Need advice on hardware? Ask questions and share your opinions here.
#51401 by joshhuggins
Wed Dec 08, 2010 11:54 am
Most name brand LCD monitors these days have really great displays. I would recommend a pair of 22" widescreens with a resolution in the 16xxX10xx range of you have the desktop space. I have a Acer and KDS 22" and like them both. The Acer has better color and a sharper display. I have a 24" 19xxX12xx Samsung at home and it's an awesome display and great for gaming but I find that it's a bit too big for CAD with me sitting approx. 17"-22" from the screen. My eyes have to dart around too much while drawing and it's a bit annoying. Check out Newegg.com for reviews.
#51417 by MtnArch
Wed Dec 08, 2010 11:10 pm
How about a recommendation for a video card for the dual monitors?
#51419 by joshhuggins
Wed Dec 08, 2010 11:55 pm
Love Nvidia's stuff, only chips I use. Couldn't pay me to put in an ATI card again. I prefer Gigabyte, XFX, BFG. Asus, MSI, PNY, EVGA are o.k. and have decent reps. Stay away from Jaton, BioStar, Sparkle, Zotac. For dual 16xx's, entry level Datacad cards would be something like a GeForce 8400 with at least 512MB ram. A 8600, 9600 or 9800 at a good price would be mugh better. I don't know much about the 210 line but they should be comparable to the 8400-9600 performance wise. For dual 19xx's GeForce probably want to step up to 768MB ram. If your gaming :twisted: bump up to a GTS 250 or GTX 260, or really go nuts in the 400 or 500 series. (drool) You can compare the tech difference info here The model numbers can be a bit confusing so make sure you have a good idea of what your looking for. For example a GeForce 5500 is better than a GeForce 6200. For Datacad and general desktop performance, start with the memory amount then a good core speed & memory type (DDR3,GDDR3,5 would be ideal) are probable the base of what to compare when shopping.

3D rendering in most high end rendering apps will benefit from a Quadro card, but I admit I am not up to date on what the line carries these days. Don't know how much Sketchup may benefit from one but I'm sure our good friend Google can help find out.

Another important item to check into before you take a plunge is make sure you have an adequate power supply for the card you are looking at and have the correct socket type on your board. If your still using a AGP x4/x8 mainboard finding a compatible card might be hard and finding a good card with 512MB might be even harder. They have a few at Newegg.com and BestBuy usually carries at least one model and sometimes even a older PCIx1 version. The PNY AGP stuff was always pretty good. Well gotta get back to work....
#51420 by Nick Pyner
Thu Dec 09, 2010 1:01 am
MtnArch wrote:How about a recommendation for a video card for the dual monitors?


I went through too many Radeons in too short a time to belive they are a good way to go.

If you aren't a games player, an Nvidia 6600 is all you need.

It is thick, with heat pipes and sinks on both sides. With the socket arrangements these days, that no longer matters. It has no fan.

I think any card will drive dual monitors these days but I suggest you get one with two DVI outputs. Failing that, it is possible to get a VGA to DVI cable, which is a better way to go structurally than an adaptor.
#51422 by Neil Blanchard
Thu Dec 09, 2010 7:49 am
There are over a hundred different video cards from nVidia and another similar number from ATi. Here's the best / only place I know of to compare their relative performance:

http://www.techarp.com/showarticle.aspx?artno=88&pgno=0

Here's the nVidia list in increasing performance order:

http://www.techarp.com/showarticle.aspx?artno=88&pgno=7
#52614 by DBrennfoerder
Sun Mar 27, 2011 5:01 pm
There is also a USB adapter that will allow a 2nd monitor if you don't a a dual monitor card or room for 2 cards. I've done that with one machine and it works great. TigerDircect.com has one from Tritton for $50.
#52618 by Nick Pyner
Mon Mar 28, 2011 3:10 am
Before you buy one of those, have a look round the back of the box and see if there is a video socket. It is more or less de rigeur these days for video to be included on the motherboard. I am on my second motherboard with video, but this is something you find out after you get it home. I have never used it as I have never had the need for three monitors, but it is worth investigating.
Last edited by Nick Pyner on Mon Mar 28, 2011 10:35 am, edited 1 time in total.
#52619 by JohnFornaro
Mon Mar 28, 2011 8:08 am
Hey: Thanks for those replies. Here's where I am this morning: Found an AGP card with 256meg ram (Matrox GeForce FX 5500), and a PCI card with 512meg (Matrox GeForce 6200). Remember, I'm upgrading from a card with about 32 meg, which is blindingly fast for 2d work. I'm always the slow part of the operating system.

The PCI card seems to be the "master" and the AGP card the "slave", because I have the monitor connected to the PCI card, which I installed first, basically because I just ordered a PCI card without considering that the video slot was AGP. So still haven't actually gotten the second monitor.

The bug/feature that I've noticed is that the "DOS" part of the Win2k sequence comes up on the AGP card, and the "graphix" part of the Win2k sequence comes up on the PCI card. I'm thinking that AGP defaults to "master"; when it can't find an actual monitor, it passes control to the PCI card.
#55774 by pjmerkl
Sat Nov 05, 2011 2:59 pm
I have had two different systems with Dual Monitors. First was a long time ago with a Matrox card with dual VGA heads. very good but small amount of memory. No problems with Dcad. The monitors were dual 19" crt and they were nice but took up a lot of space. The last system that I had still used a dual head vga graphics card with 256megs memory. I am using a single hp LCD 20" monitor. It has vga and DVI inputs. very nice monitor. Resolution is 1600 x 900 max but is fine for dcad. I did have a 28" lcd high def tv hooked up. That was great. No need for a second monitor. If you want size but dont have the width for two 20" monitors go with a 28" Hi Def tv that has a VGA input. Check for open box items at best buy or what ever electronics store near you.

PJ :D
#57073 by Larry K.
Tue Apr 03, 2012 2:16 pm
I have a dual setup with a ASUS VW246H as my primary monitor and a Samsung 203B as the secondary. I'm thinking of replacing the Samsung because I have to hit the start button on-off several times for the screen to stay on. I'm thinking of either another ASUS or possibily a Samsung P2770FH. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

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