Multi-headed Linux Displays
The following are the various options that we currently know about
for getting multiple graphics heads (that is, 2 or more video channels
with 3D acceleration) on a single Linux PC.
- Evans & Sutherland Tornado 3000
- requires the Xi Graphics LGD X server
2 video outputs; can be configured up to 1024x768 each
costs approximately $1300
- Matrox G400 / G450 Dual Head
- requires the Xi Graphics LGD X server
(also supported by XFree86 4.0's DRI (requires 2.4 kernel), but I don't know if that supports dual channels)
2 video outputs
cost ~ $130
- nVidia GeForce 2 MX
- 2 video outputs
this is a chipset, used in cards such as the
ASUS V7100 and
Inno3D Tornado;
NOTE: not all GeForce 2 MX cards actually implement the dual-output feature
the Inno3D Tornado is available in PCI as well as AGP form
requires XFree86 4.0 + the 0.9-6 driver downloadable from nVidia's website
cost ~ $120
- nVidia Quadro 2 MXR
- 2 video outputs
used in Elsa Synergy III card
requires XFree86 4.0 + the 0.9-6 driver downloadable from nVidia's website
cost ~ $500
- multiple nVidia-based cards
- the latest (0.9-6) nVidia drivers are reported to support multiple
cards in a single machine
this includes all recent nVidia chips - TNT, GeForce, Quadro
a system could use 1 AGP and 1 or more PCI cards, or simply
multiple PCI cards
(I have had success with up to 3 PCI cards, but not with AGP+PCI; see my
nVidia multi-head benchmarking notes)
cost: from ~ $60 (for two used TNT2s) on up
Future Possibilities
The following are cards and software that have been announced, but are
not yet available, as far as we know.
- ATI Radeon VE
- will have "Hydravision" multi-head feature
the current Radeon is supported by XFree86 4.0's DRI and by
Xi Graphics' LGD X server
- 3DLabs Wildcat 5110
- announcement says it will be multi-headed
3DLabs claim to be working on Linux support for Wildcat cards,
but have not released anything yet
- Xi Graphics LGD version 2.0
- This
page says that the next release of the 3D accelerated server
from Xi will have "DualView support" and "Multi-head support".
Presumably "Multi-head" means multiple cards, but the short
description is unclear.
(It also says that they will provide support for active stereo.)
Last modified 30 March 2001.
Dave Pape, pape@evl.uic.edu