[SOLVED] 6 monitors from a laptop?

[jamesmiddledorp]

Hello

I want to run 6 external monitors from a laptop. I have the monitors and am willing to buy a 2nd hand or refurbished laptop. Will this be possible for under 2000AUD?

Thanks

edit - forgot to mention, high resolution is not important. It is just for stock trading so just be running 6 different chats

 

[Darkbreeze]

Are you wanting duplicate displays, or individual displays on each monitor?

 

[jamesmiddledorp]

Are you wanting duplicate displays, or individual displays on each monitor?

I need individual displays
Cheers

 

[TJ Hooker]

What connections do your monitors have? How much are you looking to spend here? You're probably going to need a dock and/or multiple adapters at the very least for this to have a chance of working.

 

[Darkbreeze]

There is no way to do this that I know of. Even with a displayport hub, I think you'll be limited to four and I'm not sure you can have them all be individual.

What input options do you have on the six monitors you've got? If they are not all displayport, you can just forget the whole idea. Even if they are, I'm not sure it will work UNLESS maybe you get multiple external graphics card setups.

I could be wrong, but I'm fairly sure that's accurate.

 

[jamesmiddledorp]

There is no way to do this that I know of. Even with a displayport hub, I think you'll be limited to four and I'm not sure you can have them all be individual.

Yes I am getting that idea from google searching 🙁

What input options do you have on the six monitors you've got? If they are not all displayport, you can just forget the whole idea. Even if they are, I'm not sure it will work UNLESS maybe you get multiple external graphics card setups.

I could be wrong, but I'm fairly sure that's accurate.

They are old. DVI-d and vga. Another that I don't know but from a google search I think it is a mini displayport

Thanks for the help

 

[jamesmiddledorp]

What connections do your monitors have? How much are you looking to spend here? You're probably going to need a dock and/or multiple adapters at the very least for this to have a chance of working.

Under 2000AUD but willing to buy 2nd hand laptop. For connections please see my previous reply

Thanks

 

[asoroka]

you would have to have usb-c/Thunderbolt with a decent GPU.

Something like Gigabyte AORUS GTX 1080 Gaming Box can only do 4 monitors

So you will need two of these.

Also note that windows has a 16 monitor max.

 

[Glenwing]

NVIDIA GPUs are limited to 4 monitors. Only AMD (desktop) GPUs can do 6 monitors. AMD GPUs are quite rare in laptops, and I'm not even sure if their laptop GPUs will support 6.

 

[tejayd]

I've never used these. Without ever really looking into them I had always assumed they kinda worked like mini external graphics adapters. This is just the first one that came up when I searched them. If somehow you could squeeze enough into a laptop I wouldnt expect them to be great. https://www.amazon.com/Plugable-Graphics-Multiple-1920x1080-Chromebooks/dp/B004D0QC0A

If using a laptop isnt absolutely necessary. I would just try talking myself into getting a desktop. 6 monitors is definitely possible that way.

 

[tejayd]

There are 6 display graphics cards. (Well I'm assuming they still make them). They just werent the main stream cards we think of.

 

[asoroka]

https://multimonitorcomputer.com/best-6-monitor-gaming-video-cards.php

So essentially you are looking for a Radeon R9 and a display port splitter

 

[Darkbreeze]

With DVI and VGA inputs on those monitors, this conversation is a moot point anyhow. It cannot be done via DVI or VGA in any case so no point in even going any further with it.

AND NO, he isn't looking for a display port splitter, because that will offer duplicate displays, not individually unique displays that each have their own desktop.

 

[Glenwing]

With DVI and VGA inputs on those monitors, this conversation is a moot point anyhow. It cannot be done via DVI or VGA in any case so no point in even going any further with it.

AND NO, he isn't looking for a display port splitter, because that will offer duplicate displays, not individually unique displays that each have their own desktop.

DisplayPort MST hubs will provide individual displays, and will work with DP to DVI adapters.

 

[TJ Hooker]

@darkbreeze a displayport MST hub will allow you to drive multiple monitors, each with unique displays, from a single DP connection. I believe this also allows you to circumvent the 4 display limit for Nvidia GPUs (as all the monitors on the hub are presented as a single, large display to the GPU). The DP output must support a resolution higher than that of the combined monitor resolutions though.

Using an MST hub, you cold then use DP to DVI cables/adapters to connect the monitors. I can find up to 4 way MST hubs. So if the OP were to find a laptop that has a DP output plus two other outputs, they could in theory drive 6 monitors.

Edit: Ninja'd

Another option would be to get a laptop with a thunderbolt 3 connection, and then use an eGPU dock with something like a Firepro W600. Would still need a bunch of miniDP to whatever adapters.

I question whether this really needs to be a laptop though.

 

[Glenwing]

I believe this also allows you to circumvent the 4 display limit for Nvidia GPUs (as all the monitors on the hub are presented as a single, large display to the GPU).

Unfortunately this is not the case.

 

[Darkbreeze]

So, one of these, and I'd buy a good one like this Tripp-lite, a cheaper one might be problematic. Tripp-Lite is a company known by myself and many others to make pretty high quality electronics and electrical supplies.

https://www.amazon.com/Tripp-Lite-DisplayPort-Transport-B156-004-HD-V2/dp/B01HIOY8VW/ref=sr_1_15?ie=UTF8&qid=1541022818&sr=8-15&keywords=displayport+mst+hub

And then you'd need to find a laptop with three outputs, one of which would need to be displayport.

 

[Alabalcho]

Let's see the problem from another side - what will be displayed on these monitors? Could a "distributed" system work here, say a bunch of Android TV boxes pulling content from a common place?

 

[Blackink]

I wonder how successful the OP is in stock trading. I doubt, with a 6 monitor set-up, that the OP is looking at doing long term holds on their stock transactions, so this sounds like short term trading: day trading or swing trading?

If that's the case, maybe the OP should wait before investing in this set-up to make sure they will be successful in trading stocks and just use the laptop with maybe one additional monitor.

What charting software/broker are you going to use for stock trading?
Can your current laptop handle the workload you're about to put on it if you get these 6 monitors connected and running from the laptop?!?

 

[jamesmiddledorp]

Thanks for all the replies guys. There obviously is some disagreement as to whether this is possible. I have contacted some manufacturers. Plugin say that their max from a laptop is 6 screens (using 6 usb 3 ports), however they can't guarantee it will work.

I am looking at this as a possible option - 3 x https://www.cablechick.com.au/cables/15cm-displayport-splitter-cable-mst-hub-extend-mirror.html?imt=1&gclid=CjwKCAjwpeXeBRA6EiwAyoJPKpZx7-pEpvMPYpiVPhbQo1B6dL4GEXlWSYi1xD378QNgFTc121XnTxoCR48QAvD_BwE
Then get some displayport to vga/dvi

Also, I am looking at these computers, what do you guys think?

1. https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/4k-Gaming-Laptop-16ram-msi-ghost/302940650246
2. https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Acer-Aspire-Gaming-Laptop-i7-7700-Nvidia-1050-256Gb-SSD/173614601119
3. https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Dell-Latitude-E6540-Intel-i7-4800MQ-2-7Ghz-8GB-256GB-SSD-15-6-Win-10/192606213665
4. https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Refurbished-Lenovo-ThinkPad-T440s-14-Laptop-i7-2-1GHz-8GB-128G-SSD-Win10-Pro/332842014353
5. https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Lenovo-IdeaPad-320-15-6-HD-Display-AMD-A9-8GB-1TB/382437318455

Cheers

 

[Darkbreeze]

Not a single one of those units has the necessary 3 video outputs with one of the three being displayport.

 

[TJ Hooker]

Huh, I totally forgot about the possibility of using USB display adapters. But yeah, running 6 of them seems a little iffy.

To run 3 of the DP hubs you linked, you'd need a laptop with 3 DP outputs. I don't think I've ever seen a laptop like that.

It's possible you could do a combination of USB and display outputs. So if the laptop has one DP port, one other display output, and at least 3 USB ports, you could run one 2 way DP hub, 3 USB adapters, and one direct connection. Again, no idea how well that would work in practice.

Why does this need to be a laptop?

 

[jamesmiddledorp]

@darkbreeze
Yes you are right. But maybe the acer (which has usb c and HDMI) with an HDMI and USB C to displayport adaptors and then this https://www.cablechick.com.au/cables/15cm-displayport-splitter-cable-mst-hub-extend-mirror.html?imt=1&gclid=CjwKCAjwpeXeBRA6EiwAyoJPKpZx7-pEpvMPYpiVPhbQo1B6dL4GEXlWSYi1xD378QNgFTc121XnTxoCR48QAvD_BwE and this https://www.amazon.com/Tripp-Lite-DisplayPort-Transport-B156-004-HD-V2/dp/B01HIOY8VW/ref=sr_1_15?ie=UTF8&qid=1541022818&sr=8-15&keywords=displayport%20mst%20hub&tag=tomshardware_forum_vgl-20

@TJ
I just wanted it to be a laptop because my desktop packed it in and I need a new laptop anyway. It would be nice to just have one machine for everything, however it may be best just to get a desktop for the multi-monitor and a laptop separately considering how iffy it is that this will work at all.

 

[TJ Hooker]

Yeah, rather than spending hundreds of dollars on hubs and display adapters that won't even necessarily work, you could get something like this:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Athlon 200GE 3.2GHz Dual-Core Processor ($75.00 @ Shopping Express)
Motherboard: ASRock - AB350M Pro4 Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard ($68.00 @ Umart)
Memory: Team - 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($85.00 @ Umart)
Storage: Kingston - A400 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($49.00 @ Umart)
Video Card: Asus - Radeon R5 230 1GB Video Card ($49.00 @ Scorptec)
Case: Rosewill - FBM-01 MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($31.36 @ Amazon Australia)
Power Supply: Corsair - VS 450W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply ($49.00 @ Shopping Express)
Total: $406.36
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-11-01 14:00 AEDT+1100

Then all you'd need is a couple passive HDMI to DVI-D converters, which are cheap. Still have plenty of money left from your budget to buy a laptop.

 

[Darkbreeze]

IDK. Seems like you might be able to use a laptop that has one displayport, with one four port hub connected to it, and then MAYBE an HDMI to displayport adapter with another hub attached to that. I cannot verify this works though as I've never tried it myself. Very few of us ever have a need for more than four monitors. Generally, for those who do use multiple monitors, the maximum is usually three screens for game purposes and one screen for the desktop, browsing or other applications.

Mostly though the majority of multiple screen configurations are simply three identical or very similar screens. If it was a desktop there would be a lot more flexibility in your options, with cards dedicated to this kind of thing. For laptops, it's really not that common.