Can I run 12 Monitors from one Laptop using this box ?

[dan99t]

Hi,

I am running 12 Dell U2412M ( 24 inch, 1920x1200 ) monitors using 3, AMD FirePro 2460 Video Cards. Each card has 4 Mini DP ports & runs 4 monitors each. I am using Dell workstation & it has 4 PCIe slots.

I am not running any games or very intensive programs. Just the stock market charts, 12 of them, each one different stock.

Now I am inspired by this video on you tube where this guy is running 8 monitors from a Laptop using only USB 3.0 seven port Hub.

8 Monitors on Windows 8.1 with USB 3.0 - YouTube

So Now I want to run those 12 monitors from Dell M6800 Laptop workstation but in a little different way using external PCIe slots.

The problem is to get 3 PCIe slots & solution I found is to use an external “ Nestor NA211A-NB “ PCIe expansion box that can be connected to Laptop using Express Card.

http://www.netstor.com.tw/_03/03_02.php?OTc=

Each slot runs at 1X bandwidth.

This Nestor box costs around $ 780.00.

So before I start on this venture, could someone tell me if this is possible or am I going to run into bottleneck ?

Thank You.

 

[Deleted member 3]

Wouldn't it be cheaper and easier to just use a PC instead of the laptop?

 

[FordGT90Concept]

Each monitor will require 276,480,000 bytes of bandwidth per second at 32-bit color depth. If my math is correct (and feels like I'm missing something), 12 monitors would then require 3,317,760,000 bytes per second or, lets round up to 3.5 GB/s to leave room for some overhead. USB 3.0 is only 625 MB/s so there's an obvious gap in performance there.

I see one huge problem with the Netstor solution and that is it only has a 250w internal power supply. That's pretty weak for aiming to drive 12 displays. Of course, there's the side issue of having x4 PCI Express lanes to drive two or three graphics cards when there should be x24 to x36 lanes.

I think you should be looking at a desktop computer with two Eyefinity 6 graphics cards. For just showing stock market stuff, you don't even need a FirePro card to do it. They start at $240. Beware that if your monitors don't have DisplayPort inputs, you're going to have to buy active displayport to DVI/HDMI converters.

 

[dan99t]

Wouldn't it be cheaper and easier to just use a PC instead of the laptop?

I am already using a PC as I stated in the post.

I want to travel & take it with me where they already have monitor setup.

I want to use my laptop there.

 

[dan99t]

Each monitor will require 276,480,000 bytes of bandwidth per second at 32-bit color depth. If my math is correct (and feels like I'm missing something), 12 monitors would then require 3,317,760,000 bytes per second or, lets round up to 3.5 GB/s to leave room for some overhead. USB 3.0 is only 625 MB/s so there's an obvious gap in performance there.

I see one huge problem with the Netstor solution and that is it only has a 250w internal power supply. That's pretty weak for aiming to drive 12 displays. Of course, there's the side issue of having x4 PCI Express lanes to drive two or three graphics cards when there should be x24 to x36 lanes.

I think you should be looking at a desktop computer with two Eyefinity 6 graphics cards. For just showing stock market stuff, you don't even need a FirePro card to do it. They start at $240. Beware that if your monitors don't have DisplayPort inputs, you're going to have to buy active displayport to DVI/HDMI converters.

What inspired me to do a project like this is following video where this guy runs 8 Monitors from a Laptop just using one USB 3.0 port on a Laptop & splitting the bandwidth by attaching a simple 7 ports USB 3.0 Hub which cosys only $ 35.00

And he is running two videos simultaneously too.

Can you explain the math behind it please ?

8 Monitors on Windows 8.1 with USB 3.0 - YouTube

I am just a rooky & would like to try but the damn Nestor box costs almost $1000.00 so I don't want to take any chances.

 

[FordGT90Concept]

He has:
1 x $34.95 Plugable 7 Port USB 3.0 "SuperSpeed" Hub with 4A Power Adapter (VIA Chipset)
4 x $49.95 Plugable USB3-VGA USB 3.0 to VGA Adapter for Windows (Supports Monitors up to 1920×1080, DisplayLink DL-3100 chip)
1 x $64.00 Plugable USB3-HDMI-DVI USB 3.0 to HDMI/DVI Adapter for Windows (Supports Monitors up to 2048×1152, DisplayLink DL-3500 chip)
1 x $59.95 Plugable USB 3.0 UGA Multi-Display Adapter with DVI/VGA/HDMI Support

That's $360 worth of equipment and I don't know if cables are sold separately. Plugable does not sell a USB3 to DisplayPort active converter so if the monitors are DisplayPort only, that's going to be a problem. DisplayPort active converters are much more expenisve than HDMI/DVI because of the current lack of demand.

He explains why it is possible at 3:30 in the video: the software only sends updates through the cables to the displays that require a change. For 2D applications that rarely update, that's okay; for full motion video, there is a limit before everything slows to a halt.

The one thing I can't figure out is what software is taking video feeds and turning them into USB which those converters (listed above) unpack. There has to be software running on the computer to do that (probably in the form of a driver).


I just Googled USB to DisplayPort quick and got this:
StarTech USB32DPPRO USB 3.0 to Displayport Externa...
It is limited to only five displays. It won't work for you but it gives you the idea of the price ($87 each)

Finding a good 12 port USB3 hub will be a problem unto itself.