Muliple monitors FSX, mulit GPU or Triplehead2go?

[midpitch]

I am about to create a complete new system, specially for Flight Simulator X, with multiple monitors.

In my opinion there are 2 ways to accomplish this
1) 1 Video card (HD4850 good benchmark/$ for fsx), Matrox Triplehead2go, 3 x 4:3 19" monitors
2) 2 Video cards with 2 x DVI (HD4850), 3 x 16:10 22".

If possible I opt for the second option. Widescreen is nicer, and 2 video cards gives me better performance (I guess). I just can not find if it is possible to extend the DirectX 3d enviroment over these 3 monitors. In various forums I've read post where it had been accomlished with 2 monitors attached to 1 video card.

Does anybody know if this is possible? Remember: especially for FSX. No other 3d games will be played with the system.

I plan on using XP64, or is Vista the better option due to DirectX 10?

If anybody has other options, or thinks other GPU would be better for the job please inform me.

Thanks!

 

[choirbass]

this seems to be just a real coincidence, but, im returning my 4850 to frys after only <2 days of use because of the numerous incompatabilities it has with my TH2G DE.

IMO, in your particular situation, i would seriously consider sticking with an nvidia based gpu simply for ease of use, to eliminate and hopefully completely avoid the numerous headaches i went through with a TH2G that really werent worth the cost savings.

i have an 8800GT 512 and wanted to give my first ATI gpu purchase a shot, just for fun even, but this really kinda put a sour taste in my mouth afterwards.

however, if you decide to forego the TH2G, an ATI gpu would probably be very worthwhile. otherwise though, such as with this combination of hardware, i just cant recommend it.

as far as the os goes, vista64 is definetly the better way to go. the os caches itself to ram, so the more you have, the more responsive itll be. also, readyboost offers a nice little extra speed boost as well.