only displayed from the one monitor that is hooked up to the 9250 and not the other two. I have no clue what I'm doing here. How do you get both video (pci express and the regular pci) to work?

Do I need to uninstall drivers. I don't really want to mess with it because I have two running right now and don't want to screw that up too.
More...

Two things first.
1. Check your BIOS for a Primary Video setting. Should be something to indicate that it should be the PCIe. If not, change it to be sure that PCI is not set as Primary.

2. Did you install the Radeon driver which came with the 9250? If so, you probably shouldn't have. If you did, uninstall the Radeon driver and reinstall the one that came with the PCIe card (or download the latest Catalyst driver)... do not reinstall the driver that came with the 9250.
 
Quote from gnome:

Whoa sailor. Since '98,I've used ATIs in multiple card rigs (and currently) and mixed them with Matrox and Nvidia.... I've NEVER had any trouble with them.

The problems you've experienced are not general to ATI.
More...
Just calling it like I see it. Matrox and nVidia no probs. ATI BSODs galore - desktops and laptop. Not good. Maybe it was during a phase of driver instability - don't know, but it was enough to create a bad impression.

Like I stated in my original post - this has been my experience with them, and your mileage may vary.
 
Hi Michael,
Don't go giving me too much credit. And actually, he has somewhat of a point. ATIs are a bit more picky, but I've never failed to get one to work in combo. However, it's sometimes not automatic.

Besides, ATI is more in the high performance gaming card sector of the market... multi-card, multi-monitor has never been a primary focus for them.
 
Yeah, fair enough.

I think its also a case of products going through phases. Take Viewsonic monitors for example. Many years ago, they were, IMHO, an excellent choice for CRTs - bang for the buck so to speak.

Then they ran into some problems with failures (had a couple fail within warranty period). Nowadays I wouldn't touch their LCDs - especially their VP series which are suitable for trading setups. They look great (when they work) but suffer from dead pixels, poor customer service, and seem to go blank with alarming regularity.

But I'm sure there are others on this board that swear by them.

Go figure...
 
Are they(Viewsonic LCD) that bad? Because I bought a few of them recently.:confused: I hope they do not die on me when I am trading.:D

Since we are on this subject of multiple screens, is it possible to have a quad setup with the current PCI-express motherboards?

My current setup uses a AGP and PCI grahic card. Works really well.

Cheers.:)
 
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