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7300GT…should it stay or should it go?
So,
I am running a Mac Pro 2.66GhZ Quad with 5MB RAM (2x2GB and 2X512). It has the stock 7300GT card, but I am upgrading to the X1900XT very soon. I will also be running a signal through an MXO to a third Cinema Display to do HD monitoring, etc., on that. Here is the question:
A. Do I keep the 7300GT and use that and the X1900XT to feed all three monitors?
B. Do I get rid of the 7300GT and use the X1900XT with a DualHead2GO to feed all three monitors.In the case of the first question, if that is the way to go, which card should feed the two work monitors, and which card should be running through the MXO to feed the third monitor? Does it matter? And, if I keep both cards, should I swap them around so that the X1900XT is in PCIe slot #1, or does it matter? I am also running a SATA RAID that is in the top slot. If I keep both cards, I believe I am correct in understanding that the two graphics cards and the one SATA bus card will actually take up all four slots, based on my research on these forums, because the X1900XT is a double wide. That’s fine, as I will be getting an IoHD, eventually, for use as my capture device.
So, any thoughts?…
Cheers.
Trip
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6 Replies
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I don’t have an answer for you, other than I have been trying the DualHead2Go and TripleHead2Go Digital edition and have had NO LUCK getting either to work properly. The DualHead2go is VGA in ONLY, meaning you need a DVI to VGA adapter. But I had no luck getting that to work. I was trying to get the TRIPLEHEAD2GO Digital edition to work (that has DVI and VGA in)…and I saw it working in the Matrox Booth at IBC…but I can’t get it to work. I was told by their tech support that I need to connect it to a PC and download some software that will configure it properly, but I don’t have a PC to do this.
I really wanted this to work as I have two Dell monitors and one Apple display…but I haven’t had luck.
Not sure if multiple graphics cards will work with the MXO and mastering.
Shane
Littlefrog Post
http://www.lfhd.net -
Also, keep in mind that the Mac Pro is limited in terms of the number of PCI Express lanes. If you bring up the expansion slot utility, you’ll see that there are only 4 possible configurations:
16,1,1,8 (slot 1 has 16 lanes of data, slot 2 has 1, slot 3 has 1, slot 4 has 8)
16,1,4,4;
8,8,1,8;
8,8,4,4.What this means is that only one of your graphics cards will have the full 16 lanes of data if you choose the first two configurations, and neither will have 16 lanes if you choose the last two. I’m not sure if your graphics performance would be degraded if you only have 8 lanes, but that’s something you should look into.
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With the X1900XT as the workhorse and the 7300 just there to drive one or two of the monitors, if I put the X1900XT in a 16 lane config, and the 7300 in an 8 or 4, wouldn’t I get pretty decent performance. Would having two cards be better than one either way? Is there any reason to keep the 7300GT or should I just consider it junk if I have the X1900XT? Thanks for the responses so far.
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Having both cards installed might just cause Color or Motion to be unstable. It wouldn’t help speed things up.
The only advantage would be if you wanted to connect 3 or 4 monitors to your edit system.
If it makes you feel any better, I also have a 7300GT that I’m not sure what to do with. Maybe ebay?
-Russ
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Sounds like the only thing to do is suck it up and call the 7300GT a loss. In that case, it looks like it’s the X1900XT and an MXO. I haven’t heard great things about the DualHead2Go, so I think I’ll just stick to two monitors for now.
Do any of you guys know whether or not I can feed a Cinema Display and a 42″ Plasma or flat panel tv of some sort at the same time with an MXO? I would use the Cinema Display for color correction, etc., and the plasma would be for basic reference and clients. In other words, are all of the connections “live” on the MXO, or do you have to choose one or another. Since I don’t really have a need to capture at this point, and am saving up for an IOHD, anyway, I’m trying to just make one purchase (the MXO) and not get into a AJA/BlackMagic investment right now, since I only need to output.
Thanks again.
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Saw mention of dualhead2go here and wonder if there are any other options for dual monitors from laptop or this the best bet?
I’m going to be shooting greenscreen with a teleprompter and need to have DV Rack running as well from my laptop. The laptop will need to be used with the teleprompter as well so I’m trying to find a way to work with dual monitor screens for my hp dv9500t, vista, 2.2 dual core, digital screen.
I’m looking at dualhead2go connector box for this, would this work? Are there any other similar products/software available for dual monitor hookup?
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