My best guess is to go with the Matrox. There are plenty of HOWTO's to tell you how to setup dual display Xinerama. Also, on the nVidia site under the Linux drivers page theres a link to how to setup the nvidia drivers (just to let you know) and they do show how to edit XF86Config to setup dual display. As far as the troubles with the nvidia drivers are concerned. I solved those with a) removing a line from the XF86Config, namely Option "Accel" "On" was removed, b) I ran the x11pref program an ever since my graphics run great. The color and desktop are vivid, full, fast, and the text looks very nice. I understand about you graphics need related to productivity and work. I just mentioned the NV card because It is a very nice 2D/3D card at a very nice price. The Matrox is also a very superior card and will most likely meet you needs quite nicely. As far as dual head is concerned with support - your guess is as good as mine related to Matrox. With nVidia, it's all dependent on the manufacturer you buy it from. On Thursday 24 May 2001 12:54 am, Rafael Herrera wrote:
The vendor doesn't care what we will use it for. I said we will use it for computational purposes. These cards get hyped for running 3D graphics, which means games. We won't be using it for playing games, so I care for Linux support for 2D and dual head. Also, does the driver work well in dual processor systems? (Yes, maybe when enlightenement .17 comes out I'll be interested in its 3D support.)
Recent discussions here mentioned people having problems with the card, what's the current status? comments from people actually using this kind of card will be appreciated.
PS. NVidia web site mentions problems/issues with OpenGL + Xinerama (don't work together, same as Matrox) and OPenGL + SMP (I don't think the Matrox G450 has problems in this area.)
Thanks for the comments.