1 PC 8 monitors

[sk8sn0surf]

Hello,

My boss is looking to hook up 8 monitors to 1 PC so that he can view multiple business applications at the same time. He wants the machine to be as portable as possible. I have found a few mini ITX motherboards that have a 16x PCI-e port in them which would allow for me to throw in a Matrox M9188 or something similar. Does anyone know the power requirements of one of these beasts? Will it fit in an ITX case?

Also I am considering the option of using a laptop with dual video outs, dvi and vga, and using two Matrox TripleHead2Gos (he may have to settle for 6 monitors). Does anyone know if this will work?

Any other suggestions/ideas?

Thanks!

 

[somethingsketchy]

I would strongly suggest using a desktop for this kind of application. A laptop would be nice, however unless you got a decently powerful one, you would run into "lag" from trying to process eight different monitors at once. Speaking of which...

What is the maximum resolution for each of the eight monitors is he going to be using?

This is a significant important question as the higher the resolution the more "power" a graphics card will need to process eight simultaneous video outputs. The Matrox M9188, sounds like a good idea, however I would think the nearly $2000 asking price is a bit steep.

You would be better off getting...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814143186 (BFG Tech 9500GT or any other manufacturer of such a card).

This would allow you to connect 2x DVI monitors at once (per card). Now you would just need to find a motherboard that could support 4x PCI-Express cards.

Now for another question, why does he want it to be as portable as possible? The weight of 8x monitors (depending on their size) would be impractical to carry around with the Mini-ITX box. You would be better off building an mATX or ATX box to better suit his need for that many monitors.

 

[Lonyo]

You can get quad-head cards from both ATI and NV IIRC, priced maybe $200 each. A couple of those might do, and could fit in an mATX case with a mATX motherboard. Even Newegg has them.

Not as portable as an ITX solution, but a lot cheaper.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814195086 $500 for a couple of those + a mATX motherboard with dual PCIe x16 slots in a half height case would be quite small and give you 8 outputs.
Newegg has some NV cards also listed, but they are $400+. I'm sure I've seen cheaper ones from NV with 4 outputs but I can't find them at the moment, but I'm sure they do exist.

Edit: Sensibly they aren't listed under workstation cards, but regular cards.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...ption=&Ntk=&CFG=&SpeTabStoreType=&srchInDesc=

 

[George Powell]

I don't think the power requirements will be too much of an issue. As it isn't a 3D card the power consumption will be very modest. The M9188 can potentially drive 8 2560x1600 monitors, whereas the TripleHead2Go is very resolution limited.

 

[sk8sn0surf]

Thanks for the responses.

What is the maximum resolution for each of the eight monitors is he going to be using?

The max resolution would have to be at least 1280x720.

Now for another question, why does he want it to be as portable as possible?

He wants the machine to be as portable as possible that we he can travel with the machine. He will not be traveling with the monitors. The monitors will be staying at whichever office he is working from.

It may be cheaper to build multiple machines and keep them at each office rather build a small machine with an pricey M9188.

 

[yh125d]

Tell your boss to learn how to minimize and maximize. Having 8 monitors running 8 programs is one of the least productive solutions he could have possible imagined

 

[unfalliblekrutch]

I don't think 8 monitors will be more productive than 3 or 4.

You can't focus on so much information at once.
Another option is 2 large monitors (30"?)

It especially doesn't make sense to have a portable monster powering 8 monitors. Get individual workstations with each 8 monitor setup and then get him a flash drive to carry files between them

 

[TheStu]

There is also the 5870 E6 edition. It has 6 Mini-Displayports on it, and can run 6 monitors. You can adapt DisplayPort to DVI, VGA, or HDMI.

But as others have said, why get 4 1280*720 monitros when you can get 1 30" 2560*1600 monitor.

 

[Fayd]

Tell your boss to learn how to minimize and maximize. Having 8 monitors running 8 programs is one of the least productive solutions he could have possible imagined

i know stock traders tend to have lots of monitors.

i'd suggest like someone already did, 2x triple to quad head cards, and then the motherboard's integrated video if the discrete doesn't cover.