I think you are going to be disappointed with any i7 running that many monitors. I'd strongly recommend looking into a dual-socket solution. Even something Xeon 5400 series would be better than any single i7 IMHO. The motherboard is going to get bogged down by that many video cards - the onboard NIC + PCIe devices will make performance suffer. Please re-read my post and take the time to read the wiki & other links I posted. I routinely run 4x NVIDIA 9500 GT cards in a Dell T5500 with no issues at all Specs of the cards: http://www.nvidia.com/object/product_geforce_9500gt_us.html I know you said 4x PCIe x16 but again I think you are confusing speed, power consumption and form factor. You won't know the difference between x1 and x16 (speed) unless you are running something like SolidWorks... Your monitors will have a 60hz refresh rate (which is faster than your eyes can pick up) and your hardware will be able to deliver that 100% at x4 speeds. Attached is a photo of a Dell T5500 motherboard - please forgive the ghetto pics, its late and it is the only spare T5500 I had laying around. Dell T5500 - 4x PCIe x16 (length) slots, two capable of x16 @ 75W and two x8. I run 4x NVIDIA 9500GT cards in these machines 24/7/365 and @ 50W max power I've never had any issues at all - even when I was messing around with GPU solutions and running them at 100% 24/7/365. no motherboard issues, no speed issues and certainly no video display performance issues.
OP, go out and get yourself a T5500 built or barebones. I just sold 3 pairs of Xeon e5540 CPUs on ebay for $500 each - you can pick up a set of decent CPUs + 12GB DDR3 RAM really cheap (buy 6x 1GB and 3x 2GB for the CPU riser). Also go out on ebay and buy yourself one of these: http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fro...el+pro+1000+MT+dual&_sacat=See-All-Categories for $20 shipped. the onboard NIC uses more system resources than you'd think and that Intel Pro MT is a bit old but PCIX (64-bit PCI) and server-grade, it'll handle 100mbps at full duplex (per port) much better than any onboard motherboard NIC will. It is a gigabit NIC but you will never come close to pushing gig throughput. Buy the RAM 6x 1GB ECC and 3x 2GB because its cheaper and so it'll match 12GB total but also 6GB per CPU, even though it's dynamically allocated as a single block, there is a separate memory controller on the 2nd CPU riser so it does make a difference. Cheap & easy - for less than $1k you have a really robust solution.
Winston, I really appreciate you going all the way on this. Who wants the headache when you get what you want for extra $ 500.00 & on site service ? I wouldn't hesitate for a minute buying a rig from Dell if it does what I want & that is running 12 Monitors. I already got a quote from Dell on T5500 2 days ago but again my confusion arises from the fact that I do not understand thouroughly the concept of installing 3 PCIe x16 cards without phisically having 3 PCIe x16 slots. You did post a very clear photo but then Dell quote I got & specs I read on T5500 says clearly there are only 2 PCIe x16 slots. Here is my quotation they gave me for T5500 : Intel(R) Xeon(R) E5606 2.13GHz, 8M cache, 4.8 GT/s QPI, Turbo, HT, 4C Integrated Broadcom(R) 5761 Gigabit Ethernet Controller 8GB (2x1GB+3x2GB) DDR3 RDIMM Memory, 1333MHz, ECC 250GB SATA (7200RPM) Hard Disk Drive 16X max SATA DVD+/-RW with Dual Layer Write Capabilities No Monitor 256MB PCIex16 ATI FirePro(TM) 2260 Multi-View, Dual DP, DP-DVI cable x1 Genuine Windows(R) 7 Professional 64bit (English) NBD Onsite Labor Service only support limited OCSR parts replacement 1 For more detail, refer to Customer Self Repair webpage in Dell support website In Dell T5500 Specs it says 2 PCIe x16 slots. For above without monitor they want $ 1500.00 Should I buy it & hope it will drive 12 Monitors & if not then what ?
Hi, just a heads up that I run 4 monitors on 1 ATI FirePro 2460 card and it's stunning. I mean, it makes no noise since it has passive cooling and the 2D performance is great. This card is made for guys like us, on the retail box the background is the Frankfurt trading floor That gives me some extra confirmation that ATI made this card for traders who need 2D, 4 monitors / card without any noise. I'm looking to make an extra PC to have more screens (I want 8 screens on that 2nd pc so I have 12 in total) I bought a special 1200W power supply, a special CPU cooler and SSD to make my computer super quiet and that's the only reason I won't buy a DELL, Are dell's quiet ?
Well, I bought 3 of those cards before building a PC for them. I did lots of research before I bought them & I was pretty sure I could build a PC around them or find a Dell for them. My objective was clear from the beginning that I wanted no less than 12 Monitors & if I could build a PC to support 16, better it would be. Now many people would think that is crazy & I am cool with it but I know my objective & risk I am taking. So welcome aboard & let's have fun with it while trading seriously. I hope others using 8 or more monitors whether using FirePro 2460 or other cards would share their experiences. I definitely would love to see someone using 24 inch monitors which is pushing the edge bit too far.
I have one computer driving 8 x Viewsonic 24-inch display. One side a 2x3 grid (on my left) and the other side 1x2 (on my right). Looking back, 24-inch is a bit bulky. If I were to do it over again I would pick a 22-inch instead. Especially each monitor has its own plastic frame around the LCD/LED screen. You lose a couple of inches when you pack them together. When you have them side-by-side in a tight grid, it helps using smaller monitors. I love the newer Acer 22" LED screens. Lighter and less bulky. Both 22" and 24" deliver 1920x1080 resolution.
If that (license cost) is the main reason there may be workarounds. May I ask which (charting) software shall be used? In my view it makes sense to think about assigning different computers to different tasks. For example if some of the screens should be used for following news, mail contact or even order entry they might be kept separate from the charting screens.
Dell Precision T3500s are VERY quiet compared to others with fans. Not when compared to a "no fan, silent" PC of course.