Best Dual CRT card?

[Cayl]

My old computer is slowly crapping out on me, so its time for an upgrade. I'm looking for a video card to complete my kit. Here are a few criteria:

1) This is an unplanned project, so price is a factor, but I want something that will last for a while
2) I have two 17" CRTs, and I want a card with dual display support.
3) My last card was an nVidia GeForce2 MX400 on a KT7a mobo. I had all kinds of trouble with drivers and things that I do not want to repeat, so its made me a little gunshy of nVidia. If I could be assured of compatibility with my hardware and most games, this could be overcome.

My planned kit so far is:
Athlon 64 3000
MSI K8T-Neo
512MB Registered DDR400 RAM

I'd appreciate any advice or discussion you'd care to contribute.

Thanks

 

[rbV5]

I think all the current cards have good dual CRT, hardware and game support, at least in XP.

 

[Matthias99]

I'm not sure if you mean price is a factor for the overall system, or just for the video card.

If you're trying to save money, the Athlon64 is *not* the way to go (although the 3000+ is quite a nice little package). A Barton XP 2500+ and a cheap NForce2 motherboard would be cheaper, plus you don't have to use registered/ECC RAM (which saves a few more bucks). And unless you're doing anything really hardcore with this system, you won't be hurting for speed.

That said, I agree that any GeForce4Ti/GeForceFX/RADEON 9XXX card should have solid dual-monitor support. A good deal with some longevity (probably good for 6-12 months if you don't need cutting-edge performance on next year's games) might be the RADEON 9600Pro -- it costs under $150 and has decent DX8 and potentially very good DX9 performance. It also does AA and AF better than the comparable cards from NVIDIA. If you don't care about DX9 and AA/AF, a Ti4600 is probably a good choice. If you're looking to get something higher-end, a GeForceFX 5900Non-Ultra or RADEON 9700Pro/9800Non-Pro card is the next logical step up. The RADEON cards are better with AA/AF and DX9, but the NVIDIA offering is cheaper.

Avoid the 9600XT and 5700Ultra -- they're not much faster than the 9600Pro, but cost almost as much as the 5900/9700Pro/9800.

 

[blazingoat]

AIW 9600 .....yum.....

 

[acemcmac]

Radeon 9800 with a 30$ after rebate 9100 64mb or 50$ 128mb PCI for secondary