Hey.

I'm looking to get rid of my 19 CRT screens for some LCD monitors.

What I use them for:
- 3D Rendering in VIZ
- AutoCAD 2d/3d
- Photoshop Touch ups
- Maybe watching movies/TV

I have found a couple that may be good but I'm not sure.

1.
Viewsonic VP930B / 19" / 8ms / SXGA / 1280x1024 / 1000:1 Contrast Ratio / Black / LCD Monitor $419

2.
Hyundai IT Q90U / 19" / NO Ghosting 3ms GtG / 700:1 / SXGA 1280 x 1024 / USB 2.0 / DVI-VGA / LCD Monitor with Speakers

I will be buying two off the hop and may get a third latter, but I have heard hooking up three monitors to one system at one time doesn't work very well.

Also, to display at 1280x960 on two monitors am I going to NEED a really good video card? I only can get AGP for now.

Thanks

Matt

Viewsonic is good, I like my VX2025wm a lot (1680 x 1050 FTW!).

Dual displays are nice. At work I use a dual 17" setup, at home I have a single 20" widescreen, and both are great in their own way. I prefer the widescreen, even though the dual displays technically have a higher total resolution and screen area.

For AGP, you're kind of limited in what you can use. If you have a higher total resolution than 1600 x 1200, I would recommend no less than 512MB of video RAM. And there aren't many video cards that have 512MB on an AGP bus that would also provide the power you need. For modeling, you would ideally have a Quadro or FireGL, but they're not really available in AGP as far as I know.

You need 512MB of video memory, an AGP bus, and two DVI connections. The only card newegg has is the 6800XT, which quite frankly is not a good card. It's a weakend version of the 6800, which is decent but not that great compared to the GF7-series.

I would really suggest getting a PCIe motherboard to replace your AGP one, if you can afford it. If this is your work machine, the increase in productivity will definitely make up for the extra money you spend on it. And since you're willing to buy 2 nice 19" displays, I think you should be willing to go the extra mile and make this a major upgrade.

Just out of curiosity, did you buy or build this computer?

I built this computer.
I'm slowly upgrading all my components. I wanted the Conroe but couldn't afford ALL the parts related to it off the bat.

I just bought an X2 4400 to use in my AsRock K8 Combo MOB with 3-gigs of RAM. This is not my primary work computer so the video card PCI-Express can wait a little bit.

I want to get the dual monitors first then new MOB then SLI 7950GX2 v-cards.

Will this card work good enough for dual monitors each running 1280x960? If not I can reduce the resolution a little bit.
"XFX GeForce 6800 Xtreme / 512MB GDDR3 / AGP 8x / Dual DVI / S-Video / Video Card"

Well, it would drive the displays, and it should be faster than your current card, but probably not by much. It's not a great card, like I said in my earlier post, but it might be enough to hold you off until your next upgrade.

Should I save some money and go for this one instead of the 512MB?

XFX GeForce 6800 Xtreme / 256MB GDDR3 / AGP 8x / Dual DVI / HDTV / Video Card $160

Matt

No, at that resolution you'll need the extra video memory, especially since the card is pretty slow.

Since you're going to put quite a bit of cash into this computer, why don't you get a PCIe motherboard with a 7900GTX and the two monitors now, and a second card later? You were planning to purchase a pair of GX2s in the near future anyway, so why not make a major upgrade sooner rather than later? It would be worth it to do it now, because a 6800XT will only hinder your productivity.

Although I am glad this machine isn't your primary work machine .

Doing that upgrade would be optimum but I don't have all the money right now.

The next time I buy a new MOB I'll be getting a Conroe chip, DDR2 RAM, and video cards running in quad (1 first then 2nd later on)

But that won't be for at least a year.

I'll go with the bigger v-card for now and maybe go with the cheaper LCD screens?

Is there a big difference between the Viewsonic VP930B and Hyundai IT Q90U?

Matt

I do what you seem to do... and have a Dell 24" screen. I couldn't live with a big bar down the center of a dual monitor set up. Get a 24" or 30"LCD and you'll be happier.

I have a 7900GT (volt modded) and can push many games at 1900x1200 with most settings maxed. No problem. Turning down shadows and anti-alias helps and I hardly can tell the difference.

Those LCD are a little too costly, and I can live with the bar in the middle. I'm just wondering out of the two I have picked, which one would be noticably better.

Thanks

Matt

Too bad he's not a gamer.

Ideally, you should get a Quadro. Those are great for 3D modeling and stuff (I work in a visualization department).

I have read that workstation cards have problems with updated drivers and using a 7950 X2 you can get good performance for under $1200.

Anywho, which monitor is better to buy?

Matt

You might want to consider matrox's stuff. They have a device that lets you hook up 2-3 displays to a single card.
http://www.tomshardware.com/2006/0 [...] _displays/
Might be cheaper than getting a better vid card...

As for choosing a monitor, I'd suggest goign to a store and looking at them side by side. Then you can tell if you don't like certain aspects of the monitors, like color especially.