What do I need to support two 30" monitors at max resolution?

[Number36]

I am upgrading to 2 x Dell 3007 montitors and I want to run both of them at the max resolution.

I know next to nothing about computers - can someone let me know what I need to have in a new desktop?

Thanks!

[brasilstu]

Have a look at the monitor FAQ at the top of this forum. I think you need two graphics cards both with dual link DVI.

[Josem]

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What do I need to support two 30" monitors at max resolution?

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1) A very big desk

2) Good eyesight, because these things are so large you'll need to sit back a bit for them to fit into your field of vision

3) You need two plugs out of a video card with dual-link dvi. While I've never read of anyone doing this, I assume you can use one video card to run them.

4) Despite (3), since you're obviously not short of a penny to be able to buy two 30" monitors, you might be better off getting two good video cards - one to run each.

To do this smoothly, get a motherboard which has two (sometimes called dual) PCIEx16 slots... You can then put a PCIEx16 video card into each, and have one video card per monitor.

While I'm not recommending this particular product (because I don't know anything substantial about it), this motherboard is an example of one that offers two PCIEx16 slots

[Number36]

Thanks.

I spoke to a manufacturer who said the Geforce 8800 cards would run both of these fine and he recomended a system with the 8800 GTS 320mb.

What are the advantages of having two cards vs. one?

Any other considerations? (other than big desk and good eyesight which I have covered...)

[Josem]

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Thanks.

I spoke to a manufacturer who said the Geforce 8800 cards would run both of these fine and he recomended a system with the 8800 GTS 320mb.

What are the advantages of having two cards vs. one?

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The whole thing will run smoother and better.

2560 x 1600 pixels = 4million pixels. 2 monitors = 8 million pixels.

It takes a heap of processing power to control 8 million pixels. A good graphics card (or, in your case, two of them) will be able to do more of the processing power on the graphics card, freeing up the CPU for other stuff (PokerTracker, PAHud, etc.)

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Any other considerations? (other than big desk and good eyesight which I have covered...)

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That's all I can think of - but be aware that two 30" monitors will be bloody huge, and your field of vision simply isn't that big, so you may have an issue with that.

Setting them both up in portrait orientation would help overcome this, as well as allowing more tables to fit on your monitors.

[crzylgs]

I don't know if 3007s can be rotated, at least mine can't. So I guess u could use it in portrait but you'd need to prop it up somehow or fit a custom stand/mount. IMO best companion to a 30" are a couple 20"s in portrait to flank it.

[funkyworms]

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IMO best companion to two 30"s are a couple 20"s in portrait to flank them.

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[Number36]

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I don't know if 3007s can be rotated, at least mine can't. So I guess u could use it in portrait but you'd need to prop it up somehow or fit a custom stand/mount. IMO best companion to a 30" are a couple 20"s in portrait to flank it.

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wtf you can't rotate them 90" using the stand? Dell said you could (not that anyone shoud ever trust what those monkeys tell you.)

Guess I'll have to investigate the Samsung / HP ones as an alternative.

Thanks for the advice people - next question on this - if I went with two cards is the on-board memory of the card the key thing? the single card I was looking at had 320mb so if I get two cards I want combined memory > 320mb for it to be an advantage right? Or is it not that simple...

Note: this system is only for poker.

Plus any considerations on the Motherboard for two cards? The system I was looking at had an Asus P5K Motherboard.

[Josem]

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wtf you can't rotate them 90" using the stand? Dell said you could (not that anyone shoud ever trust what those monkeys tell you.)

Guess I'll have to investigate the Samsung / HP ones as an alternative.

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It seems really odd to get a monitor on the basis of which one has a nicer stand, given how cheap those parts are in comparison to the rest of the purchase.

Like, seriously...

Also, if you want to compare monitors, Gateway has just released a mega cool 30" monitor which prides itself on handling multiple sources - so, if you're not just using it for computer, but also for DVD/TV/etc. you should look into that.

It has neat stuff like a very highly regarded upscaling processor, and picture-in-picture that you can move aroudn to wherever you like.

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Thanks for the advice people - next question on this - if I went with two cards is the on-board memory of the card the key thing? the single card I was looking at had 320mb so if I get two cards I want combined memory > 320mb for it to be an advantage right? Or is it not that simple...

Note: this system is only for poker.

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If the system is for poker, it probably doesn't really matter how much mb is on your cards.

If you're seriously saying you'll only use it for poker (and I know I couldn't resist restricting my use of two 30" monitors to purely poker), two of the more basic dual-link DVI cards should be fine.

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Plus any considerations on the Motherboard for two cards? The system I was looking at had an Asus P5K Motherboard.

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I don't know anything about motherboards. Sorry.

[Josem]

Also, the Australian Dell website at http://www1.ap.dell.com/content/products...p;~tab=specstab lists the current 3007 monitor as being able to be rotated to portait mode with the standard stand.