Dual Display Comparison - February 2001

Summary

Conclusion

If you are concerned with nothing more than good multiple monitor support, now is as good of a time as any to get a dual display capable video card. With all three major manufacturers in the market, things just got very interesting for those with workstations looking for a bit of gaming performance.

Of the solutions out there now in their current form, the line between the ATI Radeon VE and the Matrox G450 DualHead is much narrower than the line between these cards and the GeForce2 MX. NVIDIA still has quite a bit to work on in order to make their TwinView solution up to snuff. Items such as global application memory, a multiple desktop utility, and more easily accessible functions need to be implemented before TwinView can be considered a serious competitor to ATI and Matrox.

The software solution by ATI as well as the solution by Matrox are very stable. Each has its strengths and weaknesses. Currently, however, the Matrox software seems to be a slight step above ATI's HydraVision. Things like DVDMax, advanced zooming functions, custom monitor configurations, and easily accessible schemes give the Matrox DualHead software a slight edge.

ATI does have many things going for it. For example, the ease of use of the HydraVision software paired up with the powerful application memory system, provide for quite a neat solution. In addition, recent discussions with ATI have revealed that they plan on upgrading the Appian software package in about two to three months, an upgrade that will undoubtedly make the distinction between Matrox's DualHead products and ATI's HydraVision products even more blurry.

With multiple monitor solutions finding their way into more and more cards, it is just a matter of time before whole product lines adopt to support this feature. Currently the dual display solutions are limited to budget 3D video cards, but in no time we can expect to see high performance dual head solutions. Until then, many will want to stay out of this market, just because it may prove better to wait for high end multiple monitor solutions that can keep up with the best cards in not only productivity but also 3D gaming. For those considering an upgrade or buying a new system with dual monitor support for use in a workstation only type environment, where 3D game performance is absolutely unnecessary, now is a great time to buy. With the Matrox G450 running at $123 and the Radeon VE at $99, the Matrox G450 is slightly more expensive, but also slightly better.