which low noise or passive, 3+ digital monitor output GPU

[tfboy]

For my old father, he runs his desktop with 2x 1920x1080 DVI monitors but now wants to also drive a projector for occasional moview viewing.

3D performance is not important at all, just a decent quality 2D output. Needs at least 3 outputs so I guess it's an eyefinity card. I did spot a passively cooled 6670 which could do the job.

Any other cards which spring to mind?

Unfortunately, his motherboard only has a single 16x PCIe slot so sli / crossfire isn't on the cards.

Thanks

[scaryjim]

As you've correctly identified, you need an eyefinity card with a Displayport output. There used to be a few proper entry level cards (5450/6450) with Displayport but none of the usual suspects seem to have them in stock any more That passive 6670 seems to be the most likely option at the minute, I'm afraid.

I assume his current motherboard doesn't have onboard graphics? That'd make life a lot easier The only other option I can see would be getting a low end PCI graphics card like this HD5450 from ebuyer - but you pay a *big* premium for PCI graphics (although it would allow him to run a fourth monitor in the future if he wanted to...)

EDIT: it would be useful to know what his current graphics and OS are actually, to make sure that any recommendations don't clash (e.g. if he has an Nvidia card and Vista the HD 5450 won't play nicely!)...

[tfboy]

Thanks Jim.

Motherboard doesn't have onboard graphics, it's an MSI 870-C45 with an AMD X3 450 in it, 8GB RAMdoes has onboard graphics I think. Come to think of it, I haven't even tried unlocking the 4th core...

It does have PCI slots (only one used AFAIK with a firewire card), but an expensive option. I would have thought there would be a market for single lane PCIe graphics cards (with no real 3D performance, but that support a couple of monitors)...

OS is W7 HP

[tfboy]

One other option is possibly to change motherboard to one with dual PCIe 16x slots and that wouldn't be too costly providing it still supported the X3 and DDR2 RAM

[scaryjim]

PCIe x1 graphics cards are available, and at a lower premium than PCI ones - but you still pay a premium for them. e.g. ebuyer have a GT610 PCIe x1 for £37 (although it's not passive), Scan probably have some as well (I know powercolor do a HD5450 PCIe x1 if you can find it)

One other option is possibly to change motherboard to one with dual PCIe 16x slots and that wouldn't be too costly providing it still supported the X3 and DDR2 RAM

Are you sure you mean DDR2? According to the MSI website the board supports DDR3...?

The cheapest mobo I can find for DDR3 that has 2 x16 slots (the second one being electrically x4) is this Gigabyte 970-based board, but that's £50 on it's own, and then you've got the cost of the new card on top of that...

[tfboy]

Sorry, yes, DDR3. I blame a long day and the usual delays trying to get back to LHR in the evenings...

I quite like the idea of the XFX 6850 as that has 2x DVI, 2x mDP, 1 HDMI and can drive 4 monitors simultaneously.

It does have a fan though, but if only ever used for desktop stuff, I guess it shouldn't get too noisy. Searching for reviews on it.

And it's simpler, easier and less esoteric solution so more usable in the long run.

[scaryjim]

Remember you'll either need active displayport adapters or native displayport monitors to use more than 2 outputs on a 6850 - that'll add a bit of extra expense to an already ~ £100 card.

Hmmm.. Sapphire do "flex" versions of some cards that can drive three monitors natively, hang on ....

Ahha! Google is my friend: Sapphire Flex 6450, passive (low profile!) card that can run 3 DVI monitors (or one VGA and 2 DVI) out of the box. Looks like it's got dual link DVI-I for either DVI or VGA, one single link DVI and one HDMI, but being a flex card Sapphire have added the extra clock generator on the board to allow all 3 ports to be used together Should be exactly what your dad needs, and at a very reasonable £50 from both Playand Dabs, both fairly reputable etailers.

[tfboy]

What a find! Thanks Jim.

[scaryjim]

np