6 monitor setup

[ripple_effect]

Hello everyone,
first post but its a big one
I am putting together a secondary system, which will be used primarily as a trading station, so it will not be used to do any gaming or video processing. However, I will have 10-12 windows open on average so plenty of ram is needed.
My question is about the 6 monitors setup I would like to have. I do not wish to spend a fortune on the video cards, so I am looking for some help on how I will do this. From my basic knowledge of the newest video cards, 5xxx series AMD cards seem to be the way to go, am I correct? I never used a system of more than 2 monitors so I am not sure how the hookups will go, but I would like to be able to put various open programs on different screens. I found some 5670 cards for a good price, would these do?

Thanks for all input. :biggrin:

 

[blastingcap]

Hello everyone,
first post but its a big one
I am putting together a secondary system, which will be used primarily as a trading station, so it will not be used to do any gaming or video processing. However, I will have 10-12 windows open on average so plenty of ram is needed.
My question is about the 6 monitors setup I would like to have. I do not wish to spend a fortune on the video cards, so I am looking for some help on how I will do this. From my basic knowledge of the newest video cards, 5xxx series AMD cards seem to be the way to go, am I correct? I never used a system of more than 2 monitors so I am not sure how the hookups will go, but I would like to be able to put various open programs on different screens. I found some 5670 cards for a good price, would these do?

Thanks for all input. :biggrin:

Get this

http://www.guru3d.com/article/radeon-hd-5870-eyefinity6-review/

Else, you need to do some daisy-chains with DisplayPort 1.2 or something like that. All monitors you use should have Displayport.

If that is not possible, then you will need a lot of active (not passive) DP->DVI or VGA converters to accommodate your monitors. Single link DVI adapters are fine up to 1920x1200 monitors, and you can find those for $30 or so. Double link DVI goes up to 2560x1600 but each adapter costs $100 or so.

 

[gorobei]

for a strictly 2d extended setup like you describe, there arent a lot of cheap options.

the current 68x0 radeons can do 4 screens on one card. (more if you use the displayport hubs which arent out and probably wont be that cheap)

anything in the lower end 5xx0 series is only likely to do 3 screens. the 5870 eyefinity6 was pretty pricey to begin with and you would need 6 dport enabled monitors.

your best budget solution would be to try to find one of the old eyefinity5 5770 cards. 5 mini dport outs on a single card. dont remember who made them, but if you have 5 cheap dell lcd's(with dport) then all you need will be the card and some mini-dport -> full dport cables.

 

[gorobei]

if you are less picky about a single card solution, then yes a pair of 5670 will work.

 

[ripple_effect]

for a strictly 2d extended setup like you describe, there arent a lot of cheap options.

the current 68x0 radeons can do 4 screens on one card. (more if you use the displayport hubs which arent out and probably wont be that cheap)

anything in the lower end 5xx0 series is only likely to do 3 screens. the 5870 eyefinity6 was pretty pricey to begin with and you would need 6 dport enabled monitors.

your best budget solution would be to try to find one of the old eyefinity5 5770 cards. 5 mini dport outs on a single card. dont remember who made them, but if you have 5 cheap dell lcd's(with dport) then all you need will be the card and some mini-dport -> full dport cables.

Thanks for the suggestion, I will look into some 5770 and see what I can do with those.