Display/video card recomendations

[vipero00]

I'm gearing up on my home system to run Alibre. I want a dual monitor system so I'm shopping for a 2nd monitor and a dual head graphics card. It's also time to stick my toe into the HD pool so I want a Blue ray player as well. I need recommendations for

1. Display 24" wide screen plays 1080p
2. video card, dual head, supports blue ray, good for Alibre.
3. Blue ray drive

My current system is:
MB DFI LanParty UT NF4 ultra-D
AMD Athlon 64 3500+ Venice 2.2GHz
1 GB PC3200 Memory
Promise raid controller
2x Segate 300 MB drives Raid 0 mirrored.

I'm a woodworker that's been on hiatus since my kids were small.

TIA

[CoAMarcus]

viper,

Well, I can only speak from personal experience and the Dell 24" monitors are pretty good for the price. I have two of them personally (one at work, one at home), and I have four of them for our engineering computers. They have 1920 x 1200 resolution, and they are crystal clear.

http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/p...9&sku=320-6095

Regarding graphics cards, I swear by Nvidia graphics. I have two EVGA GeForce XFX 260 896MB hooked up in an SLI configuration, and it is amazing. They are a pretty good deal, and they run everything VERY well.

With Blu-Ray, I wouldn't know. I apparently sided with the superior but underfunded HD-DVD and will not buy Blu-Ray until it is the dominant video format and is the same price as regular DVDs. Also, be sure that you get a Profile 2.0 player, because the Profile 1.0 and 1.1's can not do everything Blu-Ray claims. You can read more about it on the Blu-Ray wiki. I think you can tell I am a little bitter...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blu_ray#Player_profiles

Marcus

[ckirchen]

In the words of my ProE salesman: "Friends don't let friends buy ATI for CAD"

I used to run ATI for everything, but switched to nVidia on his advice...I've never looked back.