[Wai_Wai]

1. FSB / RAM speed limits
In motherboard specifications, it will specify the max FSB and RAM speed support (eg 1333 FSB and DDR2 667). Nevertheless, as long as the motherboard supports overclocking, it appears I can overclock FSB more than 1333 and RAM more than 800.

So what do all those figures really mean? What are they really for if I can simply ignore the figures and pass the limits?

If I buy a DDR2 800 RAM, am I able to use in a motherboard which says to support DDR2 667 only? If so, how will the RAM run (being underclocked to 667??) ?

What if I overclock the RAM, am I able to let my RAM run at a speed higher than 667?


2. 3 or more monitors
If I want to use 3+ monitors, I believe I need 2 graphic cards, isn't it? If so, do I need a motherboard with two PCIe x16 slots to install 2 graphic cards? What about other PCIe slots like PCIe x1 slots?

3. PCIe x1
What's the use of PCIe x1 slots? Are PCIe x1 cards common? Are they cheaper or dearer than the older PCI cards?
I would like to get a modem card (to fax with my computer) and Ethernet card. Should I go for old PCI or the new PCIe?

4. RAM compatibility
I'm a bit worried that the RAM I purchase can't work nicely with my motherboard. I wonder if I should strictly limit my choices to those which are in my motherboard "RAM compatibility list".

[ou_phidelt]

Originally Posted by Wai_Wai

1. FSB / RAM speed limits
In motherboard specifications, it will specify the max FSB and RAM speed support (eg 1333 FSB and DDR2 667). Nevertheless, as long as the motherboard supports overclocking, it appears I can overclock FSB more than 1333 and RAM more than 800.

So what do all those figures really mean? What are they really for if I can simply ignore the figures and pass the limits?


It varies on motherboard. For enthusiast class motherboards, then yes you are pretty much right. They need to specs for marketing and what they are willing to guarantee the motherboard will do.

If I buy a DDR2 800 RAM, am I able to use in a motherboard which says to support DDR2 667 only? If so, how will the RAM run (being underclocked to 667??) ?

What if I overclock the RAM, am I able to let my RAM run at a speed higher than 667?

Again depends on the motherboard and ram. If both are capable of being OC'd then yes. If the motherboard is inly capable of 667 then that is the highest than memory will run at.

2. 3 or more monitors
If I want to use 3+ monitors, I believe I need 2 graphic cards, isn't it? If so, do I need a motherboard with two PCIe x16 slots to install 2 graphic cards? What about other PCIe slots like PCIe x1 slots?

You can use any combination the motherboard has slots for. Be it 2xPCI x16/x8, 1 PCI x16 and PCI 1x, or even old regular PCI.

3. PCIe x1
What's the use of PCIe x1 slots? Are PCIe x1 cards common? Are they cheaper or dearer than the older PCI cards?
I would like to get a modem card (to fax with my computer) and Ethernet card. Should I go for old PCI or the new PCIe?

There is finally a decent selection of 1x cards out there. You can find USB/firewire/sata/ and even sound cards. Other than RAID cards I don't think you are going to see any performance difference between the two. But that is just a guess so look for other opinions on that one.

4. RAM compatibility
I'm a bit worried that the RAM I purchase can't work nicely with my motherboard. I wonder if I should strictly limit my choices to those which are in my motherboard "RAM compatibility list".
Some motherboards are pickier than others. If the memory is not approved I would look on the forums(here and others) for others who have tried and see the results.

[Wai_Wai]

Thanks a lot for your clear answers.

You can use any combination the motherboard has slots for. Be it 2xPCI x16/x8, 1 PCI x16 and PCI 1x, or even old regular PCI.

So far I have the following options:
* 1 Matrox card <-- but this card is very expensive (at least US$200+), not feasible!
* 2 PCIe x16 cards + one motherboard with 2 PCIe x16 <-- It seems I can find such a motherboard at a cheap price. The cards are cheap too and I'm sure each is capable of supporting 2 monitors with 1680x1050 each.
* PCI graphic card (if available at reasonable cost)
* PCIe x1 graphic card (if available at reasonable cost)

PCI / PCIe x1 options are good and more flexible. I will have more motherboards to choose too.
BUT they are much slower than PCIe x16. Are they capable of supporting 2 monitors with 1680x1050 each? Do you know?
If so, do I simply buy a HD2600Pro PCI card, or HD2600Pro PCIe x1 card?

Of course the two 1680x1050 screens are not for gaming purposes.

[ou_phidelt]

Originally Posted by Wai_Wai

PCI / PCIe x1 options are good and more flexible. I will have more motherboards to choose too.
BUT they are much slower than PCIe x16. Are they capable of supporting 2 monitors with 1680x1050 each? Do you know?
If so, do I simply buy a HD2600Pro PCI card, or HD2600Pro PCIe x1 card?

Of course the two 1680x1050 screens are not for gaming purposes.

They are going to be slower, but will it matter is the question. What are you using to monitors for? Your answer lies in your answer to that question.

[Wai_Wai]

Originally Posted by ou_phidelt

They are going to be slower, but will it matter is the question. What are you using to monitors for? Your answer lies in your answer to that question.

Receiving streaming data (eg 10+)
Video/Audio editing and recording
Running some utility programs etc.
Browsing, searching etc.

I need a large place to work with.

[ou_phidelt]

If all your doing is just displaying OS and run of the mill apps you should be fine with any them. As long as you aren't trying to do anything to 3D intensive(games, cad, maya, etc.) it shouldn't matter much, especially if you are on XP. If you are using vista just make sure the card has enough power for it. But I am not a multi-monitor expert by any means so get some second opinions, someone else will hopefully chime in.

[grumperfish]

Originally Posted by ou_phidelt

But I am not a multi-monitor expert by any means so get some second opinions, someone else will hopefully chime in.

No this is basically correct. For general desktop usage you won't need anything too powerful, and a PCI or PCI-E 1x card would be fine. If your board has the clearance for it you can use a PCI-E 16x or 4x card in a 1x or 4x slot and it'll just default to the speed of the particular slot it occupies. Some slightly-older chipsets (like the 975x's IIRC) would have 1x PCI-16x slot and 1x PCI-E 16x (PCI-E 8x or 4x in reality) slots.

You could grab two PCI-Express cards with dual-outputs and run them separately. Depending on the highest supported resolution per output you should be fine with that, although a third card could be an option depending on what you're looking at.


One thing you should consider though is that if you're planning to run either ATI or Nvidia you should keep to one or the other, not either, as they don't tend to work well together and will give you all kinds of fun driver conflicts if you attempt to do this. Additionally, you should try to stay around the same generation as you'll really only want to use one driverset for both/all cards (IE: two 2xxx/3xxx PCI-E cards rather than 1x 9250 PCI + 1x 3650 PCI-E cards for ATI).

[Wai_Wai]

Thanks a lot for your answers.

PCIe x1 graphic card
The choice is so few and is more expensive, so this option is dropped

PCI graphic card
There are quite many choices but those cards are using inferior graphic chipset, so it's impossible to find a PCIe x16 card + PCI card of the same generation.
It seems the max resolution supported by PCI is low and so it may not be able to support 1680x1050 or higher.

I'm not sure what PCI card I should buy which can suit my need. Two DVI outputs would be what I want since I would buy LCDs. It should be able to support two LCDs at 1680x1050.

PCIe x16 graphic card
I can try to find a two-PCIe x16 budget motherboard but my choices would be limited.
Hmm... what motherboard would you suggest in my case?

If I plug in both graphic cards, does either CrossFire/SLI function automatically?
Is it possible to use 2 graphic cards but not using CrossFire/SLI?
If I plug in 2 graphic cards at the same time, can I run both at x16 speed?


Motherboard with open-ended PCIe x1 slot
MAny motherboards have PCIe x1 slot but I'm unable to make use of them.
So far all of them are closed-ended. I believe I'm unable to fit a bigger PCIe x16 graphic card to those x1 slot unless I cut the stupid edges off.

Why don't they make them open-ended? It limits the use of those slots.

What motherboards have open-ended PCIe x1/x4 slots?

[grumperfish]

Regarding PCI cards, you could grab two (or three) of these to suit your needs. Dual-output with one DSUB and one DVI, and the maximum resolution supported is 2048 x 1536. Not sure if that's per-output or per card, but it would satisfy your need for two desktop monitors @ 1680x1050 each and they'd be fine for desktop use. Along with these you could just grab an Nvidia-based PCI-E 16X main card to suit any graphically-intensive needs you may have and call it a day. Just select the two weaker cards to run your backup monitors in display properties and enable the PCI-E card for your main display.


Staying within the current-generation for all cards won't matter as much since you'll just be using the weaker cards for desktop applications, provided the latest drivers for the main card support the older cards.

[ou_phidelt]

Originally Posted by Wai_Wai

If I plug in both graphic cards, does either CrossFire/SLI function automatically?
No
Is it possible to use 2 graphic cards but not using CrossFire/SLI?
If I plug in 2 graphic cards at the same time, can I run both at x16 speed?

Yes, if the motherboard is capable.
Motherboard with open-ended PCIe x1 slot
MAny motherboards have PCIe x1 slot but I'm unable to make use of them.
So far all of them are closed-ended. I believe I'm unable to fit a bigger PCIe x16 graphic card to those x1 slot unless I cut the stupid edges off.

Why don't they make them open-ended? It limits the use of those slots.

What motherboards have open-ended PCIe x1/x4 slots?

The cheapest intel based 2X16x board I could find was: P5Q Pro

[Wai_Wai]

Originally I would like to buy 2 PCIe x16 graphic cards. I would buy two of the same cards to avoid all of the fun conflicts.

But I have to get a two-PCIe motherboard. This limits my choices. I don't want to spend too much on motherboard just for an extra PCIe x16 slot.

Then I want to find if I can insert my PCIe x16 card into weaker PCIe slots. Unfortunately it appears none of them have open-ended weaker PCIe slots. That's too stupid. It wastes those slots. Other PCIe x1 cards seems to be more expensive than PCI cards, so making them realistically useless.

So in effect I'm left to only two choices:
1. Buy a two-PCIe motherboard
2. Buy a normal motherboard but using PCI cards

Staying within the current-generation for all cards won't matter as much since you'll just be using the weaker cards for desktop applications, provided the latest drivers for the main card support the older cards.

But how can I know the latest driver can apply to my older weaker PCI card(s)?

I'm going to buy a HD2600Pro PCIe x16 card. What PCI cards would suit my needs? What PCI cards would you recommend? I would like to get a dual-DVI graphic PCI card, if available, to support two 1680x1050 monitors.

[Wai_Wai]

Q: Is it possible to use 2 graphic cards but not using CrossFire/SLI?
If I plug in 2 graphic cards at the same time, can I run both at x16 speed?

A: Yes, if the motherboard is capable.

1. I'm currently looking for a suitable motherboard. It appears if I put two PCIe cards into use, both PCIe cards will be slowed down to 8x+8x, or 16x+4x, even if I'm not running Crossfire/SLI.
So it seems there is no true two 16X slots, perhaps unless I'm buying a very high-end motherboard. Am I right?

2. OK, I see some motherboards which state 16x+4x mode only, or 8x+8x mode only in the basic specifications table. I haven't read the manuals one by one. I wonder whether the modern motherboards can generally support both modes?