Three Monitor setup

D

DaddyC

New Member
I do music production, and i am getting ready to venture into video production, (press kits, commercials, etc). i am wanting to step up to a three monitor setup but i am not sure how to go about it i have seen plenty of dual monitor video cards but no three monitor. what do i need to do this?
 
as for as i know you've got 3 options
- put 2 nvidia video cards in sli or 2 ati in crossfire
- buy a matrox triplehead2go
- buy a mobo with integrated graphics and a video card

both quite costly and i would prefer the dual video card setup because this would also give you a lot more power for video editing
 
If you run SLI, you can only run a single monitor. I'm pretty sure you can run the cards independently, though

As for integrated, I'd confirm you could run the onboard along with another card. I know with onboard AGP that also had an AGP slot, the onboard video would be disabled with another card present. I could see the same with PCI-Express as a cost reduction :P
 
i don't have the money to run sli but a friend of mine always had 2 monitors connected to his 7950's. don't see why you can't add the third.
 
Vipernitrox said:
i don't have the money to run sli but a friend of mine always had 2 monitors connected to his 7950's. don't see why you can't add the third.
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That is because the card itself probably has dual output for video. When you SLI a card, the second card is only for more bandwidth and it puts it in parallel processing mode. You can not use it for additional displays as the video is looped through the primary card.

quick questions for the OP

1) What platform are you going to use, mac or PC?

2) What is your budget?

3) Is the system solely for video editing?
 
1. I am going to use PC i am going to start with XP pro but i may go to vista the new DAW (digital audio workstation) i am getting fully supports vista

2. It is my buisness, budget wise surely to god i can get away with out spending a $1000 usd,

3. No this system is not solely for video editing I do alot of music production,some photoshop but there is no internet, no games, no BS,
 
If i went with 2 8800 gt's could i run 4 monitors?
i know it sound ridiculous and i feel like an ass asking but when you do Protools, Ableton Live, and a ton of VST's monitor space becomes a nessecity not luxury.
and i could really benifit from multiple monitors maybe even 4? lol
 
DaddyC said:
If i went with 2 8800 gt's could i run 4 monitors?
i know it sound ridiculous and i feel like an ass asking but when you do Protools, Ableton Live, and a ton of VST's monitor space becomes a nessecity not luxury.
and i could really benifit from multiple monitors maybe even 4? lol
Click to expand...

Protools is awesome in multiple monitor setups. No flipping, everything is just right there :D Best of luck to you!
 
Vipernitrox said:
i don't have the money to run sli but a friend of mine always had 2 monitors connected to his 7950's. don't see why you can't add the third.
Click to expand...

Ya but that's because new video cards all have 2 inputs for 2 seperate screens.

To add a third your gonna need integrated graphics + gpu.
 
Yeah, don't listen to vipernitrox, the others are correct about SLI in that it that the second card won't have output. If you want to have 3/4 monitors, you will need to get a motherboard with two pcie slots. When you plug in the 2 8800's you will have the option under the nvidia controls to enable SLI or not. 4 monitors might be overkill, but whatever floats your boat :)
 
Don't waste money on a gaming card, they are only good for gaming. For multi tasking multiple displays matrox makes some of the best ones out there.

I would look into this.

http://matrox.com/graphics/en/corpo/products/home.php

Also, not to dis sway your decision, but I have done lots of side work for record labels, recording studios and video production studios. All of them almost exclusively run Macs, with pro tools, motu, final cut studio, etc. In my experience for niche systems that perform one job in the audio/video world a mac is a better choice.

If you are set on getting a windows box that is fine too, it is your choice and I would recommend you look into a matrox card.
 
If i Could build a mac i would, but cost wise it would kill me, the software i am using is all windows compatible, Pro tools, ableton, Reason, and assorted vst's, so cost wise i would rather build a awesome pc than be stuck in a mediocre mac, i would like to use logic but it is not really a viable option right now. $10,000 is more than what i really want to spend,
 
DaddyC said:
If i Could build a mac i would, but cost wise it would kill me, the software i am using is all windows compatible, Pro tools, ableton, Reason, and assorted vst's, so cost wise i would rather build a awesome pc than be stuck in a mediocre mac, i would like to use logic but it is not really a viable option right now. $10,000 is more than what i really want to spend,
Click to expand...

All of that software can be ran on a Mac, and most of them are dual license versions. A Mac Pro desktop would cost you probably around $3500 for what you want to do, and it would not be bottom of the line. We are talking dual quad core Xeon processors.

You would be surprised at the cost differences. ableton is a great piece of software which runs on both platforms. Almost all studios I have worked with run either MOTU or Pro Tools on their Macs. Reason, I am almost 99% certain there is a mac version, as for your vsts, that may be the only barrier.
 
I use Matrox I have 2 monitors running (sometimes 3 if I need the desktop space) but am capable of connecting 5 if I want to.(4 through matrox card and 1 through the standard). Cant help you with cost as they came with my computer as it was a display system.

Chip Type: Matrox G450
DAC Type: Integrated, 360 MHz
Memory Size: 32MB

Have a look at Matrox Website as mine is pretty old.
 
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