PCI-X video

[martyr]

here's the deal:
i have a supermicro x5dal-g in my main workstation (ref.: Madison).
i have seven monitors.
four of them are on my other workstation.
i want to use the remaining two (which are now hooked up to servers) with Madison.

the problem:
Madison uses a geforcefx 5900 and a creative pci soundcard.


elaboration:
at this point i doubt any readers have hit the mobo specs, so i'll tell you:
standard distribution of the following:
(1x) AGP 8x
(2x) PCI
(2x) PCI-X 3.3v (one 133mhz, one 100mhz)

as you probably know, the heatsink on the geforce card is out of dimension specs for agp, and therefore extends past the first pci slot. the second is in use by my audio.

you may say "well, pci-x is backwards compatable!"
ah, my best beloved, but this is not entirely true.
the backwards compatability extends only across similar voltage schemes.
as, again, you probably know, pci cards run on five volts; and as noted, these pci-x slots provide 3.3 volts.

thusly, even if my extra video cards had fit into the slot, they wouldn't have worked; nay, they would have broken something. "bad news bears," as we say behind closed doors.

narrative:
earlier today in google groups, i came across some mac joker running a g5 (which, pc-lovers, has onlypci-x slots) who mentioned that he had success with an ati radeon 7000 dual pci. unfortunately for me, i cannot confirm that the same option is avaliable for my pc; ati's website makes a clear distinction between pc and mac hardware.
'tis a sad day on the front.

summary:
i want to put a dual-head but economical pci or pci-x video card into a 3.3v pci-x slot, but can't discern what pci cards are likely to work for me.
i need: more info, specific brands/products, or a "you're SOL."

[Rbstr]

i be a tad bit confusled but this, why not replace the FX5900 with a single slot cooler card? (ala 9800pro)

[Daleon]

Yea, still not sure why you want to find a "universal pci" video card if you can just buy an agp one that fits into one agp port.

Personally for what your doing I'd get a nice Matrox G550 dual head or something if your not going to be gaming on this machine. Which you obviously couldn't do to much of with some radeon 7000.

I do think though that most radeon's are universal pci. You may want to call ATI up and ask them.

[martyr]

Originally Posted by Rbstr

i be a tad bit confusled but this, why not replace the FX5900 with a single slot cooler card? (ala 9800pro)

well, like i mentioned, i need economical.

i got a TOL vid card, and i do love it - i will replace it someday, but that day's at least a year off.

i do game with this one, so replacing it with the matrox won't do - and i do already have a matrox dual-head in pci.

it just won't fit.

[Daleon]

So basically what you really need is a universal pci sound card? I don't think my ZS fit both voltages. But sure someone out there has to have one.

[martyr]

well, by "video" i actually meant "video card" not so much "sound card" - but if i were to find a new sound card that fit, that would help solve the problem, since i have a few extra pci vid cards already.