Geekzone: technology news, blogs, forums
Guest
Welcome Guest.
You haven't logged in yet. If you don't have an account you can register now.


richms

29098 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 10207

Trusted
Lifetime subscriber

#94731 17-Dec-2011 14:54
Send private message

Now I have 3 1080 monitors connected, one thru VGA (ick) I really need to sort out even a 1/4 decent graphics card so I can go all digital and also resolve the problems with moving video playback between screens. And more memory will mean that aero doesnt keep bailing on me too.

So I specifically want nvidia since ATI/AMD is just really annoying with its constant reenabling of overscan compensation on the digital outputs and they claim that its not a fault with their bios/drivers and treat you like a moron when you complain about it.

I have seen the giant hairdryer dual GPU cards with more than 2 outputs on them, but what other more sane options are there? Not really concerned about 3d stuff as I dont game, just want working aero and working h264 that I can move between screens without it stopping and starting again with a good change that it breaks.

I have a mini atx board and use all the slots so something that covers the next slot over isnt an option, and I cant really afford to upgrade the whole PC at the moment.




Richard rich.ms

Create new topic
MackinNZ
450 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 119

Lifetime subscriber

  #559029 17-Dec-2011 17:20
Send private message

I have an nVidia Quadro NVS 450 card that has 4 x display port outputs and drives 3 x 1680 x 1050 22 inch monitors through displayport to DVI adapters.  I'm not into gaming but I do watch a few movies and find it handles 1080p without a problem.

I bought it from PB Tech


(Edit: fixed the link) 



richms

29098 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 10207

Trusted
Lifetime subscriber

  #559038 17-Dec-2011 17:55
Send private message

Thats a lot more than I was planning on spending unfortunatly.

I was hoping that there was a card with like DVI, HDMI and displayport that could all run together and I could get a cheap displayport to HDMI or DVI adapter off it, lots of cards with 3 sockets, but prior testing has shown that the sockets being there means nothing towards using them at the same time.




Richard rich.ms

MackinNZ
450 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 119

Lifetime subscriber

  #559062 17-Dec-2011 18:45
Send private message

As you've already discovered, most cards with 3 x outputs can only use two of them at a time.  That's partly why the NVS 450 is more expensive, it can drive all 4 ports at the same time.



richms

29098 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 10207

Trusted
Lifetime subscriber

  #559065 17-Dec-2011 18:53
Send private message

Yeah, seems that the dual GPU hairdryer cards are the only way to go, and I dont know if 2 GPUs on one card would work any better than 2 seperate cards, which can be done for a lot cheaper therefore paying for a new motherboard. Might go back to 2 screens and drag a dinosaur PC out for the 3rd one since its really just doing youtube 90% of the time, and tweetdeck the rest.




Richard rich.ms

Create new topic








Geekzone Live »

Try automatic live updates from Geekzone directly in your browser, without refreshing the page, with Geekzone Live now.



Are you subscribed to our RSS feed? You can download the latest headlines and summaries from our stories directly to your computer or smartphone by using a feed reader.