Three workstation video cards on a X16, x8, x4 board?

I am putting together a desktop with 12 ( Dell U2412M ) 24 inch monitors for watching stock market charts.

I have bought three ATI FirePro 2460 Cards, each supporting 4 monitors. According to AMD, these cards are designed to do just that.

http://www.amd.com/us/products/wor [...] iremv.aspx

I need help choosing a motherboard for three ATI FirePro 2460 running in non-crossfire mode.

I am limited to what is available in following two websites because of my location. ( You just might get surprised )

http://www.theitwares.com/computer [...] _catid=101

http://www.theitdepot.com/products [...] s_C13.html

I can't afford to make a mistake because of no return & no refund policy.

I would appreciate all the help.

Thank You.

So it's not just me, it's a tough question

The slot is physically an x16 slot, I think. I believe all three slots are X16 in electrical and size terms.

Apparently, it's just a question of bandwidth available? Anyone?

I agree with Proximon.Any motherboard with 3 PCI-E x16 slots should work fine with the cards

It's definitely safer to go with a more expensive board that has the NF200 controller I think. That also gives you a 4th slot for another card and the slight speed edge the high end boards provide.

For what your needs are (NOT GAMING aka 2D) an x16/x8/x4 has no bearing any bandwidth is fine. You need a NF200 MOBO like a hole in the head.

Start here - http://sites.amd.com/us/business/p [...] onals.aspx

Regarding a MOBO/CPU - "watching stock market charts" is low CPU/GPU usage so any current CPU and MOBO with 3 PCIe full slots will work with AMD.

Example - 12 monitor system -> http://www.naplestech.com/shopcart/quadstation_12.asp
Example of GPU's used -> http://www.naplestech.com/shopcart/products.asp?cat=10

As long as the GPU outputs can connect to the monitor you're good.

Example:
ASUS P8Z68-V
i5-2500
2x4GB DDR3-1333
(3) FirePro 2460 DVI ONLY or FirePro 2450 DVI & VGA
(12) Monitors
(2) 6 Monitor stands
IMO (2) HDD in RAID 1
850W PSU ; I like Corsair
Mid-Tower Case ; I ; I like the Cooler Master CM690 II Advanced
Window 7 Professional
DVD
Keyboard & Mouse
Luck in Trading

My calculations came to 650W to 750W - I deliberately left room. The PRO GPUs often pull a little more than the HD's. So IMO better too big than too small i.e. Return Policy.

You're harping on PSU, then "My calculations came to 650W to 750W" one of those. I spent 3 seconds of thought on the PSU.

The OP could put a 1500W and it would work, BUT too small and havoc.

SAME PRICE ($4) -> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 139-010-TS which one would you get??

I answered the question regarding a MOBO, and looked at the OP's site to confirm availability.

The India site has Corsair and Seasonic both are excellent PSU's
(CMPSU-750TXV2) INR 5915 ($121 USD)
(CMPSU850TXV2) INR 6660 ($136 USD)

This isn't a 3D build it's a 2D and slow at that for market ticker, graphs and charts.

If the OP was wanting to watch 6 movies, play some games, and otherwise an 'off-use' then sure I'd start thinking about more PCIe lanes and saturation. I seriously doubt each FirePro 2460 will saturate more than x1 PCIe lane much less x4 and you're kidding x8.

Scaling -> http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews [...] ing/1.html even on 'gaming' note some of the x4 vs x8 vs x16.

Next, the OP will NOT be using 12 x Resolution as you do in 'gaming' instead each screen is it own thing aka independent. Otherwise if the OP maximized a screen (Window) it would go across ALL 12 monitors.

Would Intel Motherboard DX58S0 & 3 FirePro 2460 work ?


And are there more than one versions of DX58S0 ? I mean some with only 2 PCIe x16 slots & other with 3 PCIe x16 slots ?

I don't like that MOBO because it has too many problematic issues, nor do I recommend Intel MOBOs in general though I know they're making a point to build more aggressive ones for LGA 2011 so the verdict is still out. Sure you can use an X58, thought you might be thinking about it after the 12 monitor links. I looked and I didn't see that you purchased anything more than the GPUs and perhaps a slue of Dell monitors.

I have 11 ASUS P6X58D-E for my office, love them - work flawlessly. link - http://www.theitdepot.com/details- [...] P8855.html Many will argue performance to price LGA 1155 vs LGA 1366, but the performance differences are negligible, though the i7-970/980 are indeed expensive so it might be worth waiting a few weeks until mid-November for both an LGA 2011 MOBO and LGA 2011 CPU (Core I7-3930K / 6 core) and Quad Channel memory 4x4GB DDR3-1333.

ASUS P6X58D-E PCIe 2.0 (x16, x8, x8) - http://usa.asus.com/Motherboards/I [...] ifications
Intel Core i7-960 (4 core) - http://ark.intel.com/products/3715 [...] Intel-QPI)
Intel Core i7-980 (6 core) - http://ark.intel.com/products/5866 [...] Intel-QPI)

ASUS P6X58D-E
Intel Core i7-960 (4 core) <or> Intel Core i7-970 (6 core) <or> Intel Core i7-980 (6 core)
3x4GB DDR3-1333
(3) FirePro 2460 DVI ONLY or FirePro 2450 DVI & VGA
(12) Monitors
(2) 6 Monitor stands
IMO (2) HDD in RAID 1
850W PSU ; I like Corsair
Mid-Tower Case ; I ; I like the Cooler Master CM690 II Advanced
Window 7 Professional
DVD
Keyboard & Mouse

See for yourself -> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandy [...] processors

November 14, 2011 - http://vr-zone.com/articles/sandy- [...] 13652.html

I would look at the i7-3930K, 6-core and $583 est USD.

Both the Prices and Release date have remained CONSTANT since the Intel 'B2' recall, otherwise that SB-E / LGA 2011 would have been for sale already for a month or two...

Thank You.

Any idea of what percentage performance difference it would make ?

It is not just the charts most non technical people are used to seeing it.

Depending on the chart application you use it could be quite intensive.

In my case I will be watching 12 charts on 12 Monitors. Each chart has 14 indicators that has to be recalculated for each new data point that comes in every mili second.

I don't know how that compares to some other complicated applications.

Oh ! OK. No need to apologize. You guys are tremendous help.

Ego up, Performance same. Hey it always good to feel 'good' about your system

Now if you are analyzing 5 year histories on a database with 100's or 1000's of stocks on your PC in some form of complex relational calculations that takes several minutes to perform the differences might be a few seconds.

However, all the Day Traders I know rely on stock database servers outside their home/office to do the computations and 'push' the data to them. Meaning all your PC is doing is being a 'Terminal' slapping data per request on to the screen, and the best ways to improve that performance are: 1. Good ISP with short 'ping rates' (low latency) and sufficient bandwidth (Telco vs Third party ISP - less hops). 2. Good Stock service provider, 3. RAM, 4. SSD, 5. LAN performance (Commercial CISCO Router/Switches and NIC Card - Intel vs Realtek/Marvell - you probably couldn't perceive it).

Ping you Stock Service Provider and count the hops and see the ms delays.

Yeah mine, Verizon FIOS, is 50Mbps down / 20Mbps up on fiber with unlimited data. However, I clearly remember my metered ISDN 128Kbps days.

Fortunately, 2Mbps is more than plenty bandwidth for the type of data you're analyzing but if the Ping is high there's no point in an expensive NIC.

So what did you decide on?

^+1 Hey - I tried!

1st post:
"For what your needs are (NOT GAMING aka 2D) an x16/x8/x4 has no bearing any bandwidth is fine.
Example:
ASUS P8Z68-V
......"

I don't (rarely) recommend AMD especially IF the tread begins with 'Intel'

Also, I assumed you were a P67 ASUS WS + SB guy?! I like (your) MOBO for 3-WAY + PhysX.

It did actually occur to me... maybe I should have linked the original thread

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/ [...] ld-desktop

WS boards are great, but if he can't see the extra performance he isn't using the extra performance

Yes, the performance of that slot sux, but only relative to the main slots and only in high-bandwidth games

Also look at some motherboard reviews, some midrange motherboards disable onboard controllers when a third graphics card is used because the chipset runs out of lanes. Cheaper boards that have fewer controllers don't have that problem

Well, the OP is already pushing $5k with the monitors and graphics cards alone.

For the $5k I just did a quick glance for that monitor and the ones I saw were $300-350, so I'm not surprised it can be found cheaper.