After all of your great support & some more digging around to my earlier thread, I have revised my requirements & come up with following video card & converter combinations to drive 8 to 12 Monitors on my Dell XPS 8300. It might be a stupid imagination & I am willing to take anything you guys throw at me but I still will be grateful to all of you. Here is my original thread. http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=226914&perpage=6&pagenumber=1 Initially I want to run 8 Dell U2412M ( 24 inch, 1920x1200 ) monitors. I found that ATI has put out a special Video Card ( ATI FirePro 2460, Low profile, Less than 40 Watts ) for day traders that runs 4 Monitors. http://www.amd.com/us/products/workstation/graphics/ati-firemv-2d/2460-mv/Pages/2460-firemv.aspx I have one PCIe x 16 & three PCIe x 1 slots. I want to plug one card in x 16 slot & second card in PCIe x 1 slot using a PCIe x 1 To PCIe x 16 converter. That will give me 8 monitors & if it works, I will plug one more video card to get a 12 Monitor setup. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...-Froogle-_-Add-On+Cards-_-STARTECH-_-15158223 The big question I have is, will my motherboard handle it & that is where you pros can help me. Someone posted last time about Dell might not have programmed BIOS for 6 monitors. If so what do I need to do ? I know nothing about BIOS etc. I am sure that I want 8 monitors to start with & build to 12 & if none of this work, I am willing to build a new rig with your help. i7-2600 Processor (3.4GHz, 8MB Cache) 465 Watt Power Supply Chipset Intel® H67 8GB (4X2GB) DDR3 SDRAM 1333MHz Memory NVIDIA GeForce GT530 1GB GDDR3 (VGA/HDMI/DVI) Windows - 7 Ultimate ( 64 bit ) Thank You All. Kevin
Your power supply may be a bit on weak side but probably would work you can calculate your potential needs here: http://extreme.outervision.com/psucalculatorlite.jsp
Maybe yes, maybe not... many of us would love to know if it does. (If you try, please be sure to post your results.) You hit the nail on the head... "will the BIOS allow"? No way to tell until you try, unfortunately. Most likely Dell never envisioned the possibility of running so many monitors.. that's why only 1, x16 slot. If you're planning to run lots of monitors, you really should get a computer with 4-PCIEx16 slots... or a workstation which is known to support. While what you intend to try might work, it's really a crap shoot.
You are right, I am taking a chance but if it doesn't work I have decided to build from scratch as per your 4 PCIe x 16 slot suggestion. Also it gives me a little hope that older Dell is running 6 monitors.
The BIOS does not determine the number of monitors your system can handle, the OS does. I can't remember the number exactly offhand, but a windows based OS can handle somewhere in the neighborhood of 24 monitors. My immediate concern would be the expansion slot converter you plan on using in order to get the second video card to work. I have found such devices to be buggy at best. Then again, maybe yours will work great. Have you looked at all of your options for using multiple displays, or are you simply trying to use what you already have?
Older Dells are not the same as newer ones. Older ones were more "generic"... multi-card setups were OK, but using PCI slots. Some mobos these days don't even have PCI slots... and few video card makers produce them any more.
INCORRECTAMUNDO! While XP had a limit of about 10 monitors, W7 can handle lots... I've seen pics of 64 monitors off of one system. However, the BIOS can/does limit what can be done. I've seen Dells which wouldn't run a quad card in the x16 slot... and not only wouldn't run a video card in an x1 slot, wouldn't even boot with an x1 video card mounted. Yet, an X58 mobo will run just about anything you can plug into the slots...
If all your screens are being used for your trading platform, what you're trying to do is fine. If some windows are being used for different programs, I would recommend using one computer for your trading platform and another for other stuff like charting and the internet. You can use Synergy to use one mouse and keyboard. This will offer you a more efficient PC with fewer lags and a second PC in case one crash. I want my trading platform the only thing running on that PC. http://synergy-foss.org/ Bob ----------------------------------- Robert L. Morse Business Development VICTOR SECURITIES 285 Grand Avenue,Englewood, NJ 07631 rmorse@victorsecurities.com office: 646-545-3860 http://www.linkedin.com/pub/robert-morse/6/8a7/617 http://www.victorsecurities.com/ -----------------------------------
On a system with on board video your statement is true....I looked at the specs for his 8300 and it does not use on board video graphics. On board or motherboard based graphics will conflict with any video card installed into any expansion slot. If the motherboard has no video capabilities in and of itself there is no limit placed on the video signal by the BIOS.