Production PC - Part 2

Now that I'm home I decided to share a little more about the Production PC project I recently completed.  A picture of my desk with the computer is below:






As you can see, the display setup really stands out from your average computer setup.  The specs for the monitors are as follows:

2x Acer x223w widescreen monitors.  This is a Newegg consumer's choice awarded monitor, offering an ultimate balance of affordability and quality.  The resolution on each of the 22" monitors is 1680x1050.

1x LG 1080p 32" television.  This TV outputs a resolution of 1920x1080 through a digital HDMI cable straight into my GIGABYTE 9800GT fanless video card.

The largest hurdle that I had to overcome was with the card itself.  An excellent card for the price (sub-$100 range which is more than enough for my business needs, although it may not be sufficient for hardcore gamers or high-end graphic designers), the 9800GT has no fan, instead opting for an enormous heatsink supported by a 3oz copper core.  The lack of a fan means the card stays nice and silent, while the high-end heatsink keeps it nice and cool.

The issue was that the card only handles two displays at once.  To overcome this, I modified the system BIOS to default to onboard video.  Normally, when a motherboard boots to PCIe or AGP, it will completely ignore anything plugged into any onboard video outputs.  By defaulting to the onboard output, however, I was able to get to the Windows 7 desktop.  From there I was able to activate the 9800GT without disabling the onboard monitor.  Once configured properly, the computer automatically boots up on all three monitors automatically.

The desk, an earlier project, is a handmade pine desk with a high-gloss mahogany finish.  Because I knew I would need a three-monitor setup fairly soon after deciding to get a new desk, I determined that building was the best (and most cost-effective) option to make sure I got exactly what I wanted.

Have any questions? Post them in the Comments section below!

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