Dual monitor setup is screwy...

[mactographer]

I recently purchased a Radeon 7000 64 Mb video card for my Gigabit Ethernet G4 upgraded to dual 1.7 Ghz with 2Gb of Ram. I am running dual Mitsubishi Diamond Plus 200's (VGA). I am experiencing a situation where one of the monitors is crystal clear, super sharp and the other looks like it is slightly out of focus, soft. I have switched output to verify that the monitors are good and the problem travels with the port. I have also tried a second Radeon 7000 to make sure the card wasn't bad and the exact same problem persists. I should also mention that I can't run identical display resolutions without visible, vertical distortion lines showing up on both monitors. If I run one at 1600 x 1200 at 85 Hertz and the other at 1600 x 1200 at 70 Hertz then the only issue I have is the slightly out of focus issue. Any Ideas?

Have tested:
2 Radeon 7000 graphic cards both have exact same problem
Pretty sure there is no ground loop issue
Changed out video cables

 

[Dreadnought]

Your video card probably can't handle both displays at those resolutions and refreshrate. Do you still have the same problem when you put both displays at lower resolution and/or a lower refresh rate? It's not clear to me if you put both video cards at the same time in your G4 and let them power each one monitor or that you just switched videocards. The best thing is to have two video cards, each powering one display, or put in a much heavier video card.

 

[mactographer]

2 video cards?

What you say makes sense. How would I go about installing a second video card? It looks as though there is only one video card slot. I would be happy to put in my original 128 pro in addition to the readeon 7000 to test out the possiblility of your suggestion. Any ideas?

 

[colosodian]

sounds like the radeon 7000 isnt cutting it. My recomendation is to buy a 9600, maybe even 9800.

To run multiple video cards, onne can be AGP, and the others must be pci.

 

[Dreadnought]

I agree with the above, but I think the 9800 is a bit overkill since you only have 2x AGP. The cheapest thing you could do is get an old pci 33 mhz graphics card and put that in one of your pci sockets next to radeon 7000. Then hookup one screen to each card. On top of my head, I know that the old videocards from Village Tronic do the trick. They are pci and 33/66 mhz compatible. I have one in my old G3 B&W, next to my Ati rage 128, worked really well. If I'm correct, the Ati rage 128 pro you where speaking of isn't compatible with 33 mhz pci, only with 66 mhz, at least the one in my G3 isn't.