Matrox TripleHead2Go

Rob Williams · 06-21-2006, 08:40 PM

We have all dealt with products that, on paper, are full of promise. These products generate a lot of hype and buzz but once they become hands on, the magic surrounding them seems to disappear. Today we are taking a look at a product that seems almost too good to be true.

Discuss Gregs review here! Or there will be consequences.

Rob Williams · 06-21-2006, 08:53 PM

This is a solution I would -love- for productivity. As you mentioned, a web browser on one screen, porn on the other, and MS Word on the other is a great solution. However, just HOW enjoyable is it for gaming? I noticed in the Cell Factor screenshots specifically, the UI in the 38*10 has intense stretchmarks. Even the AGEIA logo is streched. Does it look that bad when you are actually playing, or is it just badly reflected from a static shot on a single monitor?

Greg King · 06-22-2006, 01:25 AM

Cell Factor is a bad example.

It is more or less stretched, as you noticed, rather than evenly widened. Games such as HL2 and Rise of Legends are what I was more impressed with. There is no problems with these games as there was with Cell Factor.

But from a productivity stand point, anyone interested should get this. It is amazing. The initial cost of 3 monitors is steep but if you have one or two laying around, picking up one more might be a bit more stomachable. All in all, this is a great product and I am glad to have it as a part of my desk.

RazorBack · 06-22-2006, 04:07 AM

Sweet 8) I think I'll tell Dad to buy one of those.. he wants a flight sim multi monitor set up.

I used to want something like that... doubt it would work with 1 big monitor and 2 small ones though.

Greg King · 06-22-2006, 12:43 PM

No, this will only work with monitors of the same size...I think.

Flight Sims are where this really took off, pardon the pun. The gaming community has taken this and went crazy with it. Seriously, read up on

http://www.widescreengamingforum.com/forum/

They are the ones that hack the games to be able to play on this setup. Matrox does a lot of the games, these guys do more.

BlackAndy · 06-22-2006, 04:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rob Williams

just HOW enjoyable is it for gaming?

Rob,
I played Rise of Legends for the first time on this setup and was impressed. It took a few seconds to get used to it, but it was awesome seeing a massive battle across three screens when my forces were decimating the other players.
On a side note, that may be the cleanest I have ever seen Greg's desk...
BlackAndy

06-22-2006, 06:00 PM

Is there an option to rotate the screen? I mean can you set the monitors vertically? Resulting in a 3072x1200 resolution? That would be a 2.56:1 ratio and I think most widescreen movies are set at that.

Greg King · 06-24-2006, 04:05 PM

This will be looked into but as of now, I do not believe that this approach is supported. I will let you know as soon as I am told. Something that I would like to do, and this is available but not supported by Matrox, is take another 3 monitors and stack them on top of the three that I have now and use a 6x2 setup. Regardless, the Matrox TH2Go is an amazing product so if you can afford it, pick one up....it's that badass.

12-05-2006, 02:18 PM

Has anyone tried this with a KVMswitch in the mix? already have 3 19"s set up but two on one cpu and the other on another. Would love to loos one of the key boards!

Greg King · 12-05-2006, 03:37 PM

I have not but I can certainly try it out. My only concern would be that most KVMs supported resolution isnt as high as the TH2Go allows.

12-30-2006, 10:44 AM

hi everyone, great job on the review!

i have some questions, i was wondering if this set up is possible with the th2g. is it compatible with touch screen lcd's, if so i wanted a 6 inch touch screen lcd next to my bed for a jukebox; my tv tuner hooked up to a 32" lcd; and a 17" lcd as a regular desktop, everything hooked up to one computer. if your just running applications and not synching all three, is it possible to set different resolution for the 3 lcd's? if this doesn't support it, do you think the matrox parhelia would do it? if not wat would be the best way to go about setting up something like this? thanks is advance

--toai

Greg King · 12-30-2006, 11:41 AM

The card might but the TH2Go will not do what you are wanting it to do. The TH2Go tricks your PC into thinking it has 1 large monitor instead of 3, requiring all resolutions to be the same on each monitor.

Rory Buszka · 12-30-2006, 12:07 PM

If you need to drive another (tiny) monitor, perhaps what you need is an old PCI video card from Ebay.

12-30-2006, 02:30 PM

thats a good idea, i have a old pci video card laying around. i also have a radeon 9800 pro currently in my desktop. is there a video card besides the matrox that will let me dual monitor between a 32" lcd to watch tv, and 17" for regular desktop. imma need different resolution for each.

12-30-2006, 02:39 PM

actually do you think my radeon 9800 pro will allow me to run my desktop and tv at different resolution?

06-21-2006, 08:40 PM	#1
Rob Williams Editor-in-Chief Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Atlantic Canada Posts: 13,231	Matrox TripleHead2Go We have all dealt with products that, on paper, are full of promise. These products generate a lot of hype and buzz but once they become hands on, the magic surrounding them seems to disappear. Today we are taking a look at a product that seems almost too good to be true. Discuss Gregs review here! Or there will be consequences. __________________ Intel Core i7-990X EE @ 3.43GHz, GIGABYTE X58A-UD5, Kingston 12GB DDR3-1333, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 2GB Kingston HyperX 3K 240GB SSD, WD VR 1TB, WD 2TB, Seagate 2TB, LG BD-ROM, ASUS DVD-RW, Corsair 1000HX, Corsair H60 Cooler Corsair 800D, Dell 2408WFP 24", ASUS Xonar Essence STX, Gentoo (KDE 4.10, 3.7 Kernel) "Take care to get what you like, or you will be forced to like what you get!" - H.P. Baxxter <Toad772> I don't always drink alcohol, but when I do, I take it too far.

06-21-2006, 08:53 PM	#2
Rob Williams Editor-in-Chief Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Atlantic Canada Posts: 13,231	This is a solution I would -love- for productivity. As you mentioned, a web browser on one screen, porn on the other, and MS Word on the other is a great solution. However, just HOW enjoyable is it for gaming? I noticed in the Cell Factor screenshots specifically, the UI in the 38*10 has intense stretchmarks. Even the AGEIA logo is streched. Does it look that bad when you are actually playing, or is it just badly reflected from a static shot on a single monitor? __________________ Intel Core i7-990X EE @ 3.43GHz, GIGABYTE X58A-UD5, Kingston 12GB DDR3-1333, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 2GB Kingston HyperX 3K 240GB SSD, WD VR 1TB, WD 2TB, Seagate 2TB, LG BD-ROM, ASUS DVD-RW, Corsair 1000HX, Corsair H60 Cooler Corsair 800D, Dell 2408WFP 24", ASUS Xonar Essence STX, Gentoo (KDE 4.10, 3.7 Kernel) "Take care to get what you like, or you will be forced to like what you get!" - H.P. Baxxter <Toad772> I don't always drink alcohol, but when I do, I take it too far.

06-22-2006, 01:25 AM	#3
Greg King I just kinda show up... Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Indiana Posts: 2,081	Cell Factor is a bad example. It is more or less stretched, as you noticed, rather than evenly widened. Games such as HL2 and Rise of Legends are what I was more impressed with. There is no problems with these games as there was with Cell Factor. But from a productivity stand point, anyone interested should get this. It is amazing. The initial cost of 3 monitors is steep but if you have one or two laying around, picking up one more might be a bit more stomachable. All in all, this is a great product and I am glad to have it as a part of my desk. __________________ "It is far better to grasp the universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring." - Carl Sagan System: Intel i5 2500K \| Gigabyte GA-Z68XP-UD4 \| 16GB G.Skill DDR3 \| Crucial M4 128GB SSD WD 1TB Black x1 \| WD 2TB Green x 1 \| XFX Radeonn HD 6850 \| Corsair H80 Water Cooler Fractal Design R3 \| Windows 7 Ultimate x64 \| Dell 2410 x 3 @ 1920x1200 ESXi Host: Intel i7 920 @ 3.0 GHz \| Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD4P \| 24GB Patriot DDR3 \| WD 1TB Black x 2

06-22-2006, 04:07 AM	#4
RazorBack E.M.I. Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Northern Ireland Posts: 51	Sweet 8) I think I'll tell Dad to buy one of those.. he wants a flight sim multi monitor set up. I used to want something like that... doubt it would work with 1 big monitor and 2 small ones though. __________________ AMD64 3800+ @ Stock MSI Neo2 Plat Mobo 512mb DDR3200 ATI Radeon 9800 Pro 2x 74gb Raptors in RAID0 160gb Samsung IDE Thermaltake Armour Case OCZ Powerstream 520W Dell 2405FPW 24" TFT Logitech G5 Saitek Eclipse

06-22-2006, 12:43 PM	#5
Greg King I just kinda show up... Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Indiana Posts: 2,081	No, this will only work with monitors of the same size...I think. Flight Sims are where this really took off, pardon the pun. The gaming community has taken this and went crazy with it. Seriously, read up on http://www.widescreengamingforum.com/forum/ They are the ones that hack the games to be able to play on this setup. Matrox does a lot of the games, these guys do more. __________________ "It is far better to grasp the universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring." - Carl Sagan System: Intel i5 2500K \| Gigabyte GA-Z68XP-UD4 \| 16GB G.Skill DDR3 \| Crucial M4 128GB SSD WD 1TB Black x1 \| WD 2TB Green x 1 \| XFX Radeonn HD 6850 \| Corsair H80 Water Cooler Fractal Design R3 \| Windows 7 Ultimate x64 \| Dell 2410 x 3 @ 1920x1200 ESXi Host: Intel i7 920 @ 3.0 GHz \| Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD4P \| 24GB Patriot DDR3 \| WD 1TB Black x 2

06-22-2006, 06:00 PM	#7
HL Guest Poster Posts: n/a	Is there an option to rotate the screen? I mean can you set the monitors vertically? Resulting in a 3072x1200 resolution? That would be a 2.56:1 ratio and I think most widescreen movies are set at that.

06-24-2006, 04:05 PM	#8
Greg King I just kinda show up... Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Indiana Posts: 2,081	This will be looked into but as of now, I do not believe that this approach is supported. I will let you know as soon as I am told. Something that I would like to do, and this is available but not supported by Matrox, is take another 3 monitors and stack them on top of the three that I have now and use a 6x2 setup. Regardless, the Matrox TH2Go is an amazing product so if you can afford it, pick one up....it's that badass. __________________ "It is far better to grasp the universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring." - Carl Sagan System: Intel i5 2500K \| Gigabyte GA-Z68XP-UD4 \| 16GB G.Skill DDR3 \| Crucial M4 128GB SSD WD 1TB Black x1 \| WD 2TB Green x 1 \| XFX Radeonn HD 6850 \| Corsair H80 Water Cooler Fractal Design R3 \| Windows 7 Ultimate x64 \| Dell 2410 x 3 @ 1920x1200 ESXi Host: Intel i7 920 @ 3.0 GHz \| Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD4P \| 24GB Patriot DDR3 \| WD 1TB Black x 2

12-05-2006, 02:18 PM	#9
Big Bear Dad Guest Poster Posts: n/a	KVM Has anyone tried this with a KVMswitch in the mix? already have 3 19"s set up but two on one cpu and the other on another. Would love to loos one of the key boards!

12-05-2006, 03:37 PM	#10
Greg King I just kinda show up... Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Indiana Posts: 2,081	I have not but I can certainly try it out. My only concern would be that most KVMs supported resolution isnt as high as the TH2Go allows. __________________ "It is far better to grasp the universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring." - Carl Sagan System: Intel i5 2500K \| Gigabyte GA-Z68XP-UD4 \| 16GB G.Skill DDR3 \| Crucial M4 128GB SSD WD 1TB Black x1 \| WD 2TB Green x 1 \| XFX Radeonn HD 6850 \| Corsair H80 Water Cooler Fractal Design R3 \| Windows 7 Ultimate x64 \| Dell 2410 x 3 @ 1920x1200 ESXi Host: Intel i7 920 @ 3.0 GHz \| Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD4P \| 24GB Patriot DDR3 \| WD 1TB Black x 2

12-30-2006, 10:44 AM	#11
Unregistered Guest Poster Posts: n/a	hi everyone, great job on the review! i have some questions, i was wondering if this set up is possible with the th2g. is it compatible with touch screen lcd's, if so i wanted a 6 inch touch screen lcd next to my bed for a jukebox; my tv tuner hooked up to a 32" lcd; and a 17" lcd as a regular desktop, everything hooked up to one computer. if your just running applications and not synching all three, is it possible to set different resolution for the 3 lcd's? if this doesn't support it, do you think the matrox parhelia would do it? if not wat would be the best way to go about setting up something like this? thanks is advance --toai

12-30-2006, 11:41 AM	#12
Greg King I just kinda show up... Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Indiana Posts: 2,081	The card might but the TH2Go will not do what you are wanting it to do. The TH2Go tricks your PC into thinking it has 1 large monitor instead of 3, requiring all resolutions to be the same on each monitor. __________________ "It is far better to grasp the universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring." - Carl Sagan System: Intel i5 2500K \| Gigabyte GA-Z68XP-UD4 \| 16GB G.Skill DDR3 \| Crucial M4 128GB SSD WD 1TB Black x1 \| WD 2TB Green x 1 \| XFX Radeonn HD 6850 \| Corsair H80 Water Cooler Fractal Design R3 \| Windows 7 Ultimate x64 \| Dell 2410 x 3 @ 1920x1200 ESXi Host: Intel i7 920 @ 3.0 GHz \| Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD4P \| 24GB Patriot DDR3 \| WD 1TB Black x 2

12-30-2006, 12:07 PM	#13
Rory Buszka Super Moderator Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Indianapolis, Indiana Posts: 388	If you need to drive another (tiny) monitor, perhaps what you need is an old PCI video card from Ebay. __________________ Best Regards, Rory Buszka

12-30-2006, 02:30 PM	#14
Unregistered Guest Poster Posts: n/a	thats a good idea, i have a old pci video card laying around. i also have a radeon 9800 pro currently in my desktop. is there a video card besides the matrox that will let me dual monitor between a 32" lcd to watch tv, and 17" for regular desktop. imma need different resolution for each.

12-30-2006, 02:39 PM	#15
Unregistered Guest Poster Posts: n/a	actually do you think my radeon 9800 pro will allow me to run my desktop and tv at different resolution?

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