Dual head vid card questions

**Bartender** · 02-07-2007, 04:16 PM

Good day!
I've been researching how to run dual monitors for a week now but still confused. I see posts from folks who have two monitors but aren't running genuine dual-head cards, just cards with two output ports. Does software emulate dual-head to some degree?
I want to be able to drag windows off to the second screen, not just create one huge desktop. Do I need a real dual-head card to do that? I understand that a dual-head card has two independent outputs & processors but not clear on what they can accomplish that any other card with two outputs can't.
Also want to make sure whatever I buy isn't going to give me a lot of grief in Linux. Does that mean Nvidia or Matrox?
I see dual head Nvidia Quadro cards for sale on HP's website, branded as "HP Nvidia Quadro". Is there anything proprietary about these, or will they work as well as any other Quadro card?
Finally, what's the dif between the FX Quadros and the NVS's? I realize the FX's are targeted at the workstation but is there any reason they wouldn't work for generic home computing tasks?

ebackhus · 02-07-2007, 04:23 PM

Most every card since the late 90's has been able to support dual displays. Often the card just creates a super desktop that's wide and tells the computer to treat them as two independent desktops.

**Bartender** · 02-07-2007, 06:58 PM

OK, so what does a dual-head card do that's any different than the rest of 'em?

ebackhus · 02-07-2007, 07:00 PM

Dual head just means it has two connectors for transmitting signals.

**Fr4665** · 02-08-2007, 01:55 AM

so really its the same as a regular card with two outputs.

i just setup my dual monitors yesterday on an ati x1600pro and two 19inch CRT's works flawlessly and helps alot when your doing alot of stuff at the same time.

**Bartender** · 02-09-2007, 07:35 AM

Whoohoo

Finally got it working last nite. The card is an ASUS V9400-X. It's a basic AGP card, may be out of production by now. Both monitors would show signal until Windows began to load, then one went blank. I kept getting a message "Needs nv4s_mini.dll" or similar, but couldn't find that on the main ASUS CD.
I finally tried the second ASUS CD, one that I thought just had games and other fluff on it. Had to put Windows' nose right in the file, but finally loaded two groups of drivers from that CD and things went better from there.

There's one glitch so far. When I drag a window to the second monitor the mouse changes from a pointer to a cross-like symbol and won't go back. I can go into Control Panel>Mouse>Pointer and change it back to default and everything seems to be fine, but as soon as I drag a window it does it again. According to the list that appears when you open >Pointer the cross is the "Move" symbol.

Should I download and install the latest version of the drivers at the ASUS website and try that?

02-07-2007, 04:16 PM	#1 (permalink)
Bartender Mentally divergent Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Chehalis, WA, USA Posts: 1,285 OS: W2K, Ubuntu 8.04	Dual head vid card questions Good day! I've been researching how to run dual monitors for a week now but still confused. I see posts from folks who have two monitors but aren't running genuine dual-head cards, just cards with two output ports. Does software emulate dual-head to some degree? I want to be able to drag windows off to the second screen, not just create one huge desktop. Do I need a real dual-head card to do that? I understand that a dual-head card has two independent outputs & processors but not clear on what they can accomplish that any other card with two outputs can't. Also want to make sure whatever I buy isn't going to give me a lot of grief in Linux. Does that mean Nvidia or Matrox? I see dual head Nvidia Quadro cards for sale on HP's website, branded as "HP Nvidia Quadro". Is there anything proprietary about these, or will they work as well as any other Quadro card? Finally, what's the dif between the FX Quadros and the NVS's? I realize the FX's are targeted at the workstation but is there any reason they wouldn't work for generic home computing tasks?

02-07-2007, 04:23 PM	#2 (permalink)
ebackhus Manager, Design Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: SATX Posts: 14,286 OS: WinXP Pro SP3/Windows 7 RTM My System Blog Entries: 28	Most every card since the late 90's has been able to support dual displays. Often the card just creates a super desktop that's wide and tells the computer to treat them as two independent desktops. __________________ ----------------------------- There are no dumb questions, unless a customer is asking them. Help in the fight against cancer and other serious illnesses.

02-07-2007, 07:00 PM	#4 (permalink)
ebackhus Manager, Design Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: SATX Posts: 14,286 OS: WinXP Pro SP3/Windows 7 RTM My System Blog Entries: 28	Dual head just means it has two connectors for transmitting signals. __________________ ----------------------------- There are no dumb questions, unless a customer is asking them. Help in the fight against cancer and other serious illnesses.

02-08-2007, 01:55 AM	#5 (permalink)
Fr4665 aka mr.fraggs Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: USA or Germany Posts: 2,965 OS: Win XP,Vista,Android My System	so really its the same as a regular card with two outputs. i just setup my dual monitors yesterday on an ati x1600pro and two 19inch CRT's works flawlessly and helps alot when your doing alot of stuff at the same time. __________________ I don't subscribe to threads please PM me if i miss a reply. ------- Everest SensorView Pro DriverCleaner how to fix your game

02-07-2007, 06:58 PM	#3 (permalink)
Bartender Mentally divergent Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Chehalis, WA, USA Posts: 1,285 OS: W2K, Ubuntu 8.04	OK, so what does a dual-head card do that's any different than the rest of 'em?

02-09-2007, 07:35 AM	#6 (permalink)
Bartender Mentally divergent Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Chehalis, WA, USA Posts: 1,285 OS: W2K, Ubuntu 8.04	Whoohoo Finally got it working last nite. The card is an ASUS V9400-X. It's a basic AGP card, may be out of production by now. Both monitors would show signal until Windows began to load, then one went blank. I kept getting a message "Needs nv4s_mini.dll" or similar, but couldn't find that on the main ASUS CD. I finally tried the second ASUS CD, one that I thought just had games and other fluff on it. Had to put Windows' nose right in the file, but finally loaded two groups of drivers from that CD and things went better from there. There's one glitch so far. When I drag a window to the second monitor the mouse changes from a pointer to a cross-like symbol and won't go back. I can go into Control Panel>Mouse>Pointer and change it back to default and everything seems to be fine, but as soon as I drag a window it does it again. According to the list that appears when you open >Pointer the cross is the "Move" symbol. Should I download and install the latest version of the drivers at the ASUS website and try that?