[augustc]

What are the requirements for dual monitors used with the ATI Radeon 9650 card that comes standard on the 2.7GHz dual G5 Powermacs? Should both monitors be digital, or one digital and one analog? I'm guessing "DVI" is the standard digital connection, but I'm not sure.

Are there any other specific requirements for one or both monitors?

I'm in the process of switching from a PC and I've heard there are (or were) some unique characteristics to using dual displays on macs with the standard graphics cards.
Thanks.

[horrorbiz]

All you have to do is hook up 2 monitors and then go to system preferences / displays and then set them up however you want them. If you do not have the right kind of monitors for the two ports (i am assuming adc and dvi) you can get adapters. I have used a mix of 2 crts, 1 crt + 1 lcd on many different macs including b&w g3, hacked ibook, hacked emac, and now on my dual 1.8 g5. There's nothing to it. Good luck.

[tooki]

The 9650 has dual DVI ports -- fully industry-standard. On that card, one of the DVI ports is a "dual-link" port that can drive the 30" display. (Most graphics cards have no such ports at all.) A dual-link port can drive single-link monitors, too.

DVI ports can output either analog or digital, as needed.

The "uniqueness" you refer to is the old ACD connector, which combined DVI plus USB and power into one plug, for older Apple displays. You can buy cheap plug adapters that convert it to a standard DVI or VGA port for using any normal monitor. Apple no longer uses ADC for its displays, and so it's been phased out on the Power Macs. On the software side, using multiple displays on a Mac is easier than it has ever been on the PC. (The Mac also has 10 years' extra experience in doing multiple displays, having first introduced it in 1987!)

tooki