Matrox Soups Up TripleHead2Go Digital Edition: Up to 3x1680x1050!

Mark Edward Soper — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 22:35:02 -0500

Matrox's TripleHead2Go Digital Edition, which enables you to drive up to three digital monitors from a single DVI port, has just received a significant upgrade.

We last encountered TripleHead2Go Digital Edition in our January 2008 review of the Hypersonic Sonic Boom OCX flight simulator PC. Hypersonic used it to drive three 1280x1024 digital monitors for a 3840x1024 panoramic view of the wild blue virtual yonder.

So, what's new with TripleHead2Go Digital Edition? Now, you can run up to three widescreen displays at 1680x1050 or 1440x900 resolutions. 3x1680x150 gives you an eye-popping 5040x1050 desktop, while 3x1440x900 provides a slightly less stunning 4320x900 desktop (and, it also supports WXGA's 1366x768 resolution).

And, the best news is that you don't need to buy a new version of the external box: if your graphics card has an ATI or NVIDIA DirectX 10 GPU with the latest graphics driver and a dual-link DVI connector running on Windows XP or Vista, all you need to do is:

Upgrade your TripleHead2Go Digital Edition's firmware to version 6.52 or later
Install the GXM software suite 2.03.02 or later
Choose your monitors' resolution from the display.

If you're not sure you're ready for the upgrade, the upgrade page also offers a link to the GXM System Compatibility Tool.

Unlike Matrox's graphics cards, which aren't designed for gaming, TripleHead2Go works with your existing graphics card to provide a wider desktop for gaming or other tasks. If you're already using one, or think you'd like to give one a try, tell us what you think.

Update 8-08-08: A hat tip to reader spaced_out_monkey, a user of TripleHead2Go, for pointing us to the Matrox Surround Graphics website. It offers a list of over 250 games that work with TripleHead2Go, downloads, wallpapers, tech tips, and more.

Product image courtesy Matrox Graphics

In the Lab: Nathan Edwards Flies the Friendly Skies

Nathan Edwards — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 14:42:17 -0600

In my review of the Hypersonic Sonic Boom OCX on page 68, I focused on the PC’s performance and stability—crucial qualities in any gaming rig. But I’d be doing this machine a disservice if I didn’t talk a bit about its flight-simulator setup.

Hypersonic shipped the Sonic Boom with three 19-inch monitors controlled by a Matrox TripleHead2Go Digital Edition—enabling a resolution of 3840x1024 across a single desktop—as well as Saitek’s Pro Flight yoke and rudder pedals. The good news: Flight Simulator X looks fantastic with this panoramic view. But is it worth it? Are three relatively small monitors better than one huge one? For comparison, I also tested the Hypersonic with one 30-inch Gateway XHD3000 at 2560x1600.

The verdict? Although I and others here thought we’d prefer a large single-panel display, when it came to the flight sim, I actually preferred the smaller panels’ wraparound effect, which felt more lifelike. Once I returned to the desktop for real work, however, the happy feelings vanished. The triple monitors are especially irksome when you have to go into the BIOS. Instead of being confined to one panel, the BIOS screen is stretched across all three, which makes changing settings rather difficult. It was hard to tell if I was adjusting the CPU core voltage or RAM voltage with the TripleHead2Go enabled.

Given the choice, I’d go for the triple-panel display for racing, flying, or any other immersive sim—maybe even an MMO. But for most other purposes, I’ll take a single large panel any day.

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Matrox Soups Up TripleHead2Go Digital Edition: Up to 3x1680x1050!

In the Lab: Nathan Edwards Flies the Friendly Skies