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I want to set up a 6 monitor array at 1920 x 1200 each, what are my cheapest graphics card options?

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  • Gaming
  • Graphics
  • Graphics Cards
  • Monitors
Last response: in Graphics & Displays
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February 12, 2014 4:12:56 PM

I am building a trading PC that will not be doing any gaming at all. It needs to be able to handle 6 monitors ( preferably more) at 1920 x 1200 each. I am thinking I should be able to get 2 or 3 older graphics cards for cheap that should handle this.

Again I wont be doing any gaming, all I will be using are charting applications. Any advice on which graphics cards would be my cheapest option would be much appreciated! I'd also love any CPU/motherboard or general build recommendations for this trading PC.

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February 12, 2014 4:26:21 PM

raiden78 said:
I am building a trading PC that will not be doing any gaming at all. It needs to be able to handle 6 monitors ( preferably more) at 1920 x 1200 each. I am thinking I should be able to get 2 or 3 older graphics cards for cheap that should handle this.

Again I wont be doing any gaming, all I will be using are charting applications. Any advice on which graphics cards would be my cheapest option would be much appreciated! I'd also love any CPU/motherboard or general build recommendations for this trading PC.


There is not a really older or cheaper graphics card SLI setup, so I put in 760s.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i7-3770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($314.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: MSI Z77 MPOWER ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($185.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($84.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 760 4GB Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($299.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 760 4GB Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($299.99 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Phantom (White) ATX Full Tower Case ($119.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($94.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($16.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1477.91
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-02-12 19:25 EST-0500)
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February 12, 2014 4:36:24 PM

Andrew Buck said:
raiden78 said:
I am building a trading PC that will not be doing any gaming at all. It needs to be able to handle 6 monitors ( preferably more) at 1920 x 1200 each. I am thinking I should be able to get 2 or 3 older graphics cards for cheap that should handle this.

Again I wont be doing any gaming, all I will be using are charting applications. Any advice on which graphics cards would be my cheapest option would be much appreciated! I'd also love any CPU/motherboard or general build recommendations for this trading PC.


There is not a really older or cheaper graphics card SLI setup, so I put in 760s.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i7-3770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($314.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: MSI Z77 MPOWER ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($185.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($84.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 760 4GB Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($299.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 760 4GB Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($299.99 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Phantom (White) ATX Full Tower Case ($119.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($94.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($16.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1477.91
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-02-12 19:25 EST-0500)


Thanks for the recommendations...I wonder if those graphics cards are overkill for me, since I wont be doing 3d graphics. Could I get by with 2 or 3 cheap cards like 6450s? I'm just not sure if a single 6450 can output 1920 x 1200 to multiple monitors...
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February 12, 2014 4:37:54 PM

raiden78 said:
Andrew Buck said:
raiden78 said:
I am building a trading PC that will not be doing any gaming at all. It needs to be able to handle 6 monitors ( preferably more) at 1920 x 1200 each. I am thinking I should be able to get 2 or 3 older graphics cards for cheap that should handle this.

Again I wont be doing any gaming, all I will be using are charting applications. Any advice on which graphics cards would be my cheapest option would be much appreciated! I'd also love any CPU/motherboard or general build recommendations for this trading PC.


There is not a really older or cheaper graphics card SLI setup, so I put in 760s.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i7-3770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($314.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: MSI Z77 MPOWER ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($185.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($84.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 760 4GB Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($299.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 760 4GB Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($299.99 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Phantom (White) ATX Full Tower Case ($119.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($94.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($16.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1477.91
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-02-12 19:25 EST-0500)


Thanks for the recommendations...I wonder if those graphics cards are overkill for me, since I wont be doing 3d graphics. Could I get by with 2 or 3 cheap cards like 6450s? I'm just not sure if a single 6450 can output 1920 x 1200 to multiple monitors...


The 760s have multiple monitor support like that, but I do not thing 6450s have Eyefinity 6.
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February 12, 2014 4:57:07 PM

At $250 the Eyefinity HD7750 above might be the best one for you.

You could probably spend a little less on two separate cards but I'm not sure how much. You might have to spend $80 to $100 (x2) for up to $200 with two HD7750's or similar.

You also need to specify what monitor inputs are being used, but if it's DisplayPort the above card works.

There are DisplayPort HUBs that can help but they only support up to 3x (1920x1080). Not 1920x1200.

*I'm also baffled why an i7-3770K CPU would be recommended when just about any CPU would be adequate for something this basic.

You could probably put together the PC with Windows for $700 or less including the $250 card.
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February 12, 2014 4:57:10 PM

If you only need 6 displays then you could go with any pair of AMD cards starting with the Radeon HD 5450 for $30 each. These support 3 displays each via Eyefinity. They don't support Crossfire, but Crossfire is pointless unless you are gaming.
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February 12, 2014 5:06:29 PM

BlacKHawK3 said:
If you only need 6 displays then you could go with any pair of AMD cards starting with the Radeon HD 5450 for $30 each. These support 3 displays each via Eyefinity. They don't support Crossfire, but Crossfire is pointless unless you are gaming.


Most of the HD5450/HD6450 cards I've seen have the following three outputs:
1) HDMI
2) VGA
3) DVI

I also read that ONE of these must be DisplayPort in order to use three outputs. For example, you might have to use DisplayPort, VGA, and DVI.

I believe they can use HDMI instead of DisplayPort but then only two outputs work. I'm not sure which combination.
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February 12, 2014 5:20:11 PM

I'm going to be using five Dell U2412M monitors which have DisplayPort and DVI and, and an older Asus monitor which has HDMI and DVI.
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February 12, 2014 7:37:52 PM

photonboy said:
BlacKHawK3 said:
If you only need 6 displays then you could go with any pair of AMD cards starting with the Radeon HD 5450 for $30 each. These support 3 displays each via Eyefinity. They don't support Crossfire, but Crossfire is pointless unless you are gaming.


Most of the HD5450/HD6450 cards I've seen have the following three outputs:
1) HDMI
2) VGA
3) DVI

I also read that ONE of these must be DisplayPort in order to use three outputs. For example, you might have to use DisplayPort, VGA, and DVI.

I believe they can use HDMI instead of DisplayPort but then only two outputs work. I'm not sure which combination.


There might be some limitations as to which outputs you can run; the safe bet is the Eyefinity6 card, but if you are not in a hurry it wouldn't hurt to pick up a $30 HD 5450 card and see if you can get 3 outputs to work.

Do your displays also have VGA inputs? Are you opposed to running 2 displays on VGA (the quality is very slightly inferior to HDMI/DP/DVI).
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February 12, 2014 8:24:17 PM

I believe the displays do have VGA, but then I wouldn't be able to get 1920 x 1200. I m actually currently leaning toward the vision tech 7750 eye, as it is only $250 and will handle 6 monitors via display port. There are other 7750 eye 6s that cost $350 or $450, I'm not sure what the difference is between them. I am assuming it will output 1920 x 1200 to all of them but I'm not sure.
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February 12, 2014 10:26:40 PM

raiden78 said:
I believe the displays do have VGA, but then I wouldn't be able to get 1920 x 1200. I m actually currently leaning toward the vision tech 7750 eye, as it is only $250 and will handle 6 monitors via display port. There are other 7750 eye 6s that cost $350 or $450, I'm not sure what the difference is between them. I am assuming it will output 1920 x 1200 to all of them but I'm not sure.


VGA output (technically VGA analog interface on D-subminiature DE-15 connector) can handle 1920x1200 and higher resolutions easily. The image simply isn't as crisp as the digital signals on DVI/DP/HDMI.

Personally I'd pick up a 5450 first and try it out, worst case you have to get the Eyefinity6 card also but then you know you can run up to 8 displays.
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February 12, 2014 11:34:08 PM

Wow, that is news to me about VGA. That's a great plan...thanks.
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