Dual monitor setup question

S
Posted By
settingup
Jun 10, 2004
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738
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I plan to set up dual monitors for PS in WinXP. One will be a 21" CRT at high resolution, and the other a 15" at low resolution. The video card will be a Matrox, either G400 or G450. Can a Matrox G400 or G450 support two monitors with different resolutions? How much video memory will it take for such a setup (for 2D only)? Thanks.

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G
g-w
Jun 10, 2004
wrote:

I plan to set up dual monitors for PS in WinXP. One will be a 21" CRT at high resolution, and the other a 15" at low resolution. The video card will be a Matrox, either G400 or G450. Can a Matrox G400 or G450 support two monitors with different resolutions? How much video memory will it take for such a setup (for 2D only)? Thanks.

I had a G400 and it supported different resolutions on each monitor. Not sure what you mean on your memory question, the cards have their own RAM so they use little system RAM. The software for the G400 had separate monitor settings for Monitor 1 and Monitor 2.

g-w
C
customersupport
Jun 10, 2004
wrote:

I plan to set up dual monitors for PS in WinXP. One will be a 21" CRT at high resolution, and the other a 15" at low resolution. The video card will be a Matrox, either G400 or G450. Can a Matrox G400 or G450 support two monitors with different resolutions? How much video memory will it take for such a setup (for 2D only)? Thanks.
The short answer is yes. Make sure that your video card has dual VGA ports on it or you will have to use more than one Physical video card in the computer. The Matrox cards are well known for dual setups. They do an excellent job with color also. The G400 and G450 both will do the job. As long as you have a fast enough CPU(s), Memory, and Hard Disk, you can get really good performance out of PS CS with a 32MB Matrox G400. I can personally vouche for it.



__________________________________________________
Leo McKenzie
www.solocomputerservices.com/scsgrafx.php
C
customersupport
Jun 10, 2004
wrote:

I plan to set up dual monitors for PS in WinXP. One will be a 21" CRT at high resolution, and the other a 15" at low resolution. The video card will be a Matrox, either G400 or G450. Can a Matrox G400 or G450 support two monitors with different resolutions? How much video memory will it take for such a setup (for 2D only)? Thanks.
One more note to answering your question, Make sure to update the drivers for the Matrox cards once you finish installing Win XP. You can get them from the Matrox Web site. DO NOT use the default driver that installs with Windows.



__________________________________________________
Leo McKenzie
www.solocomputerservices.com/scsgrafx.php
C
customersupport
Jun 10, 2004
wrote:

I plan to set up dual monitors for PS in WinXP. One will be a 21" CRT at high resolution, and the other a 15" at low resolution. The video card will be a Matrox, either G400 or G450. Can a Matrox G400 or G450 support two monitors with different resolutions? How much video memory will it take for such a setup (for 2D only)? Thanks.
Yes. It will work. You don’t even have to get anything bigger than the 32MB card. I have personally used it in the past and is a great card. Make sure to just download the latest drivers from the Matrox site. DO NOT use the default driver that Windows installs.



__________________________________________________
Leo McKenzie
www.solocomputerservices.com/scsgrafx.php
BE
Bryan England
Jun 11, 2004
I use 2-21 inch LaCie Blue III’s and a NVidia GeForce FX 5200 and it works like a charm. once you go dual monitors, you’ll never go back!

"L. McKenzie" wrote in message
wrote:

I plan to set up dual monitors for PS in WinXP. One will be a 21" CRT at high resolution, and the other a 15" at low resolution. The video card will be a Matrox, either G400 or G450. Can a Matrox G400 or G450 support two monitors with different resolutions? How much video memory will it take for such a setup (for 2D only)? Thanks.
Yes. It will work. You don’t even have to get anything bigger than the 32MB card. I have personally used it in the past and is a great card. Make sure to just download the latest drivers from the Matrox site. DO NOT use the default driver that Windows installs.



__________________________________________________
Leo McKenzie
www.solocomputerservices.com/scsgrafx.php
S
settingup
Jun 11, 2004
Thanks to everyone’s reply. I was wondering how much video ram on the card itself is needed for dual monitors (21" and 15"). The 21" monitor will have high resolution and high refresh rates. I’m unsure whether the amount of video ram has anything to do with these.

g-w wrote:
wrote:

I plan to set up dual monitors for PS in WinXP. One will be a 21" CRT at high resolution, and the other a 15" at low resolution. The video card will be a Matrox, either G400 or G450. Can a Matrox G400 or G450 support two monitors with different resolutions? How much video memory will it take for such a setup (for 2D only)? Thanks.

I had a G400 and it supported different resolutions on each monitor. Not sure what you mean on your memory question, the cards have their own RAM so they use little system RAM. The software for the G400 had separate monitor settings for Monitor 1 and Monitor 2.

g-w
H
Hecate
Jun 12, 2004
On Fri, 11 Jun 2004 11:21:34 GMT, wrote:

Thanks to everyone’s reply. I was wondering how much video ram on the card itself is needed for dual monitors (21" and 15"). The 21" monitor will have high resolution and high refresh rates. I’m unsure whether the amount of video ram has anything to do with these.
The only thing video RAM has a bearing on is the speed at which 3D screen redraws will hap[pen. A 32MB card would do (as long as it’s a dual) if all you are doing is 2D. However, I doubt you’ll find that one with that small an amount of RAM these days 😉

If you play any games involving 3D then go for 128MBG. Just remember you’re buying 3D speed with that RAM, not 2D.



Hecate

veni, vidi, reliqui
XT
xalinai_Two
Jun 12, 2004
On Thu, 10 Jun 2004 12:25:13 GMT, wrote:

I plan to set up dual monitors for PS in WinXP. One will be a 21" CRT at high resolution, and the other a 15" at low resolution. The video card will be a Matrox, either G400 or G450. Can a Matrox G400 or G450 support two monitors with different resolutions?

Yes.

How much video memory will it take for such a setup (for 2D only)? Thanks.

The size of the larger screen (width-pixels x height-pixels x 4 for 32-bit color) plus the size of the smaller screen (same formula).

For 1600×1200 on the larger screen and 1024×768 on the smaller one it will be something in the range of 11 MB for 2D application.

Michael
S
settingup
Jun 13, 2004
On the Matrox site, there is a reference to an utility called eDualHead, which can only be downloaded by registered users. Is this necessary for setting up dual monitors? Why is it so protected?

http://www.matrox.com/mga/edhreg/home.cfm

"L. McKenzie" wrote:
wrote:

I plan to set up dual monitors for PS in WinXP. One will be a 21" CRT at high resolution, and the other a 15" at low resolution. The video card will be a Matrox, either G400 or G450. Can a Matrox G400 or G450 support two monitors with different resolutions? How much video memory will it take for such a setup (for 2D only)? Thanks.
One more note to answering your question, Make sure to update the drivers for the Matrox cards once you finish installing Win XP. You can get them from the Matrox Web site. DO NOT use the default driver that installs with Windows.



__________________________________________________
Leo McKenzie
www.solocomputerservices.com/scsgrafx.php
NE
no_email
Jun 13, 2004
On Sun, 13 Jun 2004 11:10:43 GMT, wrote:

On the Matrox site, there is a reference to an utility called eDualHead, which can only be downloaded by registered users. Is this necessary for setting up dual monitors? Why is it so protected?

http://www.matrox.com/mga/edhreg/home.cfm

"L. McKenzie" wrote:
wrote:

I plan to set up dual monitors for PS in WinXP. One will be a 21" CRT at high resolution, and the other a 15" at low resolution. The video card will be a Matrox, either G400 or G450. Can a Matrox G400 or G450 support two monitors with different resolutions? How much video memory will it take for such a setup (for 2D only)? Thanks.
One more note to answering your question, Make sure to update the drivers for the Matrox cards once you finish installing Win XP. You can get them from the Matrox Web site. DO NOT use the default driver that installs with Windows.



__________________________________________________
Leo McKenzie
www.solocomputerservices.com/scsgrafx.php

Did you ask matrox? Perhaps you may find a more accurate/ faster answer?

Smeltsmoke

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