Best Graphic card for 3 x Dell 24" TFT panels (2D only)

[Barrichello]

Guys

One of the traders where i work wants to go for 3 x Dell 24" screens for his main pc. Normally we have people using 4 x 19" TFT's on a Matorx quad QID card and these work fine. But checking the res needed the Matorx cards only go to 1600 x 1200 and the native res of those 24" dells is 1920x1200.

So far the best card i can see for the job that supports 1920x1200 on up to 4 displays is this.....

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=372217

Its purley for 2D Trading software use, but if anyone has any ideas of an alternative please let me know

[shaithis]

Does it have to be a single card? 2 very cheap cards would probably do the job.

[dave87]

Has he got an SLi board?

If so run with two 7600gts (make sure you get the versions with 2 dual link DVI sockets) with SLi OFF - and you can output up to 4 24" screens

[Barrichello]

Does it have to be a single card? 2 very cheap cards would probably do the job.

We normally get in from suppliers a PCI Express standard quad card (matrox QID) and this is normally fine for us. Although cheaper maybe to use 2 x dual cards (spose would mean 1 on PCI express and 1 on PCI or both on PCI?) money is of no issue to the customer so they simply want the best that they can get (we not paying)

[directhex]

Has he got an SLi board?

If so run with two 7600gts (make sure you get the versions with 2 dual link DVI sockets) with SLi OFF - and you can output up to 4 24" screens

you don't actually need an SLI board. you can run a graphics card in a 1x slot with half the pins hanging out

[dave87]

you don't actually need an SLI board. you can run a graphics card in a 1x slot with half the pins hanging out

Whilst its true, you would find it would be starved of bandwidth - especially running at 1920x1200, even if it is only in 2D mode.

The reason I asked whether he had an SLi board is because (and this is a sweeping generalisation) they usually have the slots required to support multiple graphics cards, which some cheaper boards don't.

[Barrichello]

Whilst its true, you would find it would be starved of bandwidth - especially running at 1920x1200, even if it is only in 2D mode.

The reason I asked whether he had an SLi board is because (and this is a sweeping generalisation) they usually have the slots required to support multiple graphics cards, which some cheaper boards don't.

Unfortunatly the boards are not SLI/crossfire compatabile. (despite costing £2000 per workstation) we use dell 490s -> http://www1.euro.dell.com/content/pr...b&cs=RC1050264

Im aware that this machine will be pushed somewhat to power the 3 screens at that res. Going to experiment first see how it runs with the nvidia quadro NVS as i just heard we can get these at short notice (today) Will let you know how i get on (fingers crossed)

[azrael]

How about a pci matrox card capable of supporting 2 screens at 1920x1200 and the 7600 PCIe

[5lab]

this sort of res in 2d shoudl really be no issue for a card - i used to have old pci cards running 2x1600x1200x85hz monitors without a hitch. the bandwidth required for 2d is tiny in comparison to 3d stuff, and power-wise it shouldnt stretch anything other than the graphics cards.

i'd go for matrox for 2d every time. what about one of their external usb boxes? looks like they can handle 2 of your monitors, then just run the 3rd one on onboard. failing that, a g450 x4 mms looks like it'll do the job..

http://www.matrox.com/graphics/en/di...s/g450quad.php

[dave87]

Am I wrong in thinking you need Dual Link DVI for the res on a 2407fpw?

and the GX450 x4 has a max res of 1280x1024 on digital...(that's only a problem if it makes any difference for you running analogue vs digital)

[alsenior]

it would be possible to use 2 cards see below

2 PCI-e x8 slot wired as x4
1 PCI-e x16 graphics slot

you could use on in the 16 x slot and one in the 8x slot running a 4x