In short, laptop is going out, wife's desktop need serious upgrade, so wanting to do a new system. Does anyone know anything about having a setup with 1 motherboard and 2 users that will work efficiently. Is it cheaper than 2 separate setups? I have never run into a situation like this so any assistance, links or otherwise, is much appreciated.
I do remember a PCI card that did this but I'm going back a few years now! edit: seems the card I was thinking of was designed for Win98! Hehe. Was longer ago than I thought! I did find this though: http://userful.com/products/free-2-user
That looks good, but you have to sign up, and the processor on this (desktop) is in dire need of an upgrade, which the mobo canott support anyways. I just mainly don't know what hardware (motherboard/graphics cards) that I meed to be looking into that will support 2 users efficiently. I probably should have provided a bit more info on what the setup will be used for. I mostly program, and do some 3ds max stuff. My wife uses photoshop religiously. Thats pretty much it other that surfing the net.
Unless your wife creates very large images with a butt-load of layers then a Core2Duo laptop with 2GB RAM should be more than sufficient. These are available from most large brands pretty cheap (below £600, at least here in DK). With 3ds max I'd go for a quadcore desktop computer. £500 should get you a long way. Keep your work files on a NAS (Network Disk) and you'll be able to switch around. And the laptop is the best solution for surfing as it uses so little power and you can sit with it in the sofa I know you asked for something specific that I didn't answer but I have to admit I haven't heard of anything like that in years. Only back when HW was a lot more expensive. I think it will be just as cheap/expensive but a whole lot more practical to go with the scenario I suggested.
This is something that can be done quite easily by someone with a working knowledge of any true, multi-user OS that runs X. This means Linux, any of the BSDs or even Solaris. If your experience is windows-only you'll find it difficult and you'd be better off - in the short term at least - just buying 2 separate PCs. In terms of hardware, you just need 2 monitors, 2 keyboards, 2 mice and 2 graphics cards (1 card + on-board graphics will do). There are quite a few HOWTOs on the internet to guide you through the set up. A word of caution, however: check to see if your apps will run on linux/UNIX. If not, you may have to use an API application layer like WINE, or run XP/Vista virtualised on top of a hypervisor (VMware, VirtualBox, Xen, etc) which may tax your CPU a bit. It'll be a challenge esp. if you know nothing about *nix, but it is eminently feasible.
I am pretty much trying to get an idea of what would be needed, as well as an idea of prices...but thanks for your reply. If I had that kind of money for 2 different systems then it would be different, so I am just trying to see if 1 new system would allieviate any problems. If I simply have to go with a setup like that, then I am going to go all out on systems instead of buying just what would be needed to get me by.
That is what I was originally hoping, but it looks like I am simply going to have to have 1 system, with 1 user at a time...which we rarely have a chance to be on at the same time anyways, but it was a nice thought. I would go with 2 systems, but if I have to buy new equpment, then I would rather get some hard-core stuff as opposed to 2 systems with minmal equipment...who knows, I might get one, then get another system at a later date, just depends on how finances look. Thanks for the info guys!
No it won't. Normally the internal graphics adapter is disabled when you put in an additional GFX card. And one card with two outputs would probably work just as well as two separate cards.
Not wishing to flame here, but if you follow the links in the article to Chris Tyler's original blog you'll see someone (user 'Marc') has actually got a 2-seat config working with on-board graphics + one additional graphics card.
Unfortunately, trying to set up a Linux system is usless because all of my experience has been with Windows based PC's . I already have too much going on right now to try and learn anything about a new OS also. But, it doesn't matter as I have been unsuccessful in discussing with my wife about the reasons that we absolutely need to get a quad-core setup...this is suck! Now I have to find new RAM and processor/fan for this thing, which only goes to like 1gig, and has a socket-A processor so I imagine finding a better one than what is in it is going to be hard. This one is so old I canott even remember what the specs are . Hardware Review: Type: WIFE 1.0 Compatability: -17 Upgradability: -4 Logistical Input: -80 Supported OS's: 0 Ability to flash BIOS: Negative! Overall Score: -201 on a 0 to 5 scale So I would say do not get the product "WIFE 1.0" as it has had serious issues with my computer, and is not XP compatable. Downgrade to Girlfriend 2.0 If at all possible to avoid any compatability issues with anything computer related!
No...I think I have to be a member of Married 1.0 for an additional 3 years before I am allowed to spell
Windows server terminal servers do this, but it's a server only feature (so, 2000, 2003 or 2008). It's not too bad to set up, but I don't know how efficient resource sharing would be.
Just keeping this thread going in case anyone searches for it... If you don't want to edit your /etc/X11/xorg.conf then you could use the product "Desktop Multiplier" from NetSys. It's no different from the technique I mentioned previously but it's a PACHers add-on package that may be better suited for linux newbies that are afraid of the command line. It's also got some useful links for hardware selection (incl. PCI dual head graphics cards ^_^).
