Multi-display GPU, low power

cortexodus

cortexodus

[H]ard|Gawd
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Feb 20, 2009
Messages
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I'm looking into expanding the number of displays I drive on my work machine but the PSU is a very limiting factor. Does anyone have any experience they can share in regard to driving the maximum number of panels from a single card that does not require additional PCI-E power? I'm not terribly concerned about performance as it just needs to push lots of browser windows, sublime text, and VS2012 but I'm thinking at least 1GB of memory and preferably not 64-bit.

Thoughts?

*Has to be single slot

*This looks promising... maybe.
 
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257Tony said:
The galaxy mdt line of cards would be ideal for what you are looking for, they may be tough to track down though. This one should fit the bill

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Galaxy-MDT-...180?pt=PCC_Video_TV_Cards&hash=item25885c1d74
Click to expand...

I was poking around looking for exactly that series of cards. This may do the trick :D

*Nope, this won't work, neither will the rebrand "updated" card the MDT 610. They don't actually support separate individual displays. They do some kind of spanning garbage that isn't going to work well with disparate displays.

eurosport0322 said:
Do you already have the monitors? Do they have Display Port, DVI, VGA, HDMI?

How many monitors total?

Is cost a factor?

There are AMD firepro cards that are single slot 2gb ram 128bit that do x6 display port outputs. for ~$400

For thier professional line, below is a link that might help you look for options.
http://www.amd.com/us/products/workstation/graphics/ati-firepro-3d/Pages/ati-firepro-3d.aspx
Click to expand...

Assume the monitors are all different sizes/resolutions, will only do DVI-D (adapters from DP or HDMI are a non-issue, I can conjure up a hojillion of those). I'm looking to drive at least 3 displays. Cost is most assuredly a factor. The cheaper the better (within the feature envelope specified in OP). $400 is pretty much in the "insanity" range for my purposes at the moment ;)
 
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I think most any graphics card will do 3 displays especially if you say you have the adapters for DP to DVI etc.

Do you know if your onboard graphics would work alongside an add-in card?
 
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eurosport0322 said:
I think most any graphics card will do 3 displays especially if you say you have the adapters for DP to DVI etc.

Do you know if your onboard graphics would work alongside an add-in card?
Click to expand...

The card I'm running with right now is a 9500GT with dual DVI.

Nope, this is an Optiplex 780. On-board isn't usable when PCI-E is in place

GameHard6 said:
This should do what you want Radeon HD 7750 Eyefinity 4 http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DZFQ024. It's a single slot card that requires no power connectors. It's also low profile it that helps you any.
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$220 + $36.80 shipped is way beyond budget. I'm shooting for $50-$60 max.

eurosport0322 said:
Here is a card for 70$ that will do 3 displays.

http://www.amazon.com/HIS-Silence-DisplayPort-PCI-Express-H545H1GD1/dp/B004GL72K0
Click to expand...

Analog is no use to me.

apopleptic said:
Why is spanning not going to work? That's a pretty standard way to go.
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The monitors I have available to me are all different sizes / resolutions. If I pulled this off I would be doing 1024x1280(portrait) - 1920x1200 - 1600x1200. Spanning doesn't help this situation.

theduck said:
If price were no object, matrox has an 8 display card -- no required pcie power -- but the price is waaaay up there.
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Price is, unfortunately, the primary barrier. I already have gear from home installed in this workstation, and I'm not willing to pay much for anything going into this thing.

Thanks for the input everyone, I do appreciate it. :)

I think I'm just screwed for now :( I've tried dropping in a PCI Geforce 6200 as a second GPU and it was effectively useless. Maybe someday they'll replace our workstations with something better, but I'm not gonna hold my breath :(
 
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Nvidia GT640 will do 4 monitors independent of output type, you just have to find a model with the connectors you need.
 
runs2far said:
Nvidia GT640 will do 4 monitors independent of output type, you just have to find a model with the connectors you need.
Click to expand...

This looks like an extremely viable option! :D

eurosport0322 said:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102960

this will work. down side is 64-bit memory.

Sapphire Flex
http://www.sapphiretech.com/Flex/FleX_Eng_apply_2.aspx
Click to expand...

This unit would probably fit the bill, but it's two slots. I can only use single slot cards. An Optiplex 780 is a psuedo-btx design, and the "top" slot is the PCI-E x16 slot :(
 
runs2far said:
I do not know if there are any GTX650 cards with single slot cooler.
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There are several of them, as well as 650Ti units with single slot. Unfortunately, they also require a PCI-E power link. I would actually love to go that route, but those cards are in the $90-110 range and the PSU in this Optiplex is not up to the task.
 
Something you might want to be aware of.
My last card was a GTX580 and running dual screens didnt make the PC use any more power than with a single screen.
ie PC only power consumption, not considering the monitors power use
I am now running an AMD 290x and running 2 screens makes the PC use about 40W more power from the wall with a 90% efficient PSU, compared to running a single screen.
My PC is on 24/7 so this alone costs about an extra £5 per month in electricity.
So I no longer leave it in duplicate mode when using one screen.
pita, it used to be simple to switch monitors by powering up the one I wanted to use, now I have to fiddle with display settings as well.
 
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