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graphics card to drive 3 x (DVI) monitors

Junrix

Junrix

Junrix

Associate
Joined
31 Jul 2011
Posts
7
I'm looking to build a replacement for my existing PC system and am
looking for some advice and guidance on the issue of graphics cards.

My current system I built in 2007 and has 2 x "Sapphire ATI Radeon X1950
Pro Ultimate Silent 256MB" cards each with 2 x DVI sockets. I have a three
monitor setup (3 x "Dell Ultrasharp 2407WFP 24 inch LCD"). They have DVI
and VGA sockets. One of the cards is connected to one monitor and the
other card to two monitors via DVI. I run Windows 7 Home 64-bit and the
monitors run at 1920 x 1280. I have my taskbar in the central monitor only
and my desktop extends to the other monitors. My usage is not especially
graphics intensive. I don't play games at all. I'm a programmer and I'm
typically running my email application, some web browsers with additional
debugging windows open, and some terminal windows in which I'm editing
code files or watching log files and other diagnostic stuff. I do some
occasional video editing (using Pinnacle Studio). I suspect that one of my
existing cards might be developing a fault as I'm getting an increasing
occurrence of visual defects on the two monitors that it's attached to.

I'm planning on building a new PC with an LGA1155 socket motherboard and
either a Core i5 or Core i7 Sandy Bridge CPU. I need to drive those same
three monitors. Can you suggest a solution (graphics card(s))? Some
additional questions/thoughts: -

If I go for a motherboard with a P67 chipset it won't have any graphics
capability, but if I go for an H67 chipset then the motherboard will have
graphics. Is it possible/practical/sensible to connect one monitor to the
motherboard and the other two to a single graphics card?

If I go for a P67 chipset motherboard, my three monitors would then all
have to connect to one or more graphics cards. Is there a single graphics
cards that I can connect all three monitors to. I don't see any graphics
cards with three DVI connectors, what about using adapters/cables that
will connect a DVI monitor to an HDMI output on a card. Is that
possible/practical/sensible?

I don't think I need anything like top-end graphics cards as I'm not doing
gaming. I don't want a lot of noise from any graphics cards that I fit -
thus my original choice of the X1950 Pro Ultimate Silent.

Whatever I do, I need to keep my monitors at 1920 x 1280 and I prefer a
single taskbar in the middle monitor.

I've seen some Sapphire blurb making reference to SLS (Single Large
Surface). What's that? I'm wondering if it's a special arrangement whereby
Windows only sees one large 'screen' and the hardware splits the image
across multiple monitors? In that case would I end up with a large taskbar
across all monitors?

Thanks for any help.
 
The Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 6950 FLEX blurb talks of having "three DVI monitors in Eyefinity mode and deliver a true SLS (Single Large Surface) work area". What's Eyefinity and SLS? Is that going to differ from my current setup where Windows knows I have 3 monitors and managed them such that the taskbar is on one monitor only. This Eyefinity/SLS thing - does Windows only see it as one monitor?
 
You won't be able to use 2 x DVI and hdmi.
You will need to use the display port (via active adaptor) if your monitor doesnt support it.
 
mrplou said:
You won't be able to use 2 x DVI and hdmi.
You will need to use the display port (via active adaptor) if your monitor doesnt support it.
Click to expand...

Yes he will with the card I linked to.

Most graphics cards based on AMD technology require the third monitor in an Eyefinity set-up to be a DisplayPort monitor, or connected with an active DisplayPort Adapter. The SAPPHIRE FleX family can support three DVI monitors in Eyefinity mode and deliver a true SLS (Single Large Surface) work area without the need for costly active adapters. The first two monitors are connected to the two DVI ports and the third to an HDMI to DVI cable (supplied) with no extra hardware required.
Click to expand...
 
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