TITAM - Technical issues that affected me

When specifying my latest workstation, I lost a lot of sleep over the video card. First, I wanted a multi-monitor setup - 3 monitors, to be exact.  I had a dual-monitor setup and wanted to upgrade. Second, I wanted a Solidworks-capable video card.  That means a "workstation" class card.  SW does not screw around, and although it is not the most graphics-intensive program in the world, it's up there. Third, I needed (not wanted) something that would run Altium 2006 and Altium Summer '09 flawlessly. And therein lay the problem.  Altium, in their infinite wisdom, recommends a list of obsolete gaming-class video cards, last updated 2010.  They have never tested a workstation-class card like a Firepro or Quadro - or, at least, never said they did.  Most of the cards on their 'good' list don't even exist any more. Altium even goes so far as to recommend gaming cards over pro cards, as well as saying bad things about OpenGL-based cards. This contrast...

Today I decided I'd like to watch a bit of film on my brand-spankin' new workstation.  I haven't even so much as popped a DVD in the drive yet. I try it and Windows Media Player has no sound.  Probably doesn't understand AC3.  I could have tried to hack in the codec, but I'm rather partial to WinDVD anyway. After buying (gasp!) and installing WinDVD Pro 2010, I fire it up.  Looks good!  Lots of nice logos. Until I get about three seconds into my movie, only to see "Your display environment does not support protected content playback."  WTF!?! So it turns out that the "new" players simply do not like multimonitor setups.  Apparently, without HDMI to "properly" protect the digital signal, it can't "guarantee" that my triple monitor setup isn't some kind of surrogate for a devious copy-protection bypass mechanism. So I've gone and sprung for a beautiful triple monitor setup, with requisite massive (and expen...