4 Port nVidia Card?

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
M

Mr Bob

Golden Member
Sep 6, 2004
1,757
12
81
I'm looking for a new video card that has 4 ports for monitors. Right now I have 3 DVI and 1 HDMI connected to my current setup (the current HDMI cable connects to a DVI adapter so it fits my video card).

I have plenty of room in my case, more than enough power, but I'm just not sure what price point I want to come in at for the video card.

I haven't done much gaming lately, but I do a TON of 1080p video streaming, definitely not planning to OC.

I'd rather stick with nVidia, even if the price/performance is better with ATI.

I'm looking for a good deal, not a top of the line card, but something right there middle price vs performance. I can buy locally at Fry's Electronics or online, I'm not in a major rush, so I'm hoping to find just a rock solid deal that I can't justify passing up.

Any suggestions? From what I've read, we're still months away from any major video card improvements, so it's going to be months before prices have any major drops.


Computer specs:

Win 7 x64
Lian Li PC-V2100A Plus
Corsair HX850 PSU
Core i7 3770K
Asus P8Z68-V Pro Gen3
Coresair 2x8GB PC3-10700 (667mhz)
NVIDIA GeForce 8600 GTS x2
Intel 520 SSD
 
T

ther00kie16

Golden Member
Mar 28, 2008
1,573
0
0
If you are only streaming, even the integrated video should be fine.
Your 8600GTS is not about on par with the integrated video in terms of performance.
 
Keysplayr

Keysplayr

Elite Member
Jan 16, 2003
21,211
50
91
GTX660Ti, GTX670, GTX680, GTX690 all have the ability to output to 4 monitors from a single card.
All other previous gens, with the exception of the GTX590 (3 monitors in surround), could output to only 2 monitors at one time.

Seeing how you do not game, and want to stay with Nvidia, you'd have to utilize 2 cards of previous gen (any card really) or spend more for a single GTX6xx series.
 
M

Mr Bob

Golden Member
Sep 6, 2004
1,757
12
81
I have trouble streaming 1080p movies to the projector with my current card, basic video is just fine, but the HD starts to slow things down a bit.

In order to use the CPU, I would need to utilize the onboard video, which means I'm limited to only 2 video outputs, whereas I need 4.
 
S

Smoblikat

Diamond Member
Nov 19, 2011
5,184
107
106
AND HD 4870X2, HD 5850/5870 are all good choices for a cheap 4 monitor solution (not nvidia though, though it doesnt matter)
 
dave_the_nerd

dave_the_nerd

Lifer
Feb 25, 2011
16,991
1,620
126
Mr Bob said:
I have trouble streaming 1080p movies to the projector with my current card, basic video is just fine, but the HD starts to slow things down a bit.
Click to expand...

Slow things down how? Framerate?

The 8600 has a h.264 decoder, which should be adequate to the task here.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/2220/8

If it's disabled, the CPU processes it same as it processes any unsupported video codec (in software, using it's "traditional" CPU cores, instead of the onboard video processor - this is true whether you're using the onboard video or an external board.)

That should work too - you have a beast of a CPU.
 
M

Mr Bob

Golden Member
Sep 6, 2004
1,757
12
81
Slow things down how? Framerate?

The 8600 has a h.264 decoder, which should be adequate to the task here.
Click to expand...
- Framerate is slow... it's just not as smooth as I would expect.

If it's disabled, the CPU processes it same as it processes any unsupported video codec (in software, using it's "traditional" CPU cores, instead of the onboard video processor - this is true whether you're using the onboard video or an external board.)
Click to expand...
- Right.. so that won't work because I need 4 outputs... Onboard only gives me two :(
 
Magic Carpet

Magic Carpet

Diamond Member
Oct 2, 2011
3,477
233
106
Mr Bob said:
- Right.. so that won't work because I need 4 outputs... Onboard only gives me two :(
Click to expand...
This. Not cheap, but it's actually a really nice card for general use.

Also this:
While NVIDIA still has some room to grow and bugs to fix, at this point it’s certainly the best HTPC card we’ve tested yet; 6/20/2012
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
ViRGE

ViRGE

Elite Member, Moderator Emeritus
Oct 9, 1999
31,516
167
106
Isn't GTX 650 due this month? Assuming you can find one with two DVI ports, an HDMI port, and a DisplayPort, that would be perfect for the OP. Otherwise I'd think you're sure to find a GTX 660 card (also due this month) like that. This is of course assuming the OP doesn't want to use a VGA port for the 4th monitor like Magic proposes
 
Keysplayr

Keysplayr

Elite Member
Jan 16, 2003
21,211
50
91
But I think you're limited to only a split signal "span" mode and not 4 independently controlled displays. Less flexible than optimal. Be careful here and make sure that is all you need or all you want.
It looks to me like it's just splitting each of the two RAMDAC outputs into four. Span only.
 
T

ther00kie16

Golden Member
Mar 28, 2008
1,573
0
0
Don't get Galaxy MDT cards unless you are absolutely sure it'll work for what you want. Previous generations had limits such as 1600x1200 (gtx460 i think) & 50hz (gtx560).
Just get a 600 series. Otherwise, you can always add a card to use in addition to your onboard video, which should be plenty to stream 1080p.
My guess is something's not enabled somewhere, whether it's hardware or software.
 
NTMBK

NTMBK

Lifer
Nov 14, 2011
10,411
5,677
136
I'm curious as to why it has to be nVidia- do you require CUDA support, or something similar? (I only ask as my HD7770 has four outputs, and can apparently support up to six displays through some port splitting black magic.)

EDIT: You could of course just use two separate video cards.
 
dave_the_nerd

dave_the_nerd

Lifer
Feb 25, 2011
16,991
1,620
126
Mr Bob said:
- Framerate is slow... it's just not as smooth as I would expect.
Click to expand...

Use FRAPS to verify that your framerate is actually below 24fps.

Then check CPU and GPU load with Task Manager and GPU-Z. If you're maxing something out, that's one thing but otherwise, it's bad encoding or I/O issues, not your video card.

- Right.. so that won't work because I need 4 outputs... Onboard only gives me two :(
Click to expand...

...no. The CPU decodes the video, sends it to a video card, and the video card outputs it to a screen. It's what your computer is doing right now with the Windows desktop. The decoder on the GPU only handles certain types of video formats.
 
lopri

lopri

Elite Member
Jul 27, 2002
13,310
687
126
Where are the TON of 1080p clips? In your C: drive? (120 GB?)

You did not state your storage subsystem. I assume you are not filling that 120-minus-OS GB with videos. If you are trying to stream multiple HD clips off of, say, an external USB 2.0 drive, there is no video card in the world that can help with smoothness.
 
RussianSensation

RussianSensation

Elite Member
Sep 5, 2003
19,458
765
126
I would get this card for $40 and then once the September 30 rebate expires, buy a 2nd one October 1st for $40. 2 of these will support 4 monitors @ 2560x1600! That's $80 to get (dual-link dual-DVI) x2. Very future proof too if you ever get 4x 27-30 inch monitors 2560x1440/1600 monitors.
 
M

Mr Bob

Golden Member
Sep 6, 2004
1,757
12
81
I'm curious as to why it has to be nVidia- do you require CUDA support, or something similar?
Click to expand...
- I've had too many bad experiences with ATI and refuse to support that company, even if they have a faster product for less money.

...no. The CPU decodes the video, sends it to a video card, and the video card outputs it to a screen. It's what your computer is doing right now with the Windows desktop. The decoder on the GPU only handles certain types of video formats.
Click to expand...
- Ah, so you're not talking about connecting it to the onboard video, but to use DLNA or some kind of streaming app to get the content to the display. Problem with that is I often want to move windows to my actual projector. So it's one thing to stream a 1080p movie to my PS3 through PS3MediaServer, and another thing to be able to move an internet window over to the projector's screen.

Where are the TON of 1080p clips? In your C: drive? (120 GB?)
Click to expand...
- Some of on a few 2TB drives, others on a NAS.
 
dave_the_nerd

dave_the_nerd

Lifer
Feb 25, 2011
16,991
1,620
126
No, I'm really not talking about DLNA.

I'm talking about playing a video. Your CPU is powerful enough that which GPU you're using doesn't matter.
 
lopri

lopri

Elite Member
Jul 27, 2002
13,310
687
126
dave_the_nerd said:
No, I'm really not talking about DLNA.

I'm talking about playing a video. Your CPU is powerful enough that which GPU you're using doesn't matter.
Click to expand...
In theory, yes. But not in practice because players and drivers often mess up with the codecs/filters and priorities.

GTX 650 or 660 should be plenty except for the most demanding scenarios. It is not wise to get pre-Kepler GPU from NV for HD playbacks at this point, IMO, unless budget is tight. I don't know why the OP did not dump those 8600s earlier if s/he is sensitive to HD playbacks.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom