Widescreen Gaming Forum

Hi,

I have XPS 8300 Desktop from Dell with following specs.

I didn't foresee that I would need 8 monitors when I ordered this PC.

But now I do. I want to connect 8, 24 inch Dell U2412M monitors with Max Resolution of 1920x1200 on each of those 8 Monitors. They have DisplayPorts.

I want to use this setup of 8 Monitors to watch stock charts. I don't play any games at all but do watch Videos.

What hardware changes do I need to make to connect 8 Monitors to it ?

I would like to keep Dell Motherboard for warranty reasons but I can change video card & power supply.

I have not bought the monitors yet.

Dell XPS 8300

There is only One PCIe 16 slot and it has GeForce GT530 - 1GB GDDR3 (VGA/HDMI/DVI) which I can remove.

There are 3 PCIe 1 slots ( One is Free ) ( Other 2 have sound card & TV Tuner Card & I can throw them away if those slots are needed )

460 Watt Power Supply

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

Chipset Intel® H67

8GB (4X2GB) DDR3 SDRAM 1333MHz Memory

NVIDIA GeForce GT530 - 1GB GDDR3 (VGA/HDMI/DVI)

Windows - 7 Ultimate ( 64 bit )


Thank you all.

Attached files

You've gotten several responses over at Hardware Heaven. Why haven't you checked back there instead of scattering the same question all over the place?

http://www.hardwareheaven.com/amd-graphics-cards/211891-how-do-i-connect-6-8-monitors-desktop.html

With that pc using a single nvidia card as listed (although an ati card is shown in the picture) you will only be able to drive 2 displays.

Ideally you would need something like an ati5870 e6 which has 6 display port outputs. plus an addtional card for the remaning 2 monitors, such as the nvidia you have, if you can insert the two cards.

An alternative as you are not playing games and only the occasional bit of video and mostly stock data, you could use a set of USB>VGA/DVI/HDMI graphics cards.

An example would be these...
http://www.amazon.co.uk/ClimaxDigital-supports-External-Videocard-converter/dp/B004E7B8D8/ref=pd_cp_computers_2

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/scan-usb2-vgahrs-usb-20-to-vga-adaptor-for-svga-monitor-output-%28max-6%29-supports-up-to-1920x1200

Thank you.

Those USB adapters look interesting. They have better reviews than others.

actually 5870 e6 for only stock market charts display os little overkill

If you have pci-e X1 slot and one x16 - 2x quadro nvs440 or 2x fire pro 2460mv should do job and takes about only 40W power

or maybe HD5770 (hd6770) eyefinity 5 + hd5450 with dp slot (pci-e x1) (overall cost 160$)

hd5770/6770 e5 + 3x usb cards is a option too

actually 5870 e6 for only stock market charts display os little overkill

If you have pci-e X1 slot and one x16 - 2x quadro nvs440 or 2x fire pro 2460mv should do job and takes about only 40W power

or maybe HD5770 (hd6770) eyefinity 5 + hd5450 with dp slot (pci-e x1) (overall cost 160$)

hd5770/6770 e5 + 3x usb cards is a option too

Really good suggestions. Really appreciate it.

Would fire pro 2460 work for playing regular movie videos after market hours ?

Also it comes with 4 mini dp to DVI converters but would converting to DVI still give me 1920x1200 Resolution ? From what I read, you wouldn't get full resolution unless you use dp ports.

USB cards don't seem to have good reputation.

Since you need 6 DP ports, my suggestion would be:

The displayport requirement and the 1x PCIe slots make this a difficult answer to give. It really screws up your options.

I suggest...
Two AMD FireMV 2260: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814195068
One AMD FivePro 2460: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814195099

Be mindful that you'll need four of your cables to be "mini-dp to dp"
http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10246&cs_id=1024606&p_id=6006&seq=1&format=2

Really good suggestions. Really appreciate it.
Would fire pro 2460 work for playing regular movie videos after market hours ?
Also it comes with 4 mini dp to DVI converters but would converting to DVI still give me 1920x1200 Resolution ? From what I read, you wouldn't get full resolution unless you use dp ports.
USB cards don't seem to have good reputation.

You said you have monitors with DP so thats why i reccomend 5/6770 e5 + 5450 @ pci-e x1 bcoz you will get them for cheap (as I said this will be 160$ overall costs)
and second advantage - dp cables are very thin so easy to make good cable managment.

dp to dvi or vga can operate 1920x1200 max (on cheap adapters)

Since you need 6 DP ports, my suggestion would be:
The displayport requirement and the 1x PCIe slots make this a difficult answer to give. It really screws up your options.
I suggest...
Two AMD FireMV 2260: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814195068
One AMD FivePro 2460: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814195099

Be mindful that you'll need four of your cables to be "mini-dp to dp"
http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10246&cs_id=1024606&p_id=6006&seq=1&format=2

this option can be work too but thats 500$ for gpus and i think he have only two slots 1x x16 and 1x x1,

Also dont see the point of buing pci-e x1 2x DP card for 130$ instead of that you can buy sapphire 5450 with DP (DVI/DP/VGA) for about 40-50$
in ghetto way you can always buy regular 5450 with dp and cut gpu pci-e slot :X

The point was mostly not to confuse matters by mixing professional nad consumer line cards and drivers. Also to make sure the ports were all DP-based. The PCIe 1x slot requirements make thigns a total pain. :)

Technically speaking he could hack a PCIe 1x riser to accept a second 4-port PCIe 16x card, but it's not a clean installtion to it that way. A PCIe 1x riser is perfactly capable of running a 16x card. It's been proven in other forums.

The point was mostly not to confuse matters by mixing professional nad consumer line cards and drivers. Also to make sure the ports were all DP-based. The PCIe 1x slot requirements make thigns a total pain. :)

Technically speaking he could hack a PCIe 1x riser to accept a second 4-port PCIe 16x card, but it's not a clean installtion to it that way. A PCIe 1x riser is perfactly capable of running a 16x card. It's been proven in other forums.

Can you please clarify when you say "it is not clean install ? " Would it make any difference in the way it will operate ? Sorry I am a newbie to all this stuff & appreciate all your help. I do know clean install of an OS.

Can you also post links where the topic of using 16 to 1 converter is discussed ?

Thank You.