How do I connect 6 Monitors to this desktop ?

[georgetok]

Hi,

Just bought a new Dell XPS 8300 Desktop PC from with following specs.

The purpose of this PC is to watch 6 stock charts at a time on 6, (24 inch, 1080p) Monitors.
I don’t play games but watch Video sometimes.

I would like to connect as many monitors as possible but at least 6 if possible

Can you guys tell me how to do that & what other hardware changes like video cards, cables ( Type, Brand ) etc. do I need to make ?


Dell XPS 8300

i7-2600 Processor (3.4GHz, 8MB Cache)

Chipset Intel® H67

8GB DDR3 SDRAM 1333MHz Memory

NVIDIA GeForce GT530 1GB GDDR3 (VGA/HDMI/DVI) Video Card.

Windows - 7 Ultimate ( 64 bit )


Thank you all.

 

[jaguarskx]

The most monitors you can connect to a single video card is 6. It will be a bit expensive since a powerful video card is require to drive 6 monitors that are up to 2560 x 1600 resolution. Needless to say it will be impossible to play games with such a massive resolution, but you are not going to play games anyway.

The following VisionTek 900373 Radeon HD 6870 can connect up to 6 monitors, but they all need a DisplayPort connection in order for you to do so.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814129184

 

[phamhlam]

You can alwasy quad SLI a 590 or have dual 580. Most perferably, you should check out Nvidia Quadro which is focus more on your needs.

 

[jaguarskx]

Alternatively, you can buy two video cards with each card driving three monitors. Those cards need to have Eyefinity support (AMD Radeon cards only) and your motherboard must have two PCI-e slots. The following GIGABYTE GV-R677D5-1GD Radeon HD 6770 is an example of a Radeon card with Eyefinity support. Combined they will cost less than the Radeon HD 6870 I recommended above.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125396

There is a $20 rebate for the card, but I'm pretty sure it is limited to 1 rebate per household. If you want the rebate for both cards, then get a buddy to order the other card and ask him to sign over the rebate check to you when it is received.

Those video card comes with a free coupon for Dirt 3 (a racing game). You can just give them away to friends/family.

 

[4745454b]

How many PCIe 16x slots do you have? I'd go for two Eyefinity cards. Two monitors will need to be using DP, but the adapters aren't that expensive anymore.

 

[jaguarskx]

According to Dell's specs for the XPS 8300, you only have a single PCI-e slot. That basically rules out using two video cards.

The minimum requirement for the HD 6870, per AMD, is a 500w power supply. Your Dell comes with a 460w. Generally speaking Dell underrates their power supplies (made by Fortron Source) a little bit. Meaning they are slightly more powerful that what the label states.

I normally would not tell a person with a rig like your and a Radeon HD 6870 to upgrade the power supply. However, most people are not trying to drive 6 monitors with a single video card which does mean higher power consumption compared just driving one monitor. The last thing you want is for your computer to fail on you in the middle of a trading day where you can potentially loose thousands of $$$ on the stocks you are day trading.

I recommend the following Corsair 600w PSU for your PC for $60 after rebate. There's a 10% off discount code you can use at checkout to further bring down the price.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139028

 

[4745454b]

If you only have one PCIe slot then your options are limited. Are there any Eyefinity capable PCIe 1x cards? He doesn't need them linked together so perhaps he can just use three cards, putting 2 monitors on each. That or you need the Eyefinity 5870, or one of the new 6xxx cards and a DP hub. I think thats the term. It lets you use a bunch of DP monitors all at the same time.

 

[georgetok]

Let me clear up few things.

When I ordered this rig, I was going to use a 55 inch LCD to watch 6 charts but with very little knowledge of Hardware I was wrong. But even then where I live, this was the top of the line rig & didn't give many choices for video card or anything else for that matter.

Now I am kinda overwhelmed with all the tech stuff but you guys are great with all the ideas so I am very grateful.

Anything related to video cards, I have to import it so that would double the price with shipping & import duty. So I can not afford to be wrong because I can not return it.

One more option is similar to what is suggested here & that is :

ATI Radeon™ HD 5870 Eyefinity 6 Edition Graphics

http://www.amd.com/us/products/deskt.../overview.aspx

It is not cheap at $ 520.oo but would it work with the hardware I have ? It also requires 600 Watt PS.

Another one is going for 4 USB video cards plus 2 will come out of my video card but that is my stupid logic.

One more but that supports only 3 monitors but will work with current video card & that is :

Matrox TripleHead2Go

http://www.matrox.com/graphics/en/products/gxm/th2go/

How do I make it work for 6 monitors ? I guess add 3 USB video cards ?

Just some strange ideas running in my head.

Please comment.

Thank you.

 

[4745454b]

USB video cards are possible, but I don't suggest them. They have some issues and require CPU power to run. One might be ok, but 3 or 4 of them will tax a system.

Two video cards not running in Eyefinity or CF is probably your best/cheapest bet. I'm pretty sure you can run two sets of three cards each.

 

[liborloans]

GEORGETOK.... I am in the same position, looking to buy the xls8300 for stock trading, would want all 5-6 monitors to have different data ... please advise what you did in the end. Thanks JBG

Hi,

Just bought a new Dell XPS 8300 Desktop PC from with following specs.

The purpose of this PC is to watch 6 stock charts at a time on 6, (24 inch, 1080p) Monitors.
I don’t play games but watch Video sometimes.

I would like to connect as many monitors as possible but at least 6 if possible

Can you guys tell me how to do that & what other hardware changes like video cards, cables ( Type, Brand ) etc. do I need to make ?


Dell XPS 8300

i7-2600 Processor (3.4GHz, 8MB Cache)

Chipset Intel® H67

8GB DDR3 SDRAM 1333MHz Memory

NVIDIA GeForce GT530 1GB GDDR3 (VGA/HDMI/DVI) Video Card.

Windows - 7 Ultimate ( 64 bit )


Thank you all.