Dual Monitor Questions!

Hey, I am new to these forums, but i need good advice quickly, and i figured this forum would be a great place to start. Ok, I have just purchased a new monitor, it is the exact same one as my current one, a 15 inch lcd, its digital . Its resolution is 1024 x 786. My current system specs are as follows:

P4 1.4
384 ddr memory
Radeon VE 64mb
Windows 2000
intel monterrey mobo <1 agp slot>

I wish to run dual monitors, but I have reached a spot where i don't know what to do. I was ready to buy an ATI RADEON 9000 Pro 128mb, it is a dual monitor card, so i though that would be good. But, as an avid fps gamer, i am not sure how good the card is for gaming, if i am going to buy a new video card, i might as well be upgrading my system too, instead of buying an equal level product. My mobo only has one agp slot, so i would have 2 get a crappy 20 buck pci vid card, and a top of the line one, or get the 9000 pro 128mb and use it as one card for both. The only problem besides lesser quality graphics is that i heard when u have only 1 card, when u use the monitor for fullscreen gaming, it turns off the other screen. Therefore, i wouldn't be able to read a webpage while gaming, or view buddy list. i really have no price range, and i am leaning towards 2 video cards vs 1.I want to know what card u guys/gals reccomend, it has to have a dvi connection. My problem is in having above normal graphics on both monitors, or having really good picture on one monitor and crappy on another. Thanks in advance.

-Eric

ps. i kno my comp is crappy[waiting for 64-bit], and that this post is a lil repetative.

 

Well 128 should be plenty for gaming. I haven't paid attention to any new video cards coming out recently..........is this 128 DDR or SDRam? Especially with a good card and digital monitors there should be bad quality on any monitor. As for the one shutting off I've never heard of it, but haven't used dual monitors myself...but I would think what you want to do is hard...........you have only one cpu so what ever you are doing should be the same on both screens........I wouldn't think that you could game on one screen and surf on the other using only the same cpu. As for going with two or one cards...........I would suggest just getting a good dual monitor card instead of using two.

 

If you don't want to spend a ton of money a great card with a great bundle is:

MSI MX440 4X TV Dual VGA 64 MB DDR

This card comes with a great software bundle and Nvidia's software which allows creation of "virtual monitors" where windows don't stack but instead act like a seperate monitor. Look for reviews of this card, just search for MSI MX 440. For the price I think you'll like it. BTW it is eminently overclockable if you like that sort of thing.

 

thanks for your input but i am looking for a 128mb card...

 

then i recommend either the MSI TI 4200 or the ABIT TI 4200
Leadtek also makes a good card with this chipset. all have a card with DV/TV/VGA out

 

thanks for your time and effort, but i just talked to my friend who builds lots of computers, he reccomended the ati 9000 pro, and i just bought it, so thanks alot.

 

the 9000 pro is a good card. I'm sure you'll like it

 

ATI drivers are not so great, but I'm sure you'll like the card. I have an ATI 9700 Pro and I love it. The only thing I hate about ATI is that their software support sucks bad. It's weird, one driver release works great, then their next is horrible, and so on. IF you have problems with Dual Monitor support on ATI I would definatly go to nVidia and try out one of theirs. I know their Dual monitor support is much better than ATI. Just a little info to help out!