Graphics card for dual monitor setup

[gsh]

Not sure if this should go here, so mods feel free to move it.
I want to get a new graphics card to use with a dual monitor setup for editing. I've been using an AIW 8500DV, but as I now mainly use a DAC100 for capturing analogue I don't need capture ability.
I'm looking at these 3 cards at the moment -
ATI Radeon A9550 Gamer Edition
ATI Radeon 9600 XT
GeFORCE 6600
All around the same price, and from what I can tell all seem to be about on level with specs. They differ on monitor connections but nothing that an adapter or two won't sort out.
Is there any reason to choose one over the other? Or is there something in a similar price range that would be better (approx £50-£60)?
Cheers.

[thefiddler]

You need to make sure you're putting in the right board first. Based on my quick search, combined with what I already knew about some of the boards, the 9600 is an AGP board, wheras the 6600 is PCI Express. If you've got a PCIe slot, go with that board. If you do, you don't have an AGP slot, so you kinda have to. As for the 9550, I don't know this for sure, but if its tuned for 3D gaming, it may be a little skimpy on the 2D/Video power, I'd stay away from "gamer" targeted cards for video editing.

Another thing to look at is the types of connections. I know you said a little adapter will fix whatever. But if you're into visual quality like me (I assume most editors/designers are), there is a difference between hooking up an lcd directly to a DVI output, and using a converter to connect it to a VGA. If your monitors are both LCDs, get a board that sports two DVI outputs for clearest most precise color reproduction. Its much better to convert DVI to VGA if outputing to a CRT Monitor, then to convert VGA to DVI for an LCD.

[gsh]

Thanks for the reply.
The listing for the 6600 I was watching was for an AGP card - I assume there are both types available.
I decided to go with the 9600. For checking colour correction etc while editing I export via dv to a crt tv in order to get the best reproduction (in my current price bracket). A better monitor for image/colour correction is on the wishlist.

[INFRATOM]

My suggestion is to get a bigger monitor, it is better than having two monitors. That said you can can add another video card to existing but it has to be pci if you AGP is taken you don't need to buy a dual video card.

[thefiddler]

I'll have to strongly disagree with INFRATOM on the one bigger monitor is better than two idea. Two monitors is awesome, especially for editing. And there is no such thing as a widescreen (or other single monitor for that matter) that can give you the resolution of 2 high-res monitors [e.g. (1280x1024)x2 monitors], therefore no single monitor solution can put as much on the screen in front of you.

For me I use my laptop for editing. I put Vegas' timeline on the widescreen LCD of my laptop (works great on the widescreen to see more of the timeline), and all my other tools (preview window, project media, plugins/filters options, audio bus controler, etc.) on my 19" CRT. With the help of a priceless little tool called Ultramon, my taskbar is expanded to the second monitor, and my productivity is nearly doubled. In many ways dual monitors is much more efficient than two whole machines would be, because all data is in on one machine, and there's no need to even toggle the switch of a KVM.

I do the same with photoshop. I put the main window on my CRT with all my layers and other little control windows on the LCD. Again it works great. Keeps the tools out of the way, but just as quickly and easily accessible as if they were on the same screen.

EDIT: oh, and don't just try adding a second (PCI) video card. I setup a 3-monitor system for somebody, and the second video card is just a pain in the butt. Not only that, but because it's PCI, it just can't keep up with the two monitors hooked to the main video card. Dual monitors is the way to go, and just get the best card you can for your money that supports dual monitors.