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

[Perry The Cynic]

--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
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Perry The Cynic                                             perry at cynic.org
To a blind optimist, an optimistic realist must seem like an Accursed Cynic.
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