Just 2 quick questions for multi monitor setup

This is just a quick question for the ppl here at Tom's and im almost positive the answer will be yes.

I'm building 2 computers for my dads work that will be running 3/4 monitors (2/3 20" and a 17" )
I want an Intel chipset board cause of its reliability over Nvidia's and im more familiar with it....

So if I get the X38/48 with 2 separate PCIE slots i can run 2 Nvidia or Ati GPUs without SLI/Crossfire to run the monitors?

Also, in their builds from Dell they use the Quadro FX 1700 which is an overpriced Workstation card. All they are doing is viewing x-rays, Cat scans etc. on these so can i get regular Consumer based cards or do i need overpriced Workstation ones? What advantages do the Quadros and Fire GLs give?

Those workstation cards are optimized for professional applications. Things like Maya and autocad. Compared to mainstream cards derived from the same gpu, workstation cards perform better on those applications. The problem is, their development cycle is so much longer, and much more expensive. Typical workstation cards are still based on different types of processors instead of the unified stream processor. There is no reason to get overpriced, outdated workstation cards for work when cheaper mainstream ones perform better on everything simply because they are newer and has far more raw power.

For you situation, yes, 2 cards will run. It doesn't matter if the motherboard support sli or cf, they'll work as individual cards just fine. Although the most cost effective way is probably getting an atypical single card like this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814121247
3870x2 is outdated, but can still perform on par with a single 4870. The $240 ar price tag is less than 4870. And most important of all, it supports the 4 monitors you wanted.

You do know that most of todays single video cards do support running 2 seperate monitors at the same time independently of each other. I have 2 hooked into my 8600gt with some apps on #1 and running a game on #2. it's not hard to setup.

I'm not aware of any 9800gx2 cards that supports more than 2 monitors. The reference board for 3870x2 does not support more than 2 either. The manufacturer changed it later on. But of course, feel free to search around. There may be a model out there.

Lol, fx1700...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814133207

You're pretty much guaranteed to have better performance no matter what you get.

Hey, they're willing to pay that much. You should embezzle the extra funding.

The benefit of today's gaming vga cards is that they can display motion seamlessly. For a more static type of display, a nonimally capable card should do just fine. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814130378

For looking at such things as cat scans and X-rays, I would imagine that one would want monitors with the most pixels.
A 17" monitor is 1280x1024 = 1.3m pixels, and a 20" monitor is 1680x1040 =1.7 pixels.
Why not get a single 30" monitor at 2540x1600 = 4m pixels? Perhaps even two of them and one vga card.

The convenience of the multiple screens is to view multiple studies simultaneously. In an original workstation given to my dad we had 2 huge screens just for x rays with crazy resolution. Like over 3k across

I could ask if they want bigger screens. That is their call. I went with 20" cause it is what they would order from Dell.

The setup is most likely 2 large screens 20"-30" for the studies and one smaller 17" or 19" for the actual OS. View on the 2 and then navigate on the third. That's their setup at work.

Also more computer costs...less i get as extra SERIOUSLY GUYS!!!

He's very right. Even with two monitors that are exactly the same, there will be coloring/shading differences between them. The image is important in this case, and I recommend all of the monitors be the same model and be purchased at the same time. If you can, thought, purchase one or two larger monitors - it might be a bit cheaper, and more effective when in use here.

I would suggest two 30" monitors like the Samsung 305T. I have used the 305T before, and I can't imagine anything better. You can size the images however you like, and OS type stuff or e-mail can be placed wherever. It is a LOT of display real estate. That will also take only 1 vga card.

You might want to consider using a pair of 24" monitors that can be rotated to portrait mode, better for viewing xrays in their normal format. Although not quite as high a resolution as the 30" screen, the portrait mode will help offset that slightly, and the cost is much more reasonable. A pair of Dell 2408WFP or Samsung 245T will do the job quite nicely. Both models have excellent colour rendition, and have input features that are not available on the 30" models. A 1GB version of the HD 4850 would be more than adequate to drive these displays, you are not doing 3D gaming with them.

If the monitors are the same brand and model, they can be matched quite well. If they are different , then it is very difficult to get them to look the same. For a while, I had two different monitors, and found it all but impossible to get averything to look the same when I dragged a page across the divide between the two.

Yeah, just put two Video Cards in there. Make sure they are the same exact model.

I have a Quad LCD Multi-Monitor SUPER PC and it has two identical cards in it.

It runs perfectly! Whatever you do, don't mix ATI and NVidia Graphics Cards.

They are not compatable. I have a Day Trading Computer that runs great and

doesn't have workstation video cards. Just two ATI 2600XT GDDR3 (512MB each).

Your dad is going to love using multiple monitors! It's a great business investment!