External MFCD Monitors - Video card setup/requirements?

[ESzczesniak]

I've been toying aorund with the idea of building a home cockpit for a while now. With the DCS A-10C essentially out (I know it has some work, but the beta is quite good even at this point) and the TM Warthog coming soon it seems natural for this to be an A-10C.

 

I'm starting with the front panel and will collect all the equipment for the MFCD's, CMS display, RWR, backup gauges etc. before designing a panel to use (to avoid have conflicts of space that need makeshift resolutions...this will be well planned onceI have the actual equipment).

 

My first starting point are the MFCD's. I just recieved the TM MFCD's and have been following some of the threads on monitors to use with them. I am planning on a couple of 8" LCD's.

 

So on to the question. My video card currently only has 2 DVI and an s-video output. I only use one monitor at the moment and my understanding is that even if I do upgrade to TH2G, this still only uses one output. However, this still leaves me with only 1 DVI to power to 8" LCD's for the MFCD's. So, how do I do this?

 

I have a GTX 285 that I have no reasons performance wise to upgrade. I also do not have any more full PCI-e slots (just a couple legacy PCI and the mini PCI-e slots). Options I thought of:

 

1. USB monitors: my understanding is that a USB monitor is not a great idea as there will likely be performance issues. Will these issues be in the refresh rate of the monitor, or will the whole game have lower FPS while the system tries to process USB monitors?

 

2. A PCI video card:...if I can even find one anymore. Again, I understand there may be a performance issue, but I'm not sure how much it may show if that card is just running 2 8" LCD at relatively low resolution.

 

3. TH2Gish: is there any way of "splitting" one out put to the two monitors and having the computer think it's one bigger monitor. So instead of two 640x480 (or whatever), the computer outputs 1280x480 and then I just position the MFCD's to display in the proper parts of this "combined" display.

 

4. A new video card: I see some of the newer video cards have 2 DVI and an HDMI output. I've been thinking of a new monitor at some point too (mine is a 5+ year old 19" 4:3 LCD). Do some of the newer ones use HDMI so I would still have 2 DVI slots available?

 

I'm not really to interested in the idea of a new motherboard with an extra full PCI-e slot for an extra video card. The idea of reinstalling my whole system (well, full reinstall may not be necessary, but reactivating a lot of stuff at least) doesn't appeal to me. Additionally, I don't know if I have a lot more room in my case for the extra power cables needed for another high end video card. The rest of my computer specs are:

 

Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R

Intel i7-920 OC to 3.5 GHz with Megahelem cooler (to go to 3.8-4.0 GHz when I get better RAM)

3 x 2 GB 1333 MHz Corsair RAM

3 x WD SATA HD

2 x SATA DVD/RW

Soundblaster Audigy PCI-e

Corsair 750W PSU

GTX 285 1 GB

 

Any thoughts or input on solving this dilema would be much appreciated.

[Kuky]

Your motherboard as seen bellow has

 

...The Gigabyte board has four full length PCI Express x16 slots - although only two of them are wired for x16 (the first and third from the top), the other two are wired for x8...

 

so I don't see why you couldn't add second video card... the X58 chipset provides you with 2x 16x PCI-E slots

 

[hassata]

I use a 4870x2 to output to 4 monitors.

 

Kuky, I have an older Nvidia cart (7800 GTX I believe). Do you think I would see any performance increase by popping that in and using it to run the two MFDs? I guessing no.

[Kuky]

I use a 4870x2 to output to 4 monitors.

 

Kuky, I have an older Nvidia cart (7800 GTX I believe). Do you think I would see any performance increase by popping that in and using it to run the two MFDs? I guessing no.

 

I tried running my 2x 8' monitors of different cards and I did not see any difference... but since you ise ATI card already I don't think its good idea to mismatch it with Nvidia card as video card drivers might conflict.

[power5]

Win7 can run two video drivers. I have run that way but not in game. I am also wondering if it will work as I have a 7600GT to use for MFCD displays as well.

[ESzczesniak]

Well would you look at that. I actually have the GA-EX58-UD3R (not the GA-X58A-UD3R), I always have issues remembering this. However, it's been a while since I built this one and it looks like it does actually have two PCI-e x16 slots. Turns out it was the straight PCI slot I only have one of.

 

So, do I really need to have 2 identical cards if I'm not doing SLI? Or can I run the game on the GTX285 and get a cheaper more reasonable card for the fairly low demand of the MFCD monitors?

[y2kiah]

no you don't need the same card if you're not doing SLI, though I would recommend that you stick with the same make NVIDIA or AMD so you don't have to install both sets of drivers on your machine.

 

Remember DCS is a D3D9 level application so you are best off ebaying for an older generation card, say in the 8800 series, because it will be much cheaper for a higher end GTS or GTX model. You'll get very little benefit from DX10 or 11 support on a newer card, and you'll pay more for a lower level card and may actually get worse performance. Personally, I acquired two used EVGA 8800 GTS's for 50 bucks each from a friend at work to give me a total of six monitors on 3 cards. Those cards are very fast for DX9 even if they are a few generations behind. I need to upgrade my power supply before I can run them all though.

[ESzczesniak]

...though I would recommend that you stick with the same make NVIDIA or AMD so you don't have to install both sets of drivers on your machine...

 

By this do you mean nVidia vs. ATI (haven't heard of AMD chipsets)? And are you recommending the same specific chip series (i.e. two GTX275's) or within the same chip line (i.e. GT2xx, like a GTX 285 and a GT260 or such)? If I recall correctly all of the GT2xx line uses a single driver installer (I don't know if this is actually the same driver or several different ones bundles in to one installer). Thanks for all the help you guys have given.

[y2kiah]

AMD owns ATI, I thought newer cards dropped the ATI branding? Not sure, I've always used NVIDIA :)

 

And for your question, no they can be different chip series, just make sure the driver version you install goes back far enough to include all your cards. I'm not sure if the latest drivers still include the 8 series, but I would expect so. Someone else more up to speed on the cutting edge care to chime in? If you run Windows 7, you shouldn't have to worry about installing drivers at all though, it will be handled for you.

Edited October 28, 2010 by y2kiah

[sweinhart3]

As for the newer nvidia cards that have hdmi + 2dvi, only 2 of them can be used at any given time so you will need either a second video card or switch to ATI as they have a couple cards that support more than 2 outputs.

[hassata]

thanks

[power5]

You can run any card you want if you have win7.

 

Not sure how the 220GT stacks up, but they are pretty cheap. What is the budget you are wanting to stay in? That is the most important factor. 250GTS is a pretty good card if you want to get to the $100 range. For ATI, the 4850 is a good card at that same price range.

Edited October 28, 2010 by power5

[Deadman]

ESzczesniak if your planning on collecting real instruments from the A-10 Main instrument Panel(Dash) but your going to use the TM MFDs you will all ready have a problem before you start. The TM mfds are smaller than the A-10C ones see my thread I am currently working on a correctly scaled Dash http://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=57846

[ESzczesniak]

ESzczesniak if your planning on collecting real instruments from the A-10 Main instrument Panel(Dash) but your going to use the TM MFDs you will all ready have a problem before you start. The TM mfds are smaller than the A-10C ones see my thread I am currently working on a correctly scaled Dash http://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=57846

 

I understand that they are smaller, but I am personally ok with that. My goal is to make a very near replica of the A-10 panel, but ultimately function is my priority. So if I'm off an inch or two here or there I'm ok with it. My goal is that everything is 1) fully functional and 2) is in the same spot.

 

I'm ok if things look the same, but are scaled a bit differently sizewise. Being able to use off the shelf components will make this build project much easier.

[Deadman]

Well not to rain on your parade if you want full function you will not get it missing the three way rotary and one of the rocker switches function just so you know.

 

 

y

I understand that they are smaller, but I am personally ok with that. My goal is to make a very near replica of the A-10 panel, but ultimately function is my priority. So if I'm off an inch or two here or there I'm ok with it. My goal is that everything is 1) fully functional and 2) is in the same spot.

 

I'm ok if things look the same, but are scaled a bit differently sizewise. Being able to use off the shelf components will make this build project much easier.