Recommend a 6-8 monitor setup

Quote from JimCreamer:

Thank you for all the great responses.

@gnome
Do you know anything about the vista compatibility of running 4x NVS 290s?


If Dell had a good deal running right now, I'd definitely just pick up a T3400 and add another NVS 290, but it doesn't seem like they are. So, this is the build plan:

Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz 6MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor - Retail - $164
GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3P LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail - $114
Antec earthwatts EA500 500W Continuous Power ATX12V v2.0 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply - Retail - $70
4x PNY VCQ290NVS-PCIEX1-PB Quadro4 NVS290 256MB 64-bit GDDR2 PCI Express x16 (and x1) Low Profile Workstation Video Card - Retail - $450
2x G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - $80


This comes out to around $878 without peripherals, case, HD, all of which I already have.
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From your description, I don't understand exactly what you're getting in the way of video cards.

I know Nvidia has Vista drivers for their cards, but I've heard (not verified) that they don't do so well with >1 video card.

I've run 3 Quadro NVS cards in a T3400 on XP, however.

I just looked on Dell's Outlet site... they have a T3400 with E8400 CPU and an x38 mobo... which is higher end than the P45... for $549... that's a common price for them..
 
Quote from gnome:

From your description, I don't understand exactly what you're getting in the way of video cards.

I know Nvidia has Vista drivers for their cards, but I've heard (not verified) that they don't do so well with >1 video card.

I've run 3 Quadro NVS cards in a T3400 on XP, however.

I just looked on Dell's Outlet site... they have a T3400 with E8400 CPU and an x38 mobo... which is higher end than the P45... for $549... that's a common price for them..
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Well the 4 video cards I listed were so I could hook up 8 monitors. Anyways, I must be blind because I did not see that Deal deal. Thank you.

I'm just going to purchase that, and put in additional NVS 290s and run with XP.
 
Quote from JimCreamer:

Well the 4 video cards I listed were so I could hook up 8 monitors. Anyways, I must be blind because I did not see that Deal deal. Thank you.

I'm just going to purchase that, and put in additional NVS 290s and run with XP.
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Well, you DO have to make sure the mobo will support the monitors you intend to run. You can't presume you can run 6-8 monitors on just any old board...
 
You may consider getting this motherboard and graphics cards:

(i) for six monitor set-up
- motherboard: Asus P6T6 WS Revolution: http://www.nvidia.com/object/product_geforce_gts_250_us.html (3 x PCIe x16)
- GPUs: 3 x NVIDIA GTS 250 http://www.nvidia.com/object/product_geforce_gts_250_us.html

(ii) for eight monitor set-up:
- motherboard: EVGA X58 SLI Classified: http://www.evga.com/products/moreInfo.asp?pn=141-BL-E759-A1&family=Motherboard Family (4 x PCIe x16)
- GPUs: 4 x NVIDIA GTS 250 http://www.nvidia.com/object/product_geforce_gts_250_us.html

With all of the above set-ups you can run 2560 x 1600 resolution monitors.

Regards
 
Quote from Tresor:

You may consider getting this motherboard and graphics cards:

(i) for six monitor set-up
- motherboard: Asus P6T6 WS Revolution: http://www.nvidia.com/object/product_geforce_gts_250_us.html (3 x PCIe x16)
- GPUs: 3 x NVIDIA GTS 250 http://www.nvidia.com/object/product_geforce_gts_250_us.html

(ii) for eight monitor set-up:
- motherboard: EVGA X58 SLI Classified: http://www.evga.com/products/moreInfo.asp?pn=141-BL-E759-A1&family=Motherboard Family (4 x PCIe x16)
- GPUs: 4 x NVIDIA GTS 250 http://www.nvidia.com/object/product_geforce_gts_250_us.html

With all of the above set-ups you can run 2560 x 1600 resolution monitors.

Regards
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That kind of graphics horsepower is mostly wasted on trading rigs... too much heat, noise, cost. Better choice would be passively cooled... like Nvidia Quadro NVS series and Matrox... they were designed for trading and finance applications.
 
Quote from gnome:

That kind of graphics horsepower is mostly wasted on trading rigs... too much heat, noise, cost. Better choice would be passively cooled... like Nvidia Quadro NVS series and Matrox... they were designed for trading and finance applications.
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Hello gnome,

You are right with the heat and noise. Cards with passive cooling are better.

GTS 250 is for gaming. But it uses only 150 Watts (1 x 6-PIN) while other higher gaming cards need 2 x 6-PIN or 1 x 6-PIN + 1 x 8-PIN connectors. And it costs only $150.

All the reviews I read indicate that this card is very silent and produces low heat when compared to other gaming cards.

If anyone needs a trading rig with gaming cards GTS 250 seems to be the only choice at the moment :D
 
Quote from Tresor:

Hello gnome,

You are right with the heat and noise. Cards with passive cooling are better.

GTS 250 is for gaming. But it uses only 150 Watts (1 x 6-PIN) while other higher gaming cards need 2 x 6-PIN or 1 x 6-PIN + 1 x 8-PIN connectors. And it costs only $150.

All the reviews I read indicate that this card is very silent and produces low heat when compared to other gaming cards.

If anyone needs a trading rig with gaming cards GTS 250 seems to be the only choice at the moment :D
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150 Watts... x 2-3 cards... ? Need a bigger PSU for all that.

Nvidia 290s are only 21 Watts each, and you can usually get them on eBay for $60-ish... sometimes less.
 
Quote from gnome:

150 Watts... x 2-3 cards... ? Need a bigger PSU for all that.

Nvidia 290s are only 21 Watts each, and you can usually get them on eBay for $60-ish... sometimes less.
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Sure
 
That dell quote was a serious rip-off. For the mother boards with 4 pci express slots make sure that they are spaced out enough to get 4 cards in there. With 4 cards and an i7, you are going to want at least 750w power supply.

You could probably get all the components and build it yourself for around $1300.


Also make sure the graphics cards are SLI and or crossfire supported.
 
Quote from Rehoboth:


Also make sure the graphics cards are SLI and or crossfire supported.
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Why should he get SLI on a multi monitor set-up? SLI bridge should be dismatled when multi monitors are used.

Regards
 
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