[ale] Advice Dual Display DVI Lin/Windows

[Dow Hurst]

You can not beat the Nvidia dual DVI combo for a wonderful OpenGL 
screaming experience.  Different size monitors, different vertical sync 
frequencies, all kinds of tweaks for the driver, and it is cheap.  My 
experience has been great with every Nvidia card and any decent monitor 
I threw at it.  Right now I have accelerated dual head on four Linux 
workstations and all work great.  My advice is dependent on your need 
for speed.  The best gaming Nvidia card is always very expensive so if 
you don't need the latest greatest then go for the price break and you 
will still have a wonderful experience.

The biggest hurdle is not getting the XF86Config file settings correct.  
Read the PDF manual on the driver that is downloadable from Nvidia 
before installing.  Set up the file yourself if your distro doesn't 
support the nvidia driver.  SuSE supports the nvidia driver thru Yast2 
and thru YastOnlineUpdate so you don't have to sweat nvidia module 
recompiles on kernel updates.  Dell and Redhat do this on the Precision 
Workstation line too.  So far I prefer the SUSE support and install as 
it is much easier to keep up with the updates.  Somehow SUSE has better 
quality updates than Redhat overall.  I've never had a SUSE update break 
anything but have had that happen twice now on the Dell-Redhat Precision 
loads. (It wasn't the Nvidia module)

The Dell 20" flatpanels are really nice and support several input 
types.  I am in heaven right now with dual 20" LCDs on a P4 at 3.0GHz with 
a Nvidia FX500.  Am happy.  Am really really happy...

I think beyond the business apps that I use for modelling biochemical 
compounds, the coolest thing I've done with the accelerated dual head is 
run a flight simulator.  The split screen mimics a windshield with a 
support down the middle, and the screen is so large that you can get 
dizzy and start leaning in your seat with the turns. ;)  I've had a DVD 
playing, an accelerated game like Tux Racer, and Mozilla open across the 
desktop.  It doesn't matter where the windows sit as it is one seamless 
accelerated desktop.  The window manager under SUSE knows each monitor's 
area so maximizing a window will usually fit it to one LCD.  However, 
that isn't always the case as apps like xzgv will open up across the 
entire desktop.  I will normally have a web browser and a shell side by 
side for ease of use in copying and pasting.

Good luck with your choice!  Just remember what I always like to tell 
people:

You can never have too much screen real estate so put the money in the 
pixels!
Best wishes,
Dow


Hogg, Russell E. wrote:

>
>
> Looking for some advice on a good set of video card(s) that
>
> run in linux and windows easily
> support DVI and
> easily allow a dual headed display..
>
> Figure there's gotta be someone out there with a dual-headed DVI display.
>
> Anyone?
> Anyone?
> Bueller?
> Bueller?
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> ____________________________________________
> Russell.Hogg at OPM.gov
> x2367
>
>
>
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