[thevideojunkie]

I have a first-generation PowerMac G5 Dual 2ghz with an ATI Radeon 9600 Pro driving a 22-inch Samsung LCD and a 19-inch Samsung LCD. I have another 19-inch Samsung with no specific use assigned to it, so I was thinking about running a three-monitor setup with my G5.

What specific video card(s) should I be looking for to drive the third monitor? I have no PCI cards installed in my machine, so all slots but the AGP are open.

Thanks!

[Big Mac]

Radeon 9200 (Mac version) perhaps.

[reader50]

I'm thinking your expansion slots are PCI-X. If they were PCI, then you could use a Radeon 9200 to drive the extra monitor. I'm not aware of any Mac-compatible PCI-X video cards. You could consider Matrox's DualHead2Go or TripleHead2Go video expansion boxes. Note, they're kinda pricey. As pricey as a Mac video card.

[mduell]

Radeon 9200 or Radeon 7000 are the only options... neither supports Quartz Extreme/Core Image/Core Video/etc, but you'll probably have a hard time finding the 7000 outside of eBay these days. OWC has the 9200 for $120.

Originally Posted by reader50 

I'm thinking your expansion slots are PCI-X. If they were PCI, then you could use a Radeon 9200 to drive the extra monitor. I'm not aware of any Mac-compatible PCI-X video cards. You could consider Matrox's DualHead2Go or TripleHead2Go video expansion boxes. Note, they're kinda pricey. As pricey as a Mac video card.

Isn't it fortunate that PCI-X slots are backward compatible with PCI cards. The Matrox Head2Go boxes use an analog signal, which is a poor choice for LCDs.

[reader50]

They have digital versions now.

[mduell]

Originally Posted by reader50 

They have digital versions now.

Which still takes an analog input signal and converts it to digital, just as a VGA LCD would.

Connectors: HD-15 (analog) x 1 (input); DVI-I (digital) x 2 (outputs), USB

[reader50]

Next time, I'll check the specs. I hadn't considered a digital box with an analog input, which is counter intuitive. btw, those are the input specs for their dual solution. The triple has both inputs.

Connectors: 1x HD-15 (analog) for input, 1x DVI-I (digital) for input, 3x DVI-I (digital) for output, 1x USB for power

[Big Mac]

Originally Posted by reader50 

I'm thinking your expansion slots are PCI-X. If they were PCI, then you could use a Radeon 9200 to drive the extra monitor. I'm not aware of any Mac-compatible PCI-X video cards. You could consider Matrox's DualHead2Go or TripleHead2Go video expansion boxes. Note, they're kinda pricey. As pricey as a Mac video card.

But, PCI-X is supposed to be backward compatible with most PCI cards, right?

[Leonard]

Originally Posted by Big Mac 

But, PCI-X is supposed to be backward compatible with most PCI cards, right?

Yes, like mduell said PCI-X is backward compatible with newer PCI cards. Some older cards (5 volt) are not compatible.

[Big Mac]

Sorry, I didn't see mduell's first post.

[thevideojunkie]

Thanks, folks, very much for the speedy assistance. The Radeon 9200 from OWC sounds like my solution. I reconfigured my workspace arrangement to put all three monitors on my desk, with the 22-inch one in the middle. Now I'll order the card.

[Bwa]

I used to run a G5 w/ three 9200 cards (8 displays at times, sometimes just 4).

I was always quite disappointed with the performance of the 9200, even with just 1 9200 + the AGP 9600 card. The lack of Quartz Extreme just sucked, even for X11 xterms (I mostly do text work, not graphics). Text was slow, windows were slow to draw--it's a noticeable difference from the 9600.

Later I had a dual core 2.3 ghz with two Nvidia 6600 cards. Much better performance.

Unfortunately, there's no other choice. :-(

[BigBadBiologist]

Originally Posted by Bwa 

Unfortunately, there's no other choice. :-(

Well, there is another choice... sort of. You can get a PCI nVidia FX5200. While the graphics processing power isn't very impressive, they do support core image. Unfortunately, they are all only flashed PC cards and they are getting a little harder to find.

[P]

Originally Posted by mduell 

Radeon 9200 or Radeon 7000 are the only options... neither supports Quartz Extreme/Core Image/Core Video/etc, but you'll probably have a hard time finding the 7000 outside of eBay these days.

No PCI card supports Quartz Extreme, although there used to be a hack to enable it. The Radeon 9200 supports QE if you have an AGP version.