NON-Gaming multiple monitor video card recomendations

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Ryan Strope

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I'm in the process of pricing out my next PC build for my home office. and I need some advice/opinions on video card selections

This is not my first PC build, however it has been about 5+ years since my last one, and while I work in the technology field (Systems Analyst, Software Developer, etc) I have not had the time to keep up with ALL the facets of hardware technology.

So here is what i want/need


  • ■My new build is going to be used mainly for software development and testing a lot of which will be done using my new build to remotely connect to my work servers and PCs.
    ■I'm going relatively cheap 1500 including displays

Here's the parts list so far:

  • ■ASRock Fatal1ty 990FX Killer AM3+ AMD 990FX
    ■AMD FX-9590 Vishera 8-Core 4.7 GHz Black Edition
    ■16 Gigs pf DDR3 PC3 12800 memory
    ■Antec EDGE 750 modular power supply
    ■Whatever SSD that comes in at around 100-200 dollars
    ■I'm reusing my existing full tower case, and my DVD drive

As for the video card(s)

  • ■I need to support a MINIMUM of 4 monitors minimum size 24" in the 16:9 aspect ration to possibly be expanded to 6 or more (depending on what kind of vesa monitor mounts i can find for what price
    ■I'm fine doing this with single or multiple pci express video cards
    ■I'm not TOO picky on the connections though if the price is right i'd prefer going in the display port direction


The 4 monitors i'm buying have d-sub, dvi and display port connections

Right now the two cards i'm looking at now are:

The ZOTAC ZONE Edition ZT-60603-20L GeForce GT 610 which gives me two DVI and an HDMI connection (which is nice but not necessary) at 49.99 each i'm looking at 100 to accomplish what i want

The other i am looking at is PowerColor AXR7 250 2GBD5-4DL Radeon R7 250 2GB 128-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0; This gives me a 4 mini display port connections on one card but at a 139.99 price tag

Should i go with the more expensive one? Which is the best bang for the buck?

Remember this will not be used for anything other than the occasional minesweeper game I need something that can drive multiple programs in multiple monitors without lag but without breaking my entire budget

What say ye people of the Hardware of Tom?

 
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Ryan Strope

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Feb 19, 2015
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Well first off AMD is WAY cheaper than intel's offerings for the same performance .

Second I don't need an insane powerhouse. For the kind of stuff i'm doing with this PC an 8 core AMD is going to out perform an equivelent i5 i do NOT have the budget for a decent i7 so that's not even worth discussing.

Third it's a personal preference i've used both and while Intel has been beating out AMD in speed and power over the last quite a few years now I find from my own personal experience and builds that AMD processors are FAR more stable in the long haul especially when you are talking about overclocking and running multiple processor intensive tasks e.g. compiling, software stress testing, etc

Forth not to be rude because i DO appreciate the feedback but this was a question specifically about video card selection

Cheers,

Ryan
 
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Alec Mowat

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I don't think I agree there.

The FX-9590 won't out perform a low end i7 in anything other than synthetic benchmarks. It's over priced as well,
The FX-8350e is a better option for a workstation to me. I've never heard of stability issues on Intel processors, considering most servers run them these days. I've never seen a processor go bad, it's normally RAM or Harddrives, or motherboards.

The heat is an issue, and power consumption is an issue. You will need a good cooling solution, which will create unnecessary noise.

The motherboard is overkill, you don't need it. There's no reason to overclock a workstation.
The RAM is sufficient
The PSU is way over kill, 450W is plenty.

You are building a desktop workstation, but you are still thinking like a gamer. ;)

3 monitors are standard, but you can get 4 monitor cards.

I think you could save a fortune by dropping your components a lot and get a better card though. The 610 may choke on 3 monitors at 1080.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131575&cm_re=4_monitor_video_card-_-14-131-575-_-Product
 
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Ryan Strope

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I didn't list it but i'm going with a dual fan water block cooler for the CPU

As for the overkill i specifically selected the motherboard because it supported 2 full 16x pc express slots and 64 gigs of ram for a very reasonable price.

I went with the 750 watt powersupply because for the price jump from the 500 to 750 it was worth getting the extra

While i'm not looking for the fastest and greatest i'm also not looking to spend money to get what just barely does the job for the next few months hence the slightly better processor than the 8350 and the overkill of a powersupply because down the road i might want to swap out for more powerful graphics cards, I don't like to constrict myself when i'm doing a build because i don't know when the next time i'll have this kind of budget to build an entirely new system
 
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Ryan Strope

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Another HUGE point that i didn't think to mention because I did not think I would be getting into an interesting discussion about ALL of my choices for this build, is that i do a LOT of OS and software distribution packaging, testing, etc my primary job is our lead WDS/MDT/SCCM administrator and as such 99% of my life is spent creating, testing etc in multiple VMs across different systems hyper-v, v-sphere etc that alone is where having an 8 core AMD FX really helps out
 
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giantbucket

giantbucket

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ryan,

i'd look at these two cards:

Asus GT640-2GD3 - it's nvidia but can drive 4 displays per card, $100, DVI DVI HDMI VGA, i use 2 of these
www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121643

VisionTek 900614 ($240) or 900548 ($370) will each drive 6 monitors using miniDP ports, based on Radeon guts
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814129274
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814129262
 
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Ryan Strope

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Thanks for the suggestions I'm a bit anal retentive about my monitor hook ups I hate to have them different types of connections :p so the first one is out the other two i'm not sure what I would gain as a price/performance balance for 30 more i can throw in two of the 4 port mini display port cards and have 8 ports.

Though i may keep that in mind if I ever find a need or desk space to go beyond 8 monitors
 
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Alec Mowat

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I was going to say the only logical reason why you'd need that much RAM is VM's. But you could always just get a server and work remotely.
 
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Ryan Strope

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I do have several VM servers at work that i run off of normally but I don't have full control of them and I need the ability to have my own collection of locally hosted VM's especially when i'm working on something new I want to keep complete segregated from the production servers. On top of that since I work with VMs for work having something that can handle it at home even if its just for learning and testing is a huge benefit for me.

I have VERY specific needs that don't fit in with most standard PC builds which is why I grab what I need from all over the spectrum, from Gaming class MB so i can run 2 16x 3.0 video cards, to a bigger than usual modular power supply to give room for expansion and upgrade. Most of what You find here and in Google regarding PC build discussions are geared towards either gaming or GAMING!!

That said I always enjoy a good discussion with other people's opinions, simply because the more information i have the better decision i can make.

I've appreciated the feedback and the exchange.

Cheers,

Ryan
 
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Ryan Strope

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Shortest "answer" on here but dang it if it isn't the BEST one!

Thank you for taking the time to give your professional opinion!

I appreciate the help!
 
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Sintruder

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Thanks man! you're welcome

 
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