4 displays on one System??

[Duekay]

Hey, could any one fill me in with what would be involved in building a system that can run say 4 x 22" displays?

Thanks

Dave

 

[farlex85]

There's hubs you can have that have multiple outputs from a single input. You would lose a lot of quality though. If you had 2 video cards in sli or crossfire maybe you could connect all 4 to separate monitors, but they'll need to be 2 very powerful cards if your using all as one screen.

 

[boogah]

First you will need motherboard with atleast 2 PCI-E slots

Second you will need 2 Graphic cards with 2 outputs on both

and ofcourse a power supply that will be able to handle the 2 cards 650w +

you can set them up so that it span as one long desktop on all 4 screens or 4 individual screen etc.

 

[EnglishLion]

Depends what you want to do with the monitors. You could use a matrox card like this that has quad monitor support from a single card
http://www.scan.co.uk/Product.aspx?WebProductId=454645

Here's the brief spec
Industry's first and only x16 native PCI Express quad display card
Half length, half height (low profile)
Innovative KX20 connector
Support up to 4 monitors
OS support for Microsoft® Windows® XP and Windows® 2000, Linux

First single chip quad output solution ever
- Very flexible: offers quad analog or quad digital
First to support 1600x1200 in digital over four screens
First quad output low-profile solution
Support for portrait resolution through Matrox Pivot

Not sure on it's gaming potential though?

 

[Duekay]

First you will need motherboard with atleast 2 PCI-E slots

Second you will need 2 Graphic cards with 2 outputs on both

and ofcourse a power supply that will be able to handle the 2 cards 650w +

you can set them up so that it span as one long desktop on all 4 screens or 4 individual screen etc.

Hey,

Im going to upgrade my system, the only thing ill be using from the old one is the 620w PSU
Mobo: Asus P5E-DELUXE
CPU: Intel CORE 2 QUAD Q9450
Ram: Corsair Dominator DDR2 (4x2Gb) 1066Mhz

 

[Threeflow]

Time for my 2 cents... though I reckon they're worth more since I'm English and our currency has higher value

I used to sell custom computers at a well-known retailer in Canada called Memory Express. Occasionally I would have a client that required a system which could run multiple displays simultaneously, in one case a gentleman named Tom needed something to run 8 x 30" displays on a single machine, for the purpose of playing the stock market in real time.

The solution is incredibly simple. As boogah suggested, a motherboard with multiple PCI-E slots would be required. Also, video cards with multiple outputs would be necessary (as for the power supply requirement of 650w+, well that all depends on whether you select gaming-grade video cards or something more run-of-the-mill intended only for multi-display purposes).

Once you are in your OS of choice, install the driver(s) for said video cards, and configure the multi-monitor output within the driver properties! It's really not terribly complicated

As for the Matrox video cards, I do not recommend them for the following reasons:
They are highly overpriced for what they do,
Often difficult to find them in stock in retail,
Very poor gaming/3D performance.

I do, however, like Matrox's external offerings, such as the dualHead2Go and tripleHead2Go

Hope this helps Duekay!

edit: Oh and also keep in mind, as far as I am aware, SLI and Crossfire are still restricted to 1 display only. I remember nVidia was attempting to work on a solution to expand the capability to multiple displays but I have heard nothing from them about this for a very long time, I think development may have stalled on that front.

 

[boogah]

Hey,

Im going to upgrade my system, the only thing ill be using from the old one is the 620w PSU
Mobo: Asus P5E-DELUXE
CPU: Intel CORE 2 QUAD Q9450
Ram: Corsair Dominator DDR2 (4x2Gb) 1066Mhz

What graphic cards are you thinking about ?

If you going to get anything like the 4870 or the GTX series you will need 2 PCI-E power connector for each one and also the 620w won't cut it.

If you gonna use 2 4850 then it would barely make it with the 620w might make the system unstable.

 

[Duekay]

What graphic cards are you thinking about ?

If you going to get anything like the 4870 or the GTX series you will need 2 PCI-E power connector for each one and also the 620w won't cut it.

If you gonna use 2 4850 then it would barely make it with the 620w might make the system unstable.

Cheers, i have been looking at the Albatron GeForce 8800GT, but im open to idea's

 

[Threeflow]

Should be dandy; here is an excerpt from the system requirements of eVGA's 8800GT 512MB:

- Minimum of a 400 Watt power supply. (Minimum recommended power supply with +12 Volt current rating of 22 Amp Amps.)
- Minimum 450 Watt for SLI mode system. (Minimum recommended power supply with +12 Volt current rating of 24 Amp Amps.)
- An available 6 pin PCI-E power connector (hard drive power dongle to PCI-E 6 pin adapter included with card)

 

[Deleted member 3]

You still haven't answered the key question though. What are you planning to do with four monitors? Gaming isn't going to happen, is it some sort of 3D design? If not, do the other 2 or 3 screens require any form of 3D acceleration at all?

Either way, the logical solution is having two videocards. If requirements on the addition screens aren't as high, the second card could be a relatively simple PCI card. Basically all modern cards have two outputs, so that shouldn't be an issue.

Also, in SLI configurations you can't use all outputs.

 

[Duekay]

You still haven't answered the key question though. What are you planning to do with four monitors? Gaming isn't going to happen, is it some sort of 3D design? If not, do the other 2 or 3 screens require any form of 3D acceleration at all?

Cool, well ill be using my old system for any gaming needs i may get.
This system is going to be for Music production and that would be about it (with maybe a bit of Cad/3D design but i would only need 2 monitors for that). I still would like a really nice picture on all for screens.

 

[Duekay]

Also, in SLI configurations you can't use all outputs.

If i went SLI, this would need a NVIDIA Chipset?

Im not building this system for Gaming so would i really need to go SLI?

 

[Deleted member 3]

You still haven't answered the key question though. What are you planning to do with four monitors? Gaming isn't going to happen, is it some sort of 3D design? If not, do the other 2 or 3 screens require any form of 3D acceleration at all?/QUOTE]

Cool, well ill be using my old system for any gaming needs i may get.
This system is going to be for Music production and that would be about it (with maybe a bit of Cad/3D design but i would only need 2 monitors for that). I still would like a really nice picture on all for screens.

So we can conclude that two screens will basically only display bars and sliders. ie not require much. I'd say get a low end card of the same brand as the primary card to control them. (prevent any driver conflicts) ie <gf8400 or <x2400. If your board allows it get PCI-e, if not PCI will work just as well.

 

[Duekay]

Either way, the logical solution is having two videocards. If requirements on the addition screens aren't as high, the second card could be a relatively simple PCI card. Basically all modern cards have two outputs, so that shouldn't be an issue.

Ok so if i Ran 2 x 8800GT it would do the job

 

[Deleted member 3]

If i went SLI, this would need a NVIDIA Chipset?

Im not building this system for Gaming so would i really need to go SLI?

You don't need to and should not do so. Like you said, you want to produce music, what use does a zillion fps have there? You can get a single fast card for some CAD or whatever you wish to do. If you required SLI you would know.

 

[boogah]

No need for SLI. You will need 2 videocards though.

but any board with 2 pci-e slots will do

If you want to do 3D/CAD stuff i would recommend getting 2 of the HD3870 and patch the drivers to FireGL V7700. (i can give you more info on it, if you are interested) It doesn't modify the card in any way just allow firegl drivers to work and accelerate OpenGL and D3D for CAD/3D programs.

 

[TrainingDummy]

would (this) work for you?

 

[boogah]

o yah forgot bout those things with 4 outputs haha ^___~

 

[Deleted member 3]

would (this) work for you?

It would work yes, though it would be overkill. On the other hand, the card is not that expensive.

On another note, music production > you don't want noisy fans?

 

[TrainingDummy]

he could always turn down the fan speed

it was the only card I've seen so far with 4 outputs, so I thought it was worth mentioning

 

[Deleted member 6693]

Yes indeed...the ASUS EAH3870X2 TOP/G/3DHTI is a very capable card...
I have tried running with 4 monitors.....runs smooth (I was not gaming)

BUT......when having more than one monitor connected .. it is very noisy

And - when using only one monitor, you have to use the DVI port nearest
to the bottom .. or else it will turn very noisy....

It can, however, be adjusted with Speedfan or ASUS SmartDoctor/GamerOSD

 

[Duekay]

he could always turn down the fan speed

it was the only card I've seen so far with 4 outputs, so I thought it was worth mentioning

Thanks, its the only one ive seen apart from This

With a price i cant justify

 

[TrainingDummy]

Thanks, its the only one ive seen apart from This

With a price i cant justify

you kidding me, that thing is pocket change

 

[TrainingDummy]

also if you don't mind buying open box, Newegg has the 3870 X2 for $180
(Link)

 

[Threeflow]

Does Newegg ship to Australia? Last I checked they still don't even ship to Canada

To elaborate on what DantheBanjoMan suggested, with the motherboard you have picked (the Asus P5E Deluxe), you could run the 8800GT in the first PCI-E slot which would power the monitors 1 & 2, and a lower-end card such as the 8400 in the second PCI-E slot which would power monitors 3 & 4 (or even in a regular PCI slot if you so desire).
Since they are both nVidia chipset cards they should not have driver conflicts, you could do your autoCAD and 3D design as the 8800 has the power for it, and the 8400 serves just to add additional monitors

Does that make sense?