Matrox TripleHead Madness

Thanks to my insanely amazing girlfriend, I've become the fortunate owner of a Matrox TripleHead2Go Digital Edition which appears to be selling like crazy.  I've seen it as low as $299 but no lower and who is selling at that price seems to change frequently.  Just so you know there IS a difference between the analog and the digital versions besides the price.  If you're looking to hook up three CRT monitors, you're definitely wanting the analog edition.  Otherwise, anyone with LCD screens with DVI ports is in need of the digital.  One of the nicest things about the digital edition is that it can be used even if your graphics card only has one VGA output which can bring a refreshing new look to an older system for anyone considering getting new monitors but doesn't have quite the funds for a complete CPU overhaul.  Affectionately dubbed the "TripleLove" by my babe, the unit is light as a feather and powered by a heavy duty, gold plated, USB cable and it looks absolutely awesome when set up.

I hooked it up and with a quick resolution change, soon had three monitors glowing at me without having to install any drivers.  I do however suggest installing the Matrox software as this only makes the experience and desktop management better.  The overall functionality is impressive.  The display literally spans all three screens even when the box is booting up.  The super stretch BIOS screen still gives me a chuckle.  Once into the OS proper, I probed for pros and cons.  One immediate difference is the super long task bar.  Monitor One homes the start button on the far left and the time is all the way across on the far right of Monitor Three.  I eventually got used to it but some people may not like having to swivel their head like a fighter pilot when working and seeing if they've missed that deadline yet.  It would be nice if the desktop software was smart enough to home the start bar on the center screen for you and treat the other displays as the peripheries they are.  The resolution of 3980 by 1024 is very nice and expansive but I did find myself wanting for the 1050 height I'd grown used to after getting the Samsung 2233RZ 120Hz whose native resolution is a beautiful 1680 by 1050.  I'm hoping in the future Matrox can bring us higher resolutions with 1280 or larger heights.  One thing also of note is that when windowed applications are maximized, they span all three displays.  Some people may not appreciate this feature but other may absolutely love it.

I must confess that having all this newfound screen real estate made me go hog wild on Vista gadgets but DAMN, its just so freakin' cool!  I've got three different CPU monitors, a harddisk monitor, a network monitor, a GPU monitor, a weather monitor, a sweet black and white calender, a volume control, puttypal, a system control widget for locking, rebooting, etc, a QuickLaunch widget so I hardly ever use the start button, and though I can keep going, I'll stop at my all time favorite, FuzzyClock which really tells you what time it is.  Even 360Desktop which is geared toward single displays looked great.

So now, with my desktop looking like the HUD of a fighter jet, it was time to test some games. Speaking of, Combat Flight Simulator Three plays so much better with all that sky in your face and checking six takes on a whole new perspective.  My favorite of that series is CFS2 which allows me to fly my beloved gull wing, Corsair F4U but unfortunately it wouldn't take the super wide resolution.  I'm still working and tweaking to see if I can get joy on that front. Contemporary games like World of Warcraft worked and looked as good as the promo shots on the Matrox site as did GTA IV.  Even Call of Duty:World at War passed with flying colors.  In all cases movement was smooth and worked just as if all three monitors were one display.  It made me wish they made monitors without borders on them.  As mult-monitor displays become more mainstream, I'm sure we'll start seeing borderless or ultra-thin LCDs which would possibly even interlock in order to enhance the seamlessness of the visual.

Bottom line is I'm loving the TripleLove.  I'm sure the stockbrokers out there are already taking a chunk of the inventory so I advise anyone interested in widescreen gaming to act fast.  Unless you're using NVIDIA GeForce 3D Vision glasses.  This is the only major issue with the TripleHead2Go which the probably only affects those fanatic 3D gamers would be the lack of 120Hz refresh rate support needed for the 3D glasses.  I did inquire about this and was told that there are no immediate plans to have the refresh rate supported.  I think this is pretty stupid since the unit appears to have all the DVI pin inputs required in order to support 120Hz and I'm betting a simple firmware upgrade would solve the problem.  I'm going to stay optimistic and just keep making that feature request till their eyes bleed from my emails.  For now, I'll just hook the TripleLove up to the second monitor port and dream up some demeted four screen setup that gives me the best of both worlds.

Next time, I'll divulge more details about my Alienware rig and if you haven't checked out WindowBlinds yet, get crackin!  This cool app works on Vista and XP.  I'm moving out of state so it will be a while before I post again but, hopefully by then I'll have some good news from XFX force about my precious NVIDIA GTX 295.  Till then, game on punks.

Woe unto thee...

Its really starting to hit me now. I've got a true badass gaming rig. After years of hitting the trenches of CoD and Quake with substandard graphics, ramped down to minimal textures just to avoid the inevitable slideshow. I've now become the proud owner of an Alienware X58 Desktop. I'm truly stunned at how fast and responsive it is. No longer do I wait minutes for any low level apps to run. I'm now spoiled by the instant gratification of immediate application startups. What a difference the i7 CPU and 6GB of RAM make!

It wasn't so smooth to begin with. First, the CPU power supply didn't have an 8 pin power connector for my NVIDIA GTX 295. (This card is an absolute monster. I freakin LOVE it! The only thing it could use is MORE VRAM but more on that topic later.) Alienware support was awesome and advised me that I could pick one of the connectors up at Radio Shack for few dollars but also sent me one free just in case as I had expressed that I already had a GTX 295 that I'd be putting in. Lucky thing they did because after a 3 hour search of Midtown NYC, I came home empty handed. Apparently these 6 to 8 pin power converter connectors are either extremely rare or popular.

Finally I got the connector and was now beginning to see the difference between the GeForce 9800 and the GTX 295 but I was experiencing a ton of crashes and not understanding why. It was seemingly random until I locked myself down and went into troubleshooting mode. One of the most annoying things to happen while embroiled in a hot multiplayer FPS is having the machine suddenly reboot. I can't express the rage unless you're also a person with anger management issues. Suffice to say I've destroyed more than I've created in this life when I've lost my cool. So after rigorous testing with USB devices which draw power and even getting on the phone with Alienware to rule out the power supply, I've located the issue as being with my dearly beloved XFX Force GTX 295.

I've never been one to overclock as I was fine gaming on a PIII 1Ghz with 1gb ram but the solution came in the form of the RivaTuner overclocking software. Using the Vista Gadget and in effect "underclocking" my GPU I was able to finally run my system without crashes and I've ramped up the settings on all games to the highest textures with the exception of GTAIV.

So now I am gaming with impunity and its only going to get better. I'm sure there are people with better rigs than mine out there but I'm just not geek enough for liquid cooling... yet. Woe unto thee I say, if you've ever "pwned" me in whatever arena we've met as this time will be very different. Woe unto XFX Force if they cannot find a solution for my card so it can run at its normal clocking speed. The beast is hungry and its looking to feed. Time for more CoD! Later I'll get into the Matrox TripleHead2Go and itsn ups and downs.

Gaming of the Gods

Here is where we will discuss all things which enhance the gaming experience beyond what mere mortals think they should enjoy. Behold... The Gaming of the Gods.