Dual monitor PCI Express video cards

[Patrick Flaherty]

Hi,

My first home-built was 2 yrs ago. Athlon XP 2000+ (1.5 GHz), Asus A7N8X-E
mobo, gig of memory, etc. Big improvement on the 1GHz Pentium (Pentium Pro
even?) machine that my company had given me for a home machine. (plus this one
I owned).

Getting a little long in the tooth, and much as occurred between.

Thinking about an Athlon 64 X2 of some kind. This means PCI Express and I have
to get a new video card.

Problem is, I use dual monitors. Currently 2 17" NECs I believe (I'm at work
now). They have DVI (in addition to analog) connectors on the back.

Dual monitor PCI (x16) Express cards?

The least expensive thing (I'm not a gamer [but I am a big multi-tasker, hence
the dual core]) I find on NewEgg is:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102664

An ATI. But I'm confused. The problem with less expensive dual DVI PCI Ex
cards is that they all have a max resolution of 2048 X 1536. 2 times 1024 X 768
that is. But my second (and last) requirement. 1280 X 1024 (or better)
resolution.

The confusing part (with the ATI card) it says its 'normal' max resolution is
the same (insufficient) 2048 X 1536. BUT, if you use something called 'dual
line2' then the resolution can go up to 3840 x 2400.

What's dual link2? Look around. It's DVI but will all the pins populated and
two, parallel 'links'. I guess doubling the amount of pixels you can get to the
screen.

Looked at what I'm working on here at work (dual mon; AGP; DVI). The female DVI
inside the monitor is fully populated with pins. However the male connector
coming from the (AGP) video card is 'half-populated' (single link).

And yet the monitor is doing 1280 X 1024.

But this is AGP. And maybe this is a difference between ABG and the PCI Express
16 card that I would need to buy for my proposed machine.

So if 'dual link2' just a matter of making sure that the DVI on the back of your
monitor (monitors in my case) is fully populated (with pins) AND the cable of
course.

And a general explanation (if someone feels so inclined) of dual monitor
considerations in PCI Express vs. AGP would be very helpful.

Hope someone can explain this to me (and yes of course, I'm looking around for
Web pages that would do the same).

pat

 

[DaveW]

Just so you realize, you may want to wait purchasing any video card for a
bit. Windows new version "Vista" is due out this Fall, and to fully use
it's graphics ability will require a DX 10 capable video card. There are NO
such cards on the market yet; only DX 9 capable cards.

 

[Patrick Flaherty]

Just so you realize, you may want to wait purchasing any video card for a
bit. Windows new version "Vista" is due out this Fall, and to fully use
it's graphics ability will require a DX 10 capable video card. There are NO
such cards on the market yet; only DX 9 capable cards.

--
DaveW

----------------

Hi,

My first home-built was 2 yrs ago. Athlon XP 2000+ (1.5 GHz), Asus
A7N8X-E
mobo, gig of memory, etc. Big improvement on the 1GHz Pentium (Pentium
Pro
even?) machine that my company had given me for a home machine. (plus
this one
I owned).

Getting a little long in the tooth, and much as occurred between.

Thinking about an Athlon 64 X2 of some kind. This means PCI Express and I
have
to get a new video card.

Problem is, I use dual monitors. Currently 2 17" NECs I believe (I'm at
work
now). They have DVI (in addition to analog) connectors on the back.

Dual monitor PCI (x16) Express cards?

The least expensive thing (I'm not a gamer [but I am a big multi-tasker,
hence
the dual core]) I find on NewEgg is:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102664

An ATI. But I'm confused. The problem with less expensive dual DVI PCI
Ex
cards is that they all have a max resolution of 2048 X 1536. 2 times 1024
X 768
that is. But my second (and last) requirement. 1280 X 1024 (or better)
resolution.

The confusing part (with the ATI card) it says its 'normal' max resolution
is
the same (insufficient) 2048 X 1536. BUT, if you use something called
'dual
line2' then the resolution can go up to 3840 x 2400.

What's dual link2? Look around. It's DVI but will all the pins populated
and
two, parallel 'links'. I guess doubling the amount of pixels you can get
to the
screen.

Looked at what I'm working on here at work (dual mon; AGP; DVI). The
female DVI
inside the monitor is fully populated with pins. However the male
connector
coming from the (AGP) video card is 'half-populated' (single link).

And yet the monitor is doing 1280 X 1024.

But this is AGP. And maybe this is a difference between ABG and the PCI
Express
16 card that I would need to buy for my proposed machine.

So if 'dual link2' just a matter of making sure that the DVI on the back
of your
monitor (monitors in my case) is fully populated (with pins) AND the cable
of
course.

And a general explanation (if someone feels so inclined) of dual monitor
considerations in PCI Express vs. AGP would be very helpful.

Hope someone can explain this to me (and yes of course, I'm looking around
for
Web pages that would do the same).

pat

Thanx Dave,

That's a good heads-up. Although I don't know if I'll be jumping onto Vista
either near or longer-term. I almost exclusively use Server versions of
Windows. I'm a programmer and I always need a) SQL Server and more importantly
b) Analysis Services (a is a prerequirement for b).

In fact just finished setting up my Thinkpad in this fashion.

But.. I should keep Vista (and its eventual server version) in mind. And DivX
10.

Still, in terms of learning about about PCI Express video vs. AGP, why does it
_seem_ to be the case that if you want a resolution > 1024 X 768 you have to go
to dual-lane DVI? (or rather ask first, is this true and then why). In
principle one understands (more pixels) but AGP doesn't have this limitation.

pat

 

[Paul]

Hi,

My first home-built was 2 yrs ago. Athlon XP 2000+ (1.5 GHz), Asus A7N8X-E
mobo, gig of memory, etc. Big improvement on the 1GHz Pentium (Pentium Pro
even?) machine that my company had given me for a home machine. (plus
this one I owned).

Getting a little long in the tooth, and much as occurred between.

Thinking about an Athlon 64 X2 of some kind. This means PCI Express and
I have to get a new video card.

Problem is, I use dual monitors. Currently 2 17" NECs I believe (I'm at work
now). They have DVI (in addition to analog) connectors on the back.

Dual monitor PCI (x16) Express cards?

The least expensive thing (I'm not a gamer [but I am a big multi-tasker, hence
the dual core]) I find on NewEgg is:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102664

An ATI. But I'm confused. The problem with less expensive dual DVI PCI Ex
cards is that they all have a max resolution of 2048 X 1536.
2 times 1024 X 768 that is. But my second (and last) requirement.
1280 X 1024 (or better) resolution.

The confusing part (with the ATI card) it says its 'normal' max resolution is
the same (insufficient) 2048 X 1536. BUT, if you use something called 'dual
line2' then the resolution can go up to 3840 x 2400.

What's dual link2? Look around. It's DVI but will all the pins populated and
two, parallel 'links'. I guess doubling the amount of pixels you can get
to the screen.

Looked at what I'm working on here at work (dual mon; AGP; DVI). The
female DVI inside the monitor is fully populated with pins. However
the male connector
coming from the (AGP) video card is 'half-populated' (single link).

And yet the monitor is doing 1280 X 1024.

But this is AGP. And maybe this is a difference between ABG and the
PCI Express 16 card that I would need to buy for my proposed machine.

So if 'dual link2' just a matter of making sure that the DVI on the back
of your monitor (monitors in my case) is fully populated (with pins)
AND the cable of course.

And a general explanation (if someone feels so inclined) of dual monitor
considerations in PCI Express vs. AGP would be very helpful.

Hope someone can explain this to me (and yes of course, I'm looking around
for Web pages that would do the same).

pat

Output limitations on video cards, are rated in terms of bandwidth.
You are talking about taking a virtual 2560x1024 desktop, and arranging
it on two outputs. Each output only has to run at 1280x1024 in this
case, so a cheap video card with two connectors on it will do the
job. In other words, you don't need a FireGL for this application,
and a $50 video card can probably do this.

The virtual desktop is constrained on the video card, by the video
RAM. Even cheap cards have a good quantity of RAM that can be used
for a frame buffer, so they don't even wince when asked to hold the
2560x1024 test case.

The video card has either a VGA (analog only) connector, or a
DVI-I analog plus digital connector is the other common type.
(Occasionally you might find a DVI-D digital only, so it pays
to ask.) The DVI-I can be single link DVI or dual link DVI
digital output.

The VGA output limits are determined by the RAMDAC bandwidth.
A 400MHz RAMDAC apparently can draw a 2048x1536 pixels, at some
refresh rate like maybe 60Hz. With two VGA monitors connected,
the virtual desktop is 4096x1536 max. Output PI filter limitations,
cable limitations, and monitor limitations, make this 2048x1536
kinda hard to achieve, with crisp quality, but you can still dream.
That is why at some point, it pays to switch over to digital output.

For DVI, see this article:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dual-link_DVI

A single link DVI (the most commonly encountered kind), works
at up to 1920x1200 @ 60Hz digital, with reduced blanking. If a
CRT had a DVI interface on it, it would likely not like reduced
blanking, but a fully digital display subsystem like an LCD
doesn't really care about blanking, because there is no "flyback
time" or "retrace" on an LCD.

A dual link DVI (moderate to high end cards, hard to find, and
hard to be sure you have got it), can do 2560x1600 at somewhere
close to 60Hz. You may find cards with only one dual link
connector, or perhaps a high end card with two dual link
connectors. In principle, that means up to 5120x1600 virtual
desktop.

AFAIK, the 3840x2400 is the top resolution that you might find
commercially. In several cheap ATI video card manuals, ATI claims
they have done 3840x2400 @ 15Hz on a single link DVI connector,
without hardware modifications. In other words, they trade a
reduced refresh rate for increased spatial resolution. Such a
display would run like a slide show.

With a dual link interface, that means you could likely do the
same thing at 3840x2400 at 30Hz. You could do a bit more than
30 Hz, if the TMDS transmitters could be bumped from 165MHz max
to 180MHz+. So perhaps a bit more than 30Hz refresh can be
accomplished, assuming that the monitor can actually be
refreshed faster. As with analog output, digital has its limits
too, and a cheap TMDS transmitter might not work well at 165MHz,
or the cables might cause your display to be "snowy" due to
tranmission/data clocking errors.

More info on the T221, which started the large monitor madness,
is here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T221

In terms of the gaming industry, Matrox may have disappeared
from sight as a high end gamer, but they have decided to pick up
the bread crumbs left lying around by their competitors. For
example, this quad output video card allows four LCD monitors
to be driven. Such a solution would be acceptable for 2D graphics
or stock trading, where a lot of information must be displayed
at the same time. Everything they make these days, seems to be
strange in one way or another...

http://www.matrox.com/mga/pid/products/qid_lp_pcie.cfm

HTH,
Paul

 

[Patrick Flaherty]

Hi,

My first home-built was 2 yrs ago. Athlon XP 2000+ (1.5 GHz), Asus A7N8X-E
mobo, gig of memory, etc. Big improvement on the 1GHz Pentium (Pentium Pro
even?) machine that my company had given me for a home machine. (plus
this one I owned).

Getting a little long in the tooth, and much as occurred between.

Thinking about an Athlon 64 X2 of some kind. This means PCI Express and
I have to get a new video card.

Problem is, I use dual monitors. Currently 2 17" NECs I believe (I'm at work
now). They have DVI (in addition to analog) connectors on the back.

Dual monitor PCI (x16) Express cards?

The least expensive thing (I'm not a gamer [but I am a big multi-tasker, hence
the dual core]) I find on NewEgg is:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102664

An ATI. But I'm confused. The problem with less expensive dual DVI PCI Ex
cards is that they all have a max resolution of 2048 X 1536.
2 times 1024 X 768 that is. But my second (and last) requirement.
1280 X 1024 (or better) resolution.

The confusing part (with the ATI card) it says its 'normal' max resolution is
the same (insufficient) 2048 X 1536. BUT, if you use something called 'dual
line2' then the resolution can go up to 3840 x 2400.

What's dual link2? Look around. It's DVI but will all the pins populated and
two, parallel 'links'. I guess doubling the amount of pixels you can get
to the screen.

Looked at what I'm working on here at work (dual mon; AGP; DVI). The
female DVI inside the monitor is fully populated with pins. However
the male connector
coming from the (AGP) video card is 'half-populated' (single link).

And yet the monitor is doing 1280 X 1024.

But this is AGP. And maybe this is a difference between ABG and the
PCI Express 16 card that I would need to buy for my proposed machine.

So if 'dual link2' just a matter of making sure that the DVI on the back
of your monitor (monitors in my case) is fully populated (with pins)
AND the cable of course.

And a general explanation (if someone feels so inclined) of dual monitor
considerations in PCI Express vs. AGP would be very helpful.

Hope someone can explain this to me (and yes of course, I'm looking around
for Web pages that would do the same).

pat

Output limitations on video cards, are rated in terms of bandwidth.
You are talking about taking a virtual 2560x1024 desktop, and arranging
it on two outputs. Each output only has to run at 1280x1024 in this
case, so a cheap video card with two connectors on it will do the
job. In other words, you don't need a FireGL for this application,
and a $50 video card can probably do this.

The virtual desktop is constrained on the video card, by the video
RAM. Even cheap cards have a good quantity of RAM that can be used
for a frame buffer, so they don't even wince when asked to hold the
2560x1024 test case.

The video card has either a VGA (analog only) connector, or a
DVI-I analog plus digital connector is the other common type.
(Occasionally you might find a DVI-D digital only, so it pays
to ask.) The DVI-I can be single link DVI or dual link DVI
digital output.

The VGA output limits are determined by the RAMDAC bandwidth.
A 400MHz RAMDAC apparently can draw a 2048x1536 pixels, at some
refresh rate like maybe 60Hz. With two VGA monitors connected,
the virtual desktop is 4096x1536 max. Output PI filter limitations,
cable limitations, and monitor limitations, make this 2048x1536
kinda hard to achieve, with crisp quality, but you can still dream.
That is why at some point, it pays to switch over to digital output.

For DVI, see this article:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dual-link_DVI

A single link DVI (the most commonly encountered kind), works
at up to 1920x1200 @ 60Hz digital, with reduced blanking. If a
CRT had a DVI interface on it, it would likely not like reduced
blanking, but a fully digital display subsystem like an LCD
doesn't really care about blanking, because there is no "flyback
time" or "retrace" on an LCD.

A dual link DVI (moderate to high end cards, hard to find, and
hard to be sure you have got it), can do 2560x1600 at somewhere
close to 60Hz. You may find cards with only one dual link
connector, or perhaps a high end card with two dual link
connectors. In principle, that means up to 5120x1600 virtual
desktop.

AFAIK, the 3840x2400 is the top resolution that you might find
commercially. In several cheap ATI video card manuals, ATI claims
they have done 3840x2400 @ 15Hz on a single link DVI connector,
without hardware modifications. In other words, they trade a
reduced refresh rate for increased spatial resolution. Such a
display would run like a slide show.

With a dual link interface, that means you could likely do the
same thing at 3840x2400 at 30Hz. You could do a bit more than
30 Hz, if the TMDS transmitters could be bumped from 165MHz max
to 180MHz+. So perhaps a bit more than 30Hz refresh can be
accomplished, assuming that the monitor can actually be
refreshed faster. As with analog output, digital has its limits
too, and a cheap TMDS transmitter might not work well at 165MHz,
or the cables might cause your display to be "snowy" due to
tranmission/data clocking errors.

More info on the T221, which started the large monitor madness,
is here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T221

In terms of the gaming industry, Matrox may have disappeared
from sight as a high end gamer, but they have decided to pick up
the bread crumbs left lying around by their competitors. For
example, this quad output video card allows four LCD monitors
to be driven. Such a solution would be acceptable for 2D graphics
or stock trading, where a lot of information must be displayed
at the same time. Everything they make these days, seems to be
strange in one way or another...

http://www.matrox.com/mga/pid/products/qid_lp_pcie.cfm

HTH,
Paul

Hi Paul

Thanx. Lot of info there. I'll have to go over that a couple of times before I
absorb most of it.

I think though ... one import of what you're saying (and contrary to my earlier
understanding). It would suit my needs just fine (2 monitors with a 2560 X 1024
virtual desktop) to get a 2-DVI (DVI-I) card where the max resolution (I'm
looking mostly at NewEgg) is rated at 2048X1536 because ...

This is the max rez PER MONITOR.

Is that correct? I (obviously) was assuming that the max rez was that when
stretched out over both monitors.

In which case the following (the cheapest 2-DVI PCI Express 16 card on NewEgg)
would do what I need:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814131426

thanx for your help.

pat

 

[Paul]

Hi Paul

Thanx. Lot of info there. I'll have to go over that a couple of times
before I absorb most of it.

I think though ... one import of what you're saying (and contrary to
my earlier understanding). It would suit my needs just fine (2 monitors
with a 2560 X 1024 virtual desktop) to get a 2-DVI (DVI-I) card where
the max resolution (I'm looking mostly at NewEgg) is rated at
2048X1536 because ...

This is the max rez PER MONITOR.

Is that correct? I (obviously) was assuming that the max rez was that
when stretched out over both monitors.

In which case the following (the cheapest 2-DVI PCI Express 16 card
on NewEgg) would do what I need:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814131426

thanx for your help.

pat

"This is the max rez PER MONITOR." Correct.

If you connect two VGA analog displays, each could do 2048x1536 @ 60Hz
analog (assuming a 400MHz RAMDAC for each output channel in the GPU).

Two DVI digital displays, each could do 1920x1200 @ 60Hz using single
link DVI connectors. Either the digital output or the analog output
is sufficient to drive two 1280x1024 displays.

According to the spec here, a vanilla X1300 has one dual link and
one single link connector.

http://www.ati.com/products/RadeonX1300/specs.html

Catalyst Control Center Guide
http://www.visiontek.com/CCC.pdf

Picture of CCC w. Clone Mode
http://www.oc-zone.com/files/news/catalyst_control_center1.jpg

Picture of CCC w. Extended Mode (I think what you want, hard to tell)
http://vidmar.net/weblog/images/posts/AtiCatalystControlCenter.jpg

Maybe what you want, is Horizontal Stretch Mode
http://common.ziffdavisinternet.com/util_get_image/8/0,1425,sz=1&i=81841,00.jpg

A small primer here "Doing the Multimon":
http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1697,1674412,00.asp

BTW: No matter what video card you buy, I recommend going through
the comments for a few different brands of cards. This will give
you a feeling for whether the GPUs and software drivers are
ready for prime-time or not. For example:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/CustratingReview.asp?item=N82E16814102622

Note that the X1300 is not really a gamers card, but if you want
to load a game demo, at least it should load and allow you to
view the cool graphics. The card should be fine for Photoshop,
MSOffice, Email, surfing etc.

HTH,
Paul

 

[Conor]

Hi,

My first home-built was 2 yrs ago. Athlon XP 2000+ (1.5 GHz), Asus A7N8X-E
mobo, gig of memory, etc. Big improvement on the 1GHz Pentium (Pentium Pro
even?) machine that my company had given me for a home machine. (plus this one
I owned).

Getting a little long in the tooth, and much as occurred between.

Thinking about an Athlon 64 X2 of some kind. This means PCI Express and I have
to get a new video card.

No it doesn't. The Asrock 939 Dual SATA 2 motherboard has both AGP and
PCIe, supports all current socket 939 CPUs and will support the new M2
with the addition of an adapter board.

 

[Patrick Flaherty]

"This is the max rez PER MONITOR." Correct.

If you connect two VGA analog displays, each could do 2048x1536 @ 60Hz
analog (assuming a 400MHz RAMDAC for each output channel in the GPU).

Two DVI digital displays, each could do 1920x1200 @ 60Hz using single
link DVI connectors. Either the digital output or the analog output
is sufficient to drive two 1280x1024 displays.

According to the spec here, a vanilla X1300 has one dual link and
one single link connector.

http://www.ati.com/products/RadeonX1300/specs.html

Catalyst Control Center Guide
http://www.visiontek.com/CCC.pdf

Picture of CCC w. Clone Mode
http://www.oc-zone.com/files/news/catalyst_control_center1.jpg

Picture of CCC w. Extended Mode (I think what you want, hard to tell)
http://vidmar.net/weblog/images/posts/AtiCatalystControlCenter.jpg

Maybe what you want, is Horizontal Stretch Mode
http://common.ziffdavisinternet.com/util_get_image/8/0,1425,sz=1&i=81841,00.jpg

A small primer here "Doing the Multimon":
http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1697,1674412,00.asp

BTW: No matter what video card you buy, I recommend going through
the comments for a few different brands of cards. This will give
you a feeling for whether the GPUs and software drivers are
ready for prime-time or not. For example:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/CustratingReview.asp?item=N82E16814102622

Note that the X1300 is not really a gamers card, but if you want
to load a game demo, at least it should load and allow you to
view the cool graphics. The card should be fine for Photoshop,
MSOffice, Email, surfing etc.

HTH,
Paul

Thanx very much Paul,

You've not only answered my principal (or at least first) question, but given me
much extra and useful information to boot.

Looking through your links now.

pat

 

[Patrick Flaherty]

..
..

"This is the max rez PER MONITOR." Correct.

If you connect two VGA analog displays, each could do 2048x1536 @ 60Hz
analog (assuming a 400MHz RAMDAC for each output channel in the GPU).

Two DVI digital displays, each could do 1920x1200 @ 60Hz using single
link DVI connectors. Either the digital output or the analog output
is sufficient to drive two 1280x1024 displays.

According to the spec here, a vanilla X1300 has one dual link and
one single link connector.

http://www.ati.com/products/RadeonX1300/specs.html

Catalyst Control Center Guide
http://www.visiontek.com/CCC.pdf

Picture of CCC w. Clone Mode
http://www.oc-zone.com/files/news/catalyst_control_center1.jpg

Picture of CCC w. Extended Mode (I think what you want, hard to tell)
http://vidmar.net/weblog/images/posts/AtiCatalystControlCenter.jpg

Maybe what you want, is Horizontal Stretch Mode
http://common.ziffdavisinternet.com/util_get_image/8/0,1425,sz=1&i=81841,00.jpg

A small primer here "Doing the Multimon":
http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1697,1674412,00.asp

BTW: No matter what video card you buy, I recommend going through
the comments for a few different brands of cards. This will give
you a feeling for whether the GPUs and software drivers are
ready for prime-time or not. For example:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/CustratingReview.asp?item=N82E16814102622

Note that the X1300 is not really a gamers card, but if you want
to load a game demo, at least it should load and allow you to
view the cool graphics. The card should be fine for Photoshop,
MSOffice, Email, surfing etc.

HTH,
Paul

Ah. Another question. "a vanilla X1300 has one dual link and one single link
connector.". I'd already discovered the Wikipedia page on DVI, including the
very helpful pin-outs.

From that, my assumption is that one can plug a single link cable into a dual
link connector?

And yes (in the above) what I normally use is the something like the 'horizontal
stretch' mode. That is, on continuous, long, horizontal space dimensioned at
2560 X 1024.

I notice that very few, to none, of the manufacturers include cables (various
adpters yes - but not cables). So one has to keep this in mind as well when
buying.

pat

 

[Paul]

Ah. Another question. "a vanilla X1300 has one dual link and one single link
connector.". I'd already discovered the Wikipedia page on DVI, including the
very helpful pin-outs.

From that, my assumption is that one can plug a single link cable into a dual
link connector?

Yes, a single link monitor can be used with a dual link connector.
I presume the monitor information that comes across the cable,
tells the computer how many links to fire up. I know zip about
DVI cables, and have never bought any. So I don't know if it is
common for the cables to be dual link ready, or for the majority
of them to only support one link. As you suggested earlier, if
you can look at the connectors, I suppose if the pins for the
second link are missing, that would be a dead giveaway.

Paul

 

[Patrick Flaherty]

No it doesn't. The Asrock 939 Dual SATA 2 motherboard has both AGP and
PCIe, supports all current socket 939 CPUs and will support the new M2
with the addition of an adapter board.

Hi Conor,

I said implies PCI Express (and not AGP) because, by way of a new mobo, I was
pretty much looking at the Asus A8N-E. Which has some backwards-compatible PCI
slots but not AGP.

Yes if I look at other motherboards, I can get something with socket 939 and
AGP.

As I figure this out further though (and realize that a dual mon 2560X1024 PCI
Express card isn't necessarily going to cost me that much) I'm all that much
more inclined to stay with a mobo that has only PCI Express for its video.

pat