[G4] 3 monitors on a G4/667 (running OS 9.2.2)

B Yen byen00 at earthlink.net
Sun Feb 13 04:25:36 PST 2005


I just got everything running -- put in the ATI9200 in the PCI slot (have 2 of
these now in PCI slots) & running it off the 19" Samsung..  BTW, Best Buy has
these for like $399 (after rebates)..pretty killer deal.  You can get the 17"
Samsung for like $299 or $269 (see Best Buy or Fry's).  I'm running the other
ATI9200 on a Mitsubishi HDTV LCD TV..over the DVI cable.  The original video
card on the AGP slot (Nvidia Geforce 4MX ?) on a Mitsubishi 19"  Diamond Pro
920 CRT.

I think this setup is ideal for video-editing with Final Cut Pro.

Perry The Cynic wrote:

> --On Saturday, February 12, 2005 10:46 PM -0800 B Yen
> <byen00 at earthlink.net> wrote:
>
> > I have a G4/667 running OS 9.2.2..yes, I'm still using Classic OS!!  I
> > am running the stock video card on the AGP slot, an ATI 9200 video card
> > on a PCI slot.  I have 2 monitors, & it's really nice.
> >
> > Can I run a 2nd ATI 9200 video card on a PCI slot, & have 3 monitors
> > running?
>
> Yes, you can (in principle - I don't know whether there's a PCI 9200
> available). There is no hard limit on how many displays you can drive from
> one Mac, as long as you have display drivers.
>
> Do understand that PCI video cards can be considerably slower than AGP
> ones. If you use OS 9 and don't play games (or certain 3D modeling
> programs), you may not notice a big difference. (You can still play
> games/use such programs with windows on the "fast" displays.)
>
> > I plan on using a Samsung 19" LCD with the potential 3rd video card.
> >
> > Anyone else use 3 monitors or know of anyone who does?
>
> I used to run 3 displays for a while (yes, back when I was using OS 9), so
> I know it can be done. I can't say for sure whether your proposed hardware
> configuration has some particular issues, but it *ought to* work.
>
> One note: The penalty for using PCI graphics is much higher on Mac OS X,
> since it uses the graphics card heavily for its desktop effects (i.e. all
> the time). Also, modern Macs have faster AGP slots, so you'll notice more
> of a difference. :-)
>
> Cheers
>   -- perry
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Perry The Cynic                                             perry at cynic.org
> To a blind optimist, an optimistic realist must seem like an Accursed Cynic.
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------------



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