3x 30" displays

OilyRag · 18 Jun 2007 at 13:23

I've currently got a multi-monitor setup (4x 17") and am very tempted by a nice 30" Samsung 305T.

I'd like to eventually run 3 such monitors from 1 PC. The 30" monitors need Dual-DVI, which only seems to come on PCI-E (x16) cards. Current motherboards only seem to have spare PCI-E (x1) slots.

Is there a PCI-E (x1) graphics card that does dual-DVI?
Is anyone here running such a setup? (3x 30" monitors)

--Alan

spb251272 · 18 Jun 2007 at 13:25

Get an nforce 680i motherboard, it has 2 x PCIE 16 and 1 x PCIE 8. That should do the trick.

FreeStream · 18 Jun 2007 at 13:40

Err, why 3 30s!? :confused:

FreeStream · 18 Jun 2007 at 13:46

Edit: whoops! Forgot I hit submit

Boogle · 18 Jun 2007 at 14:12

Concorde Rules said:
Err, why 3 30s!?

Rich designer, stock broker, network diagnostics, etc. etc. The fact he wants a PCI-E 1x implies its definitely NOT for games, and he really does wants lots of desktop real estate.

As said earlier, just get a dual PCI-E 16x board (P965, P35), and two cards with dual dual-link DVI ports.

ergonomics · 18 Jun 2007 at 14:30

you can get a matrox splitter. they sell it ocuk in the matrox section. but yes one card, even high end, wouldnt be able to stretch to that res.

OilyRag · 19 Jun 2007 at 00:20

It's very much an idea at the moment, but I'd like to know if it can be done.

I would definitely play games, but only on the central monitor and so would use a faster graphics card for that.

I know from bitter experience that having the right slots doesn't always mean that you can run whatever you can plug in. Thanks to an AMI BIOS limitation, I couldn't use more than one graphics card at once on a previous ASUS motherboard (P4GPL-X), despite it having PCI-E and PCI slots, GRRR!

If anyone actually has this (3x 30") setup then please let me know.

--Alan

james.miller · 19 Jun 2007 at 00:24

ergonomics said:
you can get a matrox splitter. they sell it ocuk in the matrox section. but yes one card, even high end, wouldnt be able to stretch to that res.

no you cant, they dont support the resolutions

Toryglen-boy · 19 Jun 2007 at 03:06

OilyRag said:
I've currently got a multi-monitor setup (4x 17") and am very tempted by a nice 30" Samsung 305T.

I'd like to eventually run 3 such monitors from 1 PC. The 30" monitors need Dual-DVI, which only seems to come on PCI-E (x16) cards. Current motherboards only seem to have spare PCI-E (x1) slots.

Is there a PCI-E (x1) graphics card that does dual-DVI?

Is anyone here running such a setup? (3x 30" monitors)

--Alan

dude ...

you trying to overcompensate for something?

benji182 · 19 Jun 2007 at 16:02

i've got 2 24" monitors and i get neck ache just looking from the start button over to the close/max/minimize button on the second screen lol.

OilyRag · 25 Jun 2007 at 03:48

jaykay · 25 Jun 2007 at 09:18

Boogle said:
As said earlier, just get a dual PCI-E 16x board (P965, P35), and two cards with dual dual-link DVI ports.

That wont work as he needs 3 30". And they need 2 dvi plugs each. The only way is to get a board with 3 pci-e slots on it aka 680i.
Like this http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-222-AS&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=205

Though it does mean you will need to upgrade your current system if you dont use a c2d one.

Mud · 25 Jun 2007 at 09:42

I've briefly run it, it's seriously excessive! My desk is 1.5m and I could barely fit the stands on the desk (and the screens themselves stood proud of the edge of the desk).

Mud · 25 Jun 2007 at 09:44

jaykay said:
That wont work as he needs 3 30". And they need 2 dvi plugs each. The only way is to get a board with 3 pci-e slots on it aka 680i.
Like this http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-222-AS&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=205

Though it does mean you will need to upgrade your current system if you dont use a c2d one.

Dual-link DVI runs through a single (fat) cable, modern cards (some 79x0's, all 8800's to my knowledge) have dual-dual-link DVI.

jaykay · 25 Jun 2007 at 09:53

Oh yes you are correct my bad

Dual Dual-link DVI Support:
Able to drive the industry's largest and highest resolution flat-panel displays up to 2560x1600. Available on select GeForce 8800 and 8600 GPUs.

One Dual-link DVI Support:
Able to drive the industry's largest and highest resolution flat-panel displays up to 2560x1600. Available on select GeForce 8500 GPUs.

Off nvidia website.

snowdog · 25 Jun 2007 at 09:54

Get any moderm mobo with 3x physical 16x slots and use any gfx in all 3 of them, 680i boards are an example ( asus striker, p5n32-e sli, bfg/evga 680i, etcetc...) , as are the upcoming x38 boards from intel.
Then 3 cards with dual dvi, like 8600's or 1950 pro's or even 1650 pro's.

squarepusher · 25 Jun 2007 at 12:24

make sure you post a pic of 3x 30" please :eek:

OilyRag · 26 Jun 2007 at 15:47

I didn't know that you could get motherboards with 3x PCI-E(x16) slots so thanks for that information.

Realistically, I wouldn't want to be running 3 powerful graphics cards as the outer monitors wouldn't be used for gaming.

dude
you trying to overcompensate for something?

Dude, have you seen what 4x pr0n looks like?

Thanks for all your help so far chaps.

--Alan

james.miller · 26 Jun 2007 at 15:57

OilyRag said:
I didn't know that you could get motherboards with 3x PCI-E(x16) slots so thanks for that information.

Realistically, I wouldn't want to be running 3 powerful graphics cards as the outer monitors wouldn't be used for gaming.

thats no problem. just get two of the cheapest cards you can find with dual-link dvi connectors