[jatpage]

hello people,

am looking to purchase a powermac g5 in nr future, have two 20 " cinema screens already, but really would like a 3 screen setup. was just wondering if this is possible, what extra hardware i would need to purchase, and would i need any further software. Also would i be able to use all 3 screens in a extended desktop way as i do with a dual setup?

many thanks

james

[Brad]

Simply add another graphics card and you can have another display. Yes, they'll all extend the desktop and are positionable in the System Preferences: Displays.

[kretara]

AFAIK this should be fine.

It appears that any video card in the PM (new) will support dual monitors.
All you need to buy is a pci video card (ATI Radeon 9200). This will cost you about $125.00

My current setup is a DP 2.0 G5, 9800 Pro, 9200, 17" Apple LCD X 2 and dell 19" LCD. It works fine. I used to run a forth monitor (19" CRT), again with no problem with the image. I have seen PM's (in this case a DP Gigabit G4) running 8 monitors.

The only issue that I have run into is when folding (using both processors 100%) and playing iTunes, if I move a window around too much in "window" coming from the 9200 I will get audio breakup. I'm not sure if the latest generation of PM's have this issue or not.

[curiousuburb]

IIRC, the old record for maximum number of simultaneous, unique monitors out of a single Mac is/was held by an old PowerMac 9600-era machine (Pre-G3) with its plethora of expansion slots.

One of the computer tech teevee shows did a piece on multiple monitor support and compared PC to Mac. While they were able to get a couple of monitors up on the PC at once after much registry tweaking and driver debugging, the demo really showed Apple's traditional strength in rich media.
Every single slot in the Mac had a different brand or model of video card installed, many running two separate monitors. No install headaches. True Plug & Play. Seems to me there were more than 10 monitors outputting (and yes, it probably crawled).

There's technically possible and then there's practical performance.
Modern Macs are much better suited to high bandwidth transfers.

Somebody might be able to find the original story and linkage.

[Luca]

Well, the 9600 had six PCI slots, so you could have up to twelve displays if you put a dual-monitor card in each slot. Same applies for the 9500... actually, the 9500 could theoretically do thirteen displays because it had six slots plus onboard video.

A while ago I recall seeing a picture of a ton of monitors hooked up to a single computer in a "flight simulator" setup, so each monitor showed the properly angled view out of the flight cabin.

[curiousuburb]

Originally Posted by Luca Well, the 9600 had six PCI slots, so you could have up to twelve displays if you put a dual-monitor card in each slot. Same applies for the 9500... actually, the 9500 could theoretically do thirteen displays because it had six slots plus onboard video. A while ago I recall seeing a picture of a ton of monitors hooked up to a single computer in a "flight simulator" setup, so each monitor showed the properly angled view out of the flight cabin.

You might be right about the 9500... unless the Daystar Genesis had more slots.

As for uber-displays, could it have been this old .com thread?

Vendor update: now with even more overkill! click pic to enter pixel heaven

[diagonalman]

Since I have a dumb question, I thought best to 're-up' an existing thread on the subject.

Do ALL video cards that have two output connectors compatible for multi-display?

In other words, I've seen cards that have BOTH DVI and VGA connectors that say dual monitor compatible. And then I see a video card with ONLY a DVI that says dual monitor compatible. And then I see a video card with DVI, VGA, and S-Video that doesn't say anything.

Is it a fast rule that if the card has DVI and VGA, then its dual monitor compatible?

Thanks.

[Luca]

It is not a rule. The original Radeon Mac Edition, for instance, was a single monitor card, even though it had DVI, VGA, and S-video outputs. Other Mac single-monitor cards with multiple outputs (either DVI/VGA/S-video retail cards or ADC/VGA Apple-supplied cards) include the Rage 128, Radeon, GeForce 2MX, and GeForce 3. A multiple monitor version of the GeForce 2MX was also created, and all numbered Radeons (7000, 7500, 9000, etc) are dual-monitor capable.

The GPU's core is what determines whether the card supports multiple monitors or not. Even the integrated GPU in AIO machines and laptops sometimes support multiple monitors. Every AIO Mac with a Radeon (even an unnumbered one) or a GeForce 4MX or better has dual-monitor capability. In many cases Apple locks it out in the firmware, but the lock-out can be bypassed in the PRAM.

Almost all "recent" cards, and even relatively ancient ones like the Radeon 8500 or GeForce 4MX, support dual monitor output from a single card. These days, dual monitor support is a given, and the features that separate the cheap cards from the more expensive ones (outside of raw speed) include dual DVI outputs, dual-link DVI, TV capability, and SLI capability (combining two identical graphics cards to double your power).

[Wickers]

Actually a friend of mine worked a computer gig setting up 9Xmedia based desktops...

It's hard to tell, but aside from the 24 19" LCDs facing toward the camera, there are 4 tucked under the desk, for a topdown workspace.

The room has 4 units just like this one, and one 'island' in the middle with a set of 4 or 5 monitor stations.

Edit: Oh yeah, it's one computer per station, (so in this pic, one computer pushing 28 19" LCDs at their rated resolution.) so quad opterons and a few quad and eight headed display cards...



PS. that's not me, but my friend. Just to be clear.

[SonOfSylvanus]

Jeez! W(here)TF did he work?

[Wickers]

Originally Posted by SonOfSylvanus Jeez! W(here)TF did he work?

Actually, do to the nature of the project, I should not even know that sort of information... but I can share with you the pic and talk about the screens.

Just think business intelligence...

And he was hired as a gig. Just to get it setup.

[diagonalman]

Originally Posted by Luca It is not a rule. The original Radeon Mac Edition, for instance, was a single monitor card, even though it had DVI, VGA, and S-video outputs. Other Mac single-monitor cards with multiple outputs (either DVI/VGA/S-video retail cards or ADC/VGA Apple-supplied cards) include the Rage 128, Radeon, GeForce 2MX, and GeForce 3. A multiple monitor version of the GeForce 2MX was also created, and all numbered Radeons (7000, 7500, 9000, etc) are dual-monitor capable. The GPU's core is what determines whether the card supports multiple monitors or not. Even the integrated GPU in AIO machines and laptops sometimes support multiple monitors. Every AIO Mac with a Radeon (even an unnumbered one) or a GeForce 4MX or better has dual-monitor capability. In many cases Apple locks it out in the firmware, but the lock-out can be bypassed in the PRAM. Almost all "recent" cards, and even relatively ancient ones like the Radeon 8500 or GeForce 4MX, support dual monitor output from a single card. These days, dual monitor support is a given, and the features that separate the cheap cards from the more expensive ones (outside of raw speed) include dual DVI outputs, dual-link DVI, TV capability, and SLI capability (combining two identical graphics cards to double your power).

Thanks Luca... Ok so most all new cards will be dual monitor support. And the main difference is going to be speed between the bargain Radeon ($100) and the actual dealio ($350)?

Oh and Wickers... that picture is F'd up! It's the kind of rig I'd like to setup were I not married!