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I tested the PCI version of the Xentera GT 4, a quad card with support for up to 4 analog or digital monitors.
Review created September 3, 2003.
Test system
Dell Precision 650 with dual Xeon 2.4 GHz, Intel E7505 chipset, 1 GB RAM. Windows XP SP1. Monitors: 1 Dell 17" CRT, 2 V7 15" analog LCDs, 1 Gateway 15" CRT.
The video card
The card has two ATI Mobile RADEON 9000 chipsets (2 monitors per chipset), and 32 MB RAM per monitor. I tested the analog version, a special cable with 4 VGA connectors is used to connect the monitors.
The CD1090 drivers were used for testing (ATI version 5.13.01.6255).
Installation
Initially I had problems getting the card working, if both video chipsets (VPUs) were enabled the system would fail to boot. Colorgraphic Support then sent me the BIOS settings they had used when testing with the Dell Precision 650, and after changing the settings everything worked fine. Unfortunately I don't know which setting caused the problems.
To change BIOS settings for the card, you'll need to set it as primary in BIOS then press X at the prompt to enter the BIOS configuration.
To make the card primary in BIOS, either remove all other video cards or set the system to boot from PCI and insert the card into the first PCI slot.
I had installed the card in a PCI-X (64bit) slot and used the following BIOS settings: All VGA, Init ALL, Resource Adjustment disabled, 66 MHz, 2nd VPU ON.
I also had additional video cards installed, an AGP Nvidia card, 2 PCI Nvidia cards and a PCI ATI RADEON 9000. This worked without problems, except for one strange issue: after installing the Colorgraphic drivers, the ATI card was listed as a Xentera GT as well. This is probably due to the cards using almost the same chipset, and didn't seem to cause any real problems.
Multi-monitor modes
Only standard extended desktop (independent displays) mode is supported.
Video/DVD playback
As with other cards using ATI chipsets, a single overlay is available per VPU, the first application requesting a video overlay will get it, independent of the monitor it is on. With two VPUs, a maximum of 2 overlays are available.
3D applications
Direct3D worked fine, but there is no OpenGL acceleration, the Microsoft software renderer was used independent of the monitor the application was on.
I also tested with Unreal Tournament 2003, performance was fine, but there were occasional drawing problems (menu screen, HUD).
Various features/issues
Problem with refresh rate on 17" CRT
Changing the refresh rate for the Dell 17" CRT had no effect, the monitor always used 60 Hz. This happened even though the monitor type was set correctly.
Changing the primary monitor
Any monitor can be set as the primary monitor for Windows.
Color management
Monitors connected to the same video card can use a different color profile.
Windows 2000
The drivers have true multi-monitor support, meaning that each monitor is recognized independently, and different settings can be used for each monitor.
On Windows 2000, custom ATI tabs are available in Display Properties, which adds support for clone mode and display rotation. My guess would be that these features will be available on Windows XP as well if support for the custom tabs is added to the drivers.
Conclusion
Once some of the driver issues mentioned are fixed, this should be an excellent quad card with very good performance.
More information
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