ASUS AH3650 capable of driving 2560x1600 and 1600x1200 at once?

[juu]

I bought a 30'' (2560x1600) monitor in addition to my 20'' one (1600x1200) and I realized my current ATI Radeon Pro 9800 cannot drive the 30'' monitor at its native resolution.

I'm looking at dropping 1000 GBP for a new Core i7 system with all the latest and the greatest (which I think might be a bit too early as prices should come down, right?) OR just buying an AGP 8x video card which can drive these monitors both at once.

Gaming is not a very important issue as I realize my CPU will hold me back anyway no matter what GPU I get. My current system is Abit AN7 + Athlon Mobile XP 2500 (overclocked a bit) + ATI Radeon Pro 9800

The AGP card I'm thinking of is Asus AH3650 (fanless, 55 GBP):
http://uk.asus.com/products.aspx?modelmenu=1&model=2171&l1=2&l2=9&l3=666&l4=0

The problem is that the information on the website is conflicting in different places:
Single dual-link DVI output which supports 2560 x 1600 at 30Hz resolution displays
Dual DVI-I
DVI x 2

What does that mean exactly? Does it have two Dual-link DVI-I connectors or just one?
Can I can drive 2560x1600 and 1600x1200 from it at the same time or not?

Any other suggestions for me?

 

[rewindlabs]

Yep it will output no problem...

 

[AKM880]

+1 Rewindlabs. I have the 3650 as well, first monitor says 2560 x 1600 while the other says 1920 x 1440p you'll be fine.

 

[spathotan]

"Gigantic 512MB...."

Only ASUS.....

Anyways, although the solution will work, I have to sort of advise against buying the card as it has a history of driver/compatability issues (AGP version). Your system is a relic no offense, so you might want to give that notion of building a brand new system a second thought.

 

[rewindlabs]

"Gigantic 512MB...."

Only ASUS.....

Anyways, although the solution will work, I have to sort of advise against buying the card as it has a history of driver/compatability issues (AGP version). Your system is a relic no offense, so you might want to give that notion of building a brand new system a second thought.

My 260 GTX is 1 inch longer then a 4870...it won me hands down....yeahp my cards bigger then yours..and it is bigger then yours

 

[juu]

Well, the problem with upgrading my whole system (which I do actually have funds for) is that I'd really want to go the Core i7 route as I think that just makes the most sense, however I fear the prices of i7 components will go down quite a bit this year.

Or is that not true?

I'm also now looking at Sapphire Radeon HD 2600 PRO 512MB DDR2 AGP as an even cheaper low-cost option for 31 GBP from Lambda-Tek. It wouldn't be silent as the one before though but hopefully less driver problems.

http://www.sapphiretech.com/uk/products/products_overview.php?gpid=180&grp=2

 

[RazberyBandit]

I certainly hope gaming is not your intention on any monitor with that resolution while using any AGP video card, no matter how good the card is. Playing a game at that rez would bring the card to it's knees.

I think any card from the X1xxx (such as the X1650) series and above will support that resolution, but I am not entirely certain. With prices starting at about $50 USD for X1650Pro going to $150 for the HD3850, somewhere in the middle is the compromise of the 2600Pro and 2600XT, with the XT being the better of the two.

 

[juu]

Thanks for all your responses.

My system is lagging in some of the tasks I do anyway so I've decided to do an upgrade ( http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/page-260566_10_0.html ).

RazberyBandit - yeah, I've not played any games at their native resolutions for a while now.