Card to support 4 monitors
- Thread starter Agassi
- Start date
I've been considering upgrading to a 4 - 6 monitor setup from my current 2 monitor one. This thread has helped give me some ideas on a practical way of doing it.
My motherboard which is around five years old still has some life left in it and has two extra PCLe x 16 slots. In the other PCLe x 16 slot I have an Asus Nvidia GeForce 9800GTX+. These video cards are around 40 bucks used now but I don't have enough room in my case to fit two more of them so I was thinking that I could neatly add two Quadro NVS 295 cards for around 30 bucks each and run six monitors. Is this going to work without the two types of video cards having a conflict?
I haven't decided on what the best option for monitor size and resolution is going to be. Is there really any point in going over 1920 x 1200 resolution? I was thinking of buying six 27" monitors and stacking them 2 high. Or if it's really worth it I could try and find some higher resolution monitors. For the price though it seems that 1920 x1200 is the best value for around $200-$250 per monitor.
My motherboard which is around five years old still has some life left in it and has two extra PCLe x 16 slots. In the other PCLe x 16 slot I have an Asus Nvidia GeForce 9800GTX+. These video cards are around 40 bucks used now but I don't have enough room in my case to fit two more of them so I was thinking that I could neatly add two Quadro NVS 295 cards for around 30 bucks each and run six monitors. Is this going to work without the two types of video cards having a conflict?
I haven't decided on what the best option for monitor size and resolution is going to be. Is there really any point in going over 1920 x 1200 resolution? I was thinking of buying six 27" monitors and stacking them 2 high. Or if it's really worth it I could try and find some higher resolution monitors. For the price though it seems that 1920 x1200 is the best value for around $200-$250 per monitor.
1. Might be OK to mix GeForce and NVS cards. I've read where people claim to have run them together. However, they have different drivers so it's not assured they'll work together on your mobo. Try and see.
2. I have 24" monitors with native 1920x1200... on which I run charts at 1200x1600.
I did some checking on the Nvidia site and it states that Geforce and Quadro cards can't be combined in one system because they are designed for different uses and use different drivers. Oh well, back to the drawing board.
I did find a few Quadro NVS 295 cards locally for $15 each and I could probably just get 3 in total for minimal cost. My Geforce 9800 has performed so well though I don't really want to get rid of it and find that the performance of the Quadro NVS 295 is noticeably worse.
Plan B is that I get PCLe extention cables ($7 ebay) and buy two more Geforce cards for around $40 each. and move them to where they will fit.
About the monitor resolution; do you have the resolution set at 1600x1200 so you can see more clearly? I think this is the reason why I didn't feel the need to go higher than 1920x1200 as it will make text tiny.
I did find a few Quadro NVS 295 cards locally for $15 each and I could probably just get 3 in total for minimal cost. My Geforce 9800 has performed so well though I don't really want to get rid of it and find that the performance of the Quadro NVS 295 is noticeably worse.
Plan B is that I get PCLe extention cables ($7 ebay) and buy two more Geforce cards for around $40 each. and move them to where they will fit.
About the monitor resolution; do you have the resolution set at 1600x1200 so you can see more clearly? I think this is the reason why I didn't feel the need to go higher than 1920x1200 as it will make text tiny.
Of course Nvidia would say that. Nonetheless, some claim they have run both together with no problem. Can't hurt to try (well, it could... so have a backup image of your drive first.)
Of course the "performance of the NVS 295 is worse". It was designed for a different function... whereas your 9800 is a gamer card and was a good performer when it was current.
The NVS line of cards is completely adequate for trading, data, surfing, office functions, DVD and online videos... just not high frame rate gaming.
In an ideal world, you would have a trading rig and a separate gaming rig. You can use a gaming rig for trading (with all the heat, fans, noise, power consumption, etc), but you can't game very well with a properly appointed workstation trading rig.
I'd had 4:3 monitors (1600x1200) before. When I replaced with 16:10, of course all the text was smaller and needed to have an increased font for easier viewing.
My 24", 1920x1200 monitors have good clarity at 1600x1200, even though that's not the monitors' native resolution. Not all monitors will run all non-native resolutions with satisfactory clarity. You can try with yours, but you might want to change back to native res and increase font sizes.
I haven't had much of any noise or heat issues because the case I bought has fans on every side that run at a low speed. I barely even notice when the computer is turned on.
I suppose I don't really need a gaming card considering these days the only game I am interested in playing is trading.
I still don't really understand why you chose to run your monitor at a lower than the native resolution. Wouldn't it just have more clarity set at 1920x1200? What is the advantage of turning it lower? Even with a different aspect ratio why don't you just re-adjust the look of your charts or whatever you are using and have a higher clarity?
All of my chart fonts were set to 1600x1200 res. Changing to 1920x1200 would mean changing the font larger + adjusting the margins on each chart. Unfortunately, there is no "global" way to do that... would have to manually adjust on each separate chart. Not worth the effort.
My 1600x1200 resolution is nearly indistinguishable from the native 1920x1200 anyway.... maybe because I didn't buy el-cheapo monitors??
Besides, don't need no "clarity" except for watching porn... and I've got a higher res monitor for that.
Seems to be a no-brainer. If you can get a few NVS 295 for $15 each, just buy 3 and forget about keeping your other video card "that seems to work really well over the years", for trading.
I know these things, that they may contain sentimental value. Like "hey I have been driving this old car to everywhere I go..." Functional obsolescence. I know. I used to want to keep my Intel 486 DX4 box and use it "for something", which I bought for over $1500, and it was at 1990's dollars. Or for that matter, my Apple II+, which I bought in college for well over $2000, 1980's dollars. (Oh wait... this one I can keep... to sell as collector's item...)
For monitor sizes, I always feel that 27-inch monitors, when used in over 2x4 grid configuration are way too big. Kind of defeat the purpose of having many monitors. Real, but a different kind of, head turner. Ain't she beautiful? From left to right... ULCH.
I know these things, that they may contain sentimental value. Like "hey I have been driving this old car to everywhere I go..." Functional obsolescence. I know. I used to want to keep my Intel 486 DX4 box and use it "for something", which I bought for over $1500, and it was at 1990's dollars. Or for that matter, my Apple II+, which I bought in college for well over $2000, 1980's dollars. (Oh wait... this one I can keep... to sell as collector's item...)
For monitor sizes, I always feel that 27-inch monitors, when used in over 2x4 grid configuration are way too big. Kind of defeat the purpose of having many monitors. Real, but a different kind of, head turner. Ain't she beautiful? From left to right... ULCH.
That's what he should do. Besides, his 9800 card is no longer even adequate for most modern games if run at high frame rates... has only about 10% of the horsepower of top performing card.