Want to get a 6 monitor setup for my Dad...

[Sam Whatley]

Have been kind of going round in circles and can't find a reliable source of knowledge/advice.

Basically he does online betting and doesn't have great eyesight so needs 6+ monitors to get everything sized and spaced.

The PC just needs to run multiple instances of a browser - that's it - so loads of the builds I am seeing feel a little overpowered - whilst I appreciate that getting 6 feeds will require some decent GFx hardware, this thing will never see a game installed. Also he doesn't mind using the VGA out of the MB as his monitors are [3 x HD] and [3 x old 19"ers] - he's upgrading these over time.

In my searching I found some guys who seem to sell themselves as experts on this issue...
..but their build price (£1040 inc) was more than speccing a triple-GTX710 setup (£690)

Anyone on here done this before? I like OC and have bought stuff here before with no fuss, but never bought a whole system.

Bit of a ramble, but any tips appreciated.

Sam

 

[Clutch!]

Can't advise too much on the GPU processing power needed to drive 6 monitors.

But you will need to remove competitor links or risk a telling off.

Someone should be along shortly to advise on spec needed

 

[Quartz]

Have you considered a projector as an alternative to multiple screens?

 

[Sam Whatley]

Have fixed the contraband links - apologies and thanks for the heads up

Hmm - On the projector, wouldn't he need a lot of space and a big ol surface - both would be a challenge

 

[Funky-Melon]

Just as a thought, could you not get say, 3 x 29" or bigger ultrawide monitors, put them in portrait and have them next to each other on a floating mount? You essentially get one big screen then with less bezels than 6 screens.

Something like this....

https://www.reddit.com/r/pcmasterra...tched_my_monitors_to_portrait_for_funises_3x/

 

[Minstadave]

Why not stick a 55 por 65” 4K TV on a desk? All the screen space, none of the hassle.

 

[Armageus]

Having seen the link you've posted (which charged £220 for 3xgt710!, i3-7100 [dual core], 120gb ssd, 8gb ram and some other cheaper components), then how about something like the below:

16gb of RAM and the latest quad core will keep things snappy, 3xGT710 is likely the cheapest way to get 6 usable outputs, and a bigger SSD, case with reasonable airflow for the passively cooled cards, and a high quality PSU.


My basket at Overclockers UK:

• 1 x Gigabyte Z370P D3 Intel Core Z370 (Socket 1151) DDR4 ATX Motherboard= £91.99
• 1 x Intel Core i3-8100 3.6GHz (Coffee Lake) Socket LGA1151 Processor - Retail= £98.99
• 3 x MSI GeForce GT 710 SILENT "Low Profile" 1024MB GDDR3 PCI-Express Graphics Card= £29.99
• 1 x Fractal Design Focus G Window Midi-Tower Case - Black= £49.99
• 1 x Seasonic Focus Plus 550W 80 Plus Gold Modular Power Supply= £79.99
• 1 x TeamGroup 480GB L5 Lite SSD 2.5" SATA 6Gbps 3D NAND Solid State Drive= £79.99
• 1 x Microsoft Windows 10 32/64-Bit (Creator Update Ver.)- USB Pen Drive - Retail (KW9-00478)= £114.95
• 1 x Team Group Vulcan T-Force 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 PC4-19200C14 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit - Grey (TLGD416G24= £128.99

Total: £746.56 (includes shipping: £11.70)
​

 

[EsaT]

Also he doesn't mind using the VGA out of the MB as his monitors are [3 x HD] and [3 x old 19"ers] - he's upgrading these over time.

Modern graphics cards don't anymore have analog outputs.
So some older graphics cards are best bet.
DVI-I has analog VGA signal needing only simple adapter, you can recognize it from connecting having those four contacts around that flat contact near one end:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Visual_Interface#Connector

 

[m3csl2004]

You could perhaps use an MST Hub - I have no personal experience with them to offer, however.

 

[Bluecube]

Why not stick a 55 por 65” 4K TV on a desk? All the screen space, none of the hassle.

I'll second this. Six monitors and the prerequisite graphics hardware seem like a pricey solution when there are plenty of cheap 4K TVs floating around.

 

[ExoMale]

My basket at Overclockers UK:

• 1 x AMD Ryzen 5 Quad Core 1400 3.40GHz (Socket AM4) Processor - Retail= £109.99
• 1 x Gigabyte GA-AB350M-Gaming 3 AMD B350 (Socket AM4) DDR4 Micro ATX Motherboard= £72.95
• 1 x Team Group Vulcan T-Force 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 PC4-24000C16 3000MHz Dual Channel Kit - Grey (TLGD416G30= £169.99
• 2 x PowerColor Radeon RX 570 Red Devil 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card= £209.99
• 1 x TeamGroup 480GB L5 Lite SSD 2.5" SATA 6Gbps 3D NAND Solid State Drive= £79.99
• 1 x Bitfenix Formula Series 750W 80 Plus Gold Power Supply= £82.99
• 1 x BitFenix Phenom MATX Cube Case - Midnight Black= £73.99
• 2 x LG 29WK600-W 29" 2560x1080 IPS FREESYNC HDR10 Gaming Widescreen LED Monitor= £229.99

Total: £1,492.96 (includes shipping: £23.10)​

​

replace the 6 with 2 big widescreen monitors or just the one depending on space this is meant to be going, probably wont need 2 of these graphic cards, but if you did want 6 smaller screens that are not vga abled then 2 will make it easier.

 

[Sam Whatley]

OK - so had a chat with my Dad after your feedback - he is down with only 4 and moving to widescreen as the monitors get replaced (great idea that by the way). After reading around a bit he only needs passive cards (only for desktop work) which are super cheap so I think I can do a pretty cheap self build - does the attached look like it would plug together ok? Not done a full build before but I'm patient and can follow instructions ok

Just realised i missed the OS so add £80 to the below

By the way - thanks so much - you guys saved me going down totally the wrong rabbit hole

2 GX-024-PL Palit GeForce GT 730 SILENT 2048MB GDDR3 PCI-Express Graphics Card £49.99 £99.98
1 CA-02C-KK Kolink KL-500M 500W 80 Plus Bronze Modular Power Supply £39.95 £39.95
1 MY-08G-TG Team Group Vulcan T-Force 8GB (2x4GB) DDR4 PC4-19200C14 2400MHz £68.99 £68.99
1 HD-101-KS Kingston 120GB SSDNow UV400 Drive SATA 6Gb/s 2.5" (7mm height) £35.99 £35.99
1 MB-684-AS Asus H110M-K Intel H110 (Socket 1151) DDR4 Micro ATX Motherboard £47.99 £47.99
1 CP-62Y-IN Intel Core i3-7350K 4.20GHz (Kaby Lake) Socket LGA1151 Processor - OEM £89.99 £89.99
1 HS-047-AL Alpenfohn Brocken ECO CPU Cooler - 120 mm £29.99 £29.99
1 CA-222-BX Bitfenix Nova Midi Tower Case - Black £26.99 £26.99

£439.87

 

[Sam Whatley]

he could probably make do with 3, but any 3 port card is still going to me more than £100 I am guessing...

 

[Sam Whatley]

I'll second this. Six monitors and the prerequisite graphics hardware seem like a pricey solution when there are plenty of cheap 4K TVs floating around.

I missed this, sorry - so basically just any old PC and hook it to a 55" HDTV?

Will have a look at prices but feels like that's going to come out more no?

 

[ExoMale]

My basket at Overclockers UK:

• 1 x AMD Ryzen 5 2400G VEGA Graphics AM4 CPU w/ Wraith Stealth Cooler= £128.99
• 1 x MSI B450I GAMING PLUS AC (Socket AM4) Mini-ITX Motherboard= £124.99
• 1 x Team Group Vulcan T-Force 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 PC4-24000C16 3000MHz Dual Channel Kit - Grey (TLGD416G30= £128.99
• 1 x TeamGroup 480GB L5 Lite SSD 2.5" SATA 6Gbps 3D NAND Solid State Drive= £79.99
• 1 x In-Win BQ656 USB3.0 Mini-ITX Case - 120W Power Supply= £74.99
• 1 x Microsoft Windows 10 32/64-Bit (Creator Update Ver.)- USB Pen Drive - Retail (KW9-00478)= £114.95
• 1 x LG 25UM58-P 25" 2560x1080 IPS Gaming Super-Wide Widescreen LED Monitor - Black= £169.99

Total: £834.59 (includes shipping: £11.70)​

​

 

[Bluecube]

I missed this, sorry - so basically just any old PC and hook it to a 55" HDTV?

Will have a look at prices but feels like that's going to come out more no?

A graphics card with HDMI2 will be needed but I'm fairly certain that something like a Nvidia 1060 and up will cope admirably. I've no idea where you're looking but you can I've seen many large screen 4K TVs for under £500 which will be cheaper than six monitors any day. Plus you won't need to faff with multiple graphic cards, power leads and monitor cables!

 

[ExoMale]

A graphics card with HDMI2 will be needed but I'm fairly certain that something like a Nvidia 1060 and up will cope admirably. I've no idea where you're looking but you can I've seen many large screen 4K TVs for under £500 which will be cheaper than six monitors any day. Plus you won't need to faff with multiple graphic cards, power leads and monitor cables!

he would probably be better off with something like ive suggested above, the APU should do the trick, the screens are debatable, but might not need a 4k type unless desired.


op: do you realise that a 6 or even 4 monitor setup wont display giant writing/icons to be able to see appropriately unless you get something like a 800x600 res or whatever out of them which would be pointless, can get a single screen to do that and you dont need a screen over 25" either plus for a multi setup like you suggesting you need all the same screen, the bracket to hold them in a square/rectangle, the space also, so its not cheap and its not really viable for the needs.. if you insist in a monitor setup like that then get some cheap used hdmi models.

 

[Armageus]

op: do you realise that a 6 or even 4 monitor setup wont display giant writing/icons to be able to see appropriately unless you get something like a 800x600 res or whatever out of them which would be pointless, can get a single screen to do that and you dont need a screen over 25" either plus for a multi setup like you suggesting you need all the same screen, the bracket to hold them in a square/rectangle, the space also, so its not cheap and its not really viable for the needs.. if you insist in a monitor setup like that then get some cheap used hdmi models.

Utter rubbish. Text size will be whatever size the app allows.
In this case it's browser based so you could just use browser zoom as well as per monitor doing scaling whilst remaining at native resolution.

The 25" superwide will be terrible and suffer from the exact issue you are trying to describe - the dot pitch is smaller than the typical 1080P 24", same as if the op went with a single small 4k screen, yes the resolution is the same as 4x 1080p screens, but you need to go 40"+ to get a useable dot pitch.

 

[Armageus]

After reading around a bit he only needs passive cards (only for desktop work) which are super cheap so I think I can do a pretty cheap self build - does the attached look like it would plug together ok? Not done a full build before but I'm patient and can follow instructions ok

Just realised i missed the OS so add £80 to the below

By the way - thanks so much - you guys saved me going down totally the wrong rabbit hole

2 GX-024-PL Palit GeForce GT 730 SILENT 2048MB GDDR3 PCI-Express Graphics Card £49.99 £99.98
1 CA-02C-KK Kolink KL-500M 500W 80 Plus Bronze Modular Power Supply £39.95 £39.95
1 MY-08G-TG Team Group Vulcan T-Force 8GB (2x4GB) DDR4 PC4-19200C14 2400MHz £68.99 £68.99
1 HD-101-KS Kingston 120GB SSDNow UV400 Drive SATA 6Gb/s 2.5" (7mm height) £35.99 £35.99
1 MB-684-AS Asus H110M-K Intel H110 (Socket 1151) DDR4 Micro ATX Motherboard £47.99 £47.99
1 CP-62Y-IN Intel Core i3-7350K 4.20GHz (Kaby Lake) Socket LGA1151 Processor - OEM £89.99 £89.99
1 HS-047-AL Alpenfohn Brocken ECO CPU Cooler - 120 mm £29.99 £29.99
1 CA-222-BX Bitfenix Nova Midi Tower Case - Black £26.99 £26.99

£439.87

The psu is cheap and nasty, the CPU is only a dual core (the 8100 I posted above or a comparable Ryzen are better options). Running multiple browsers/tabs I'd go for 16gb ram to avoid any slowdown.

With multiple passive cards you need a case with good airflow, although there is no benefit to the gt730 over the gt710 for this use.

Finally, I'd go for at least a 240gb ssd just for a bit of breathing room, or even the 480gb I listed which is a great price.


Tip: on ocuk's website, add everything to the basket, then click the bbcode button on the basket screen to show text you can copy and paste here with all the formatting

 

[GWANGY]

My eyes are worse than they should be ? too much wonking I suppose .. However I would say go down the Big Tv route.. I now surf the web on a nUc connected to a 43 sony TV and its great only 1080p but no need for anything better. The integrated graphics (intel) handles the screen just fine. One lead , easy to use remote control, and he should be able to flick over to the races in between bets. Logitech k830 keyboard too...
6 screens? you're overthinking it or on commission