Pics of your Rig

[coathanger007]

Here's my Dual Monitor rig :cool:
http://img158.exs.cx/img158/6075/pc9vm.png

[Nate89]

that would get kinda awkward for me while tryin to play a game

[bhxtyrant]

wow very impressive.When i entered this topic i expected to see images of your actual PC the case/mods ect.I will try and get some pics of mine to post.

that would get kinda awkward for me while tryin to play a game

I assume you mean because of the dual monitor?if so no it wouldnt be a problem because the game would only appear on a single monitor if im not mistaken.usually the primary monitor.

[Nate89]

o didnt know that....thats cool though still

[rohitk89]

awesome pic coathanger...though i dunno much abt how a dual moniter works...wat do u do if u want the mouse to move from one moniter to the other? just move the mouse to in the direction u want it to?

suppose u open a programme, say notepad, does it open in one monitor or in both?

[bhxtyrant]

awesome pic coathanger...though i dunno much abt how a dual moniter works...wat do u do if u want the mouse to move from one moniter to the other? just move the mouse to in the direction u want it to?

suppose u open a programme, say notepad, does it open in one monitor or in both?

Well a dual monitor system usually has two GFX cards installed.One monitor to a card.It basically extends your desktop onto two monitors.As for the mouse yes i believe if you want to move from one monitor to the other you simply move in that direction.As for programs you can open a program then move it over onto the second monitor.Say you want to do some work but you are chatting on a messenger.you can have your program in one and the chat on the other.Very handy at times.

[phishhead]

jeez coathanger are you ever at your desk. That desk looks like a showroom its so clean. Right now reloading windows on a buddy's rig watching the TV and surfing the net. maybe I should clean my desk. :rolleyes:

my desk (http://members.cox.net/eotenburg/desk.JPG)

oh and the new case.

new case (http://members.cox.net/eotenburg/mycase.JPG)

[bhxtyrant]

Hey phishhead,Love that case!mind telling some specs on it and where you got it?I might have to invest in one of those :D

[phishhead]

Thermaltake Tsunami (http://www.thermaltake.com/xaserCase/tsunami/bwa/bwa.htm) . It was only 120.00 without a PSU. I wanted something nice for the new AMD rig coming soon.

[bhxtyrant]

Ah ok i remember viewing this site back when i built my last PC.To bad that case wasnt there at the time.Might grab one for my next project.Which new AMD rig by the way?The AMD 64's?

[phishhead]

I think gonna go for the amd64 3400 and the MSI or ASUS nforce 4 with pci express and SLI. Still deciding on a vid card though might go for the 6600GT but I want a built in TV tuner so not sure yet.

[bhxtyrant]

Sounds like its gonna be an awsome piece of hardware.I defienently would recomment the ASUS over the MSI ive used both types in previous builds (obviously not there newest boards) but the ASUS Nforce boards always seem to be a little better in my opinion.

TV tuner cards are a nice addition.Is it just me or are PC's basically becoming home entertainment centers these days?lol If your anything like me then you want all the little extra's as well.in my current PC i have just about everything you can get in there with the exception of a DVD burner.By the way the 3400 is equal to what around 3GHZ?

:EDIT: been doing a little quick research and all the info i see on the 3400+ seems to say its only 2.4GHZ?is that correct?i have a AMD Athlon XP2400+ and its 2GHZ.Hmm i just thought it would be more lol.

[Nate89]

By the way the 3400 is equal to what around 3GHZ?

:EDIT: been doing a little quick research and all the info i see on the 3400+ seems to say its only 2.4GHZ?is that correct?i have a AMD Athlon XP2400+ and its 2GHZ.Hmm i just thought it would be more lol.

u do know why it says 3400+ but is only clocked at...what did u say 2.4 ghz is because it would run like a 3.4 ghz cpu would while bein clocked lower

Still deciding on a vid card though might go for the 6600GT but I want a built in TV tuner so not sure yet.

if ur gonna go with sli then get a 6800gt u can read reviews at anandtech.com
SLI (http://anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=2248&p=3) or Benchmarking (http://anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2284) and they clearly shows that the 6800gt and ultra are way better than the 6600gt but only go for that if u got enough money...cause that will cost quite a pretty penny

The GeForce 6600GT seemed to scale reasonably well, with a pair of 6600GTs outperforming a single 6800 Ultra in Doom 3 and Half Life 2. It doesn’t make too much sense to buy a pair of 6600GTs today however, as you’d be much better off getting a single 6800GT and upgrading to a second one down the road, which brings us to our next point, the upgrade value of SLI.

If NVIDIA is able to get their SLI certification program successful enough and if motherboard manufacturers are able to get SLI boards cheap enough, then the upgrade value of SLI is significant. We’ve already seen that going from a single $200 GeForce 6600GT to a pair of them offers performance greater than that of a single $400 GeForce 6800GT. Take into account that the price of these cards goes down over time and you’re looking at a pretty decent upgrade path for the future, requiring minimal investment today.

The upgrade path for 6800GT owners is even more enticing; if you’ve only got $400 to spend on a card today you can’t beat the 6800GT as a single card solution. Then, as the price of the 6800GT drops, it may become more attractive for you to upgrade to a second card rather than buying a next generation GPU. As long as we’re between DirectX cycles, SLI enables you to have the fastest most robust graphics setup out there without missing out on much.

[Tinker]

Well since we are showing off.....

Samsung SynkMaster 912n Twins (http://24across.com/HotLinks/Techzonez/images/syncmaster912n.jpg)


My Towers (http://24across.com/HotLinks/Techzonez/images/Towers600x800.gif)


I am taking my time on the "New build" and doing it right or what I think is right anyway.

:msncool:

[coathanger007]

Yeah, I do keep the PC table nice and clean. But it does become a tad messy over time ;)
Nice rig phishhead :) Notice you have 2 keyboards. Is one USB and the other PS2?
Whoa....dual LCDs! Must've cost a fortune Tinker...how many inches? Just waiting for someone to drop in with a triple monitor system :D

Here's a handy freeware utility for ading a taskbar o the second monitor:
http://www.9xmedia.com/Pages-products/2000-Backgrounds.html

Also, here are some great multi monitor wallpapers:
http://www.9xmedia.com/Pages-products/2000-Backgrounds.html
You'll have to tile these to get the dual monitor effect ;)

[cash_site]

Looks great setup CoatHanger, nice and neat too ;)

Well a dual monitor system usually has two GFX cards installed. These days, most cards have VGA and at least tv out or DVI out... so you can have dual monitors on 1 card... In older systems, you need AGP card and PCI card...

Here's a handy freeware utility for ading a taskbar o the second monitor: I was going to ask how you got second taskbar... i'm running Dualies and couldnt work it out ;) nice apps.

[phishhead]

problem with the 6800 is lack of $$$...because with the SLI you need the same cards so after I build the rig will save up for another 6600gt. Then I dont think there will be any game that will make that rig stutter.

[Nate89]

or what u could do like in the article is just buy one 6800 and then wait a while for prices to go down then buy another once u start noticing a stutter or anything like that but thats just my opinion

[shadow_warez]

would a xbox with a 300 ggb hd count? lol with a usb connection and a 27 inch monitor lol or 32 =)

[Nate89]

now what would u need all that for? jeez someones a hardcore gamer who doesnt want to buy and games

[Tinker]

Each LCD monitor is 19". Samsung SyncMaster 912n (http://product.samsung.com/cgi-bin/nabc/product/b2c_product_detail.jsp?eUser=&prod_id=MJ19ASSB)
$1,000 in both..

:D with the monitors


:msnsad: with the price

[bhxtyrant]

Hey Tinker,I heard that LCD monitors arent to good for gaming any imput on that rumor? :)i want to get one or maybe two but if its no good for gaming it wouldnt be worth it for me since i do occasionally play PC games like counterstrike,medal of honor ect.

[Tinker]

I am not a gamer bhxtyrant but your question made me wonder myself. So I loaded some older games that came with graphics cards that I have bought. Two games were loaded one is "Star Trek New Worlds" (which required DX 7a :eek: ) and the other is "Star Trek Starfighter". Of the two Startfighter played the best. Graphics where good to me but like I said I am not a gamer. Now one of the most important things to look at on a LCD is the Contrast Ratio which we see here is 800:1. This the comparison from the lightest light to the darkest dark. The higher the better. I saw a 21" 1000:1 on Tiger Direct for $500, however another thing to look at is the number of dead pixels that the manufactur says a monitor can have and still be a good monitor. Some say as high as 16 dead pixels is still a good monitor which we know is not. Now for my thinking on buying Samsung. Samsung says that 0 dead pixels is a good monitor and they guarantee that there monitors will have no dead pixels. Neither one of my monitors have a dead pixel.

If I where you I would buy a LCD and keep your CRT until you find out how it is going to work for you. I think with the newer games and using DX9c would be a plus. Of course your computer system will also effect the way it all plays out for you as well.

I hope this is information you needed. Best Buy has a 15 day return policy with no questions ask, or at least they do around my area. You can buy one try it out and if you do not like it take it back. Of course you need to check with the store where you buy it to make sure you can do that.




Features

# Viewable Image Size: 19"
# Brightness (Typical): 260 cd/m2
# Contrast Ratio: 800:1
# Viewing Angle (H/V): 170/170 (degrees)
# Interface: Analog
# Horiz. Frequency: 30-81
# Max/Native Resolution: 1280 x 1024
# Emissions Standard: TCO '95
# Available Color(s): Black
# Special Features: Built-in Power Supply, Narrow Bezel, MagicTuneTM, MagicBrightTM.

[bhxtyrant]

Thanks for the info Tinker,I find myself keep saying this but you guys here are so helpful with this stuff.I will definently look more into this.The main reason i am thinking of getting an LCD of course is to free up a little desk space if nothing else.I did notice one thing about my freinds LCD screen and that is when browsing the internet if you use the scroll option on a webpage to move down from the time your start scrolling until you stop the screen becomes blurred and un-readable.This is why i had to ask more about the gaming aspect even though im not a heavy PC gamer i still like a little Counterstrike every now and then.I mainly use my PC for work and my personal hobby which is graphic design and website design.

[Conan]

For Gamers, response time is the important thing to look at. Right now there are LCD's with 12-16 millisecond response times which are considered very good. Try to avoid the 25 and above unless you aren't an avid gamer.

I bought my LCD many years ago when LCD's were still in early development. My response time is only 50 ms but honestly I don't see any ghosting with the games that I've played like Madden NFL, Spiderman and Tomb Raider.

[rik]

Very nice Tinker. I'm jealous...

[FastGame]

:D with the monitors


:msnsad: with the price
:rofl2: thats a good one Tink :p

@phishhead, whats this "stutter" stuff ? ain't no game going to make my 6800GT stutter ;)

[phishhead]

especially 2 bridged with SLI. so imagine 2 256meg 6800gts. man o man would call of duty look smokin.

[cash_site]

Dual LCD are nice Tinker, I agree about contrast ratio and Response time - these lead to a reduction in Ghosting for 3D games and DVD movies...

New tech like conan said, brings them down to 12ms ;) which make 19" / 21" LCD screens a very attractive alternative

[Dehcbad25]

Well, I was going to comment on the 2 monitors but someone already clarified :p
I have been using dual monitor for quite a while. At work I have 2 LCD :D Both LCD
The LCD in my set up is a Planar 17". I don't know the model. I had it for a year, and so far is the best monitor we have bought at my work (that is why I got this one) I have it connected thru the Digital connection, and I have never seen ghosting. Other monitors I can see some ghosting and even like repetitions of the image. At work I have a Quadro4 700 XGL and it is so easy to see cheap displays in that card :p
Unfortunately at home I can't afford dual LCD, but that is fine. I am acustom to the CRT. I used to have a 3 monitor set up, with a 15" CRT and a GeForce 2 PCI, but I never used the 3rd one, and I gave the card to my younger brother (he had a 16 MB on board video). At work not only I have 2 monitors (technically I have 3 in my desk, but the 3rd one is for another PC) but I also have 3 desktops (virtual desktop like Linux) using NView. I usually have so many aplications that I need to categorize the aplication by desktop. The 2 monitors become extremely functional once you get the hang on them. Today I was reading folder permitions from a program, while making changes thru MMC in the other monitor. Or I can read a Excel file, while writting a Doc about that Excel file. I use 1280x1024 on both displays and both locations.
Pic 1 (http://www.forumsigs.com/users/dehcbad251401/0006.jpg)
Pic 2 (http://www.forumsigs.com/users/dehcbad251401/0005.jpg)

PS: My desk is actually clean right now :p (you can imagine how is it when it is not clean) Thought I never eat at my desk. I have enought be seeying the keyboards of users at work to make me want to eat in the table :msnsick:
BTW NView has a lot of settings for multimonitors set up, not just virtual desktops. I have Nview enabled at home, but I don't have virtual desktops

[Dehcbad25]

look at this
http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/ProductDetail.aspx?sku=320-4111&c=us&l=en&cs=04&category_id=6198&first=true&page=productlisting.aspx
Dell UltraSharp 2005FPW 20.1 inch Wide Aspect.
Image Aspect Ratio: 16:10
Image Brightness: 300 cd/m²
Image Contrast Ratio: 600:1
Max Resolution: 1680x1050 Pixels
Max Sync Rate (V x H): 75 Hz x 83 kHz
$549.00

[Dehcbad25]

Hey, I found my monitor specs. They are pretty nice considering I had it for year and half (don't remember when I got it)
It is a planar PX171M
http://www.planar.com/Products/flatpanel_monitors/px_flatpanel/PX171M.html
What does it mean in the response time the rise and fall values?
Even thought the other LCD I use at work VE175b (http://www.viewsonic.com/products/desktopdisplays/lcddisplays/e2series/ve710b/#specs) has the same response time, it looks pretty bad next to the planar. In part it could be because the planar is connected to the DVI and the other to VGA, but I still like the planar a lot better :D (plus it pivots)

[beelzebub]

If you want a three monitor setup, there is only one video card maker I know of that makes video cards that can display on more than 2 displays. That's matrox. They have had a few video cards out designed for CAD that can utalize 8 monitors and less. But, about a year ago they came out with a video card called the Matrox Parhelia. This card was published as the first matrox card designed for gaming and the digital lifestyle. Unfortunetly, it cost more than a 6800GT. There are two versions of this card one with 128mb and the other with 256mb of RAM.

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-106-163&depa=1

I was going to get one, then I decided to get a new AMD64 Pci-e motherboard so, I could not; because it only comes in an AGP 8x configuration.

Also, the best LCD monitor out is one by viewsonic, it has an 8ms responce time. It is 17" and cost $335 if I had the money I would buy 2 of these.

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=24-116-347&depa=1

Actually, there are 2 monitors that have 8ms responce times. THe other is by BenQ but I would go with Viewsonic over BenQ any day.