Resolution 5120x1024

[oshirowanen]

I'm about to buy 2 of the following graphics cards:

Novatech GeForce GT 520 1024MB GDDR3

which I will be using for a 4 monitor development machine. The card has the following resolution specs:

Multi-Monitor Support Up to 2 displays
Max Digital Resolution 2560x1600
Max Analogue Resolution 2048x1536

I have 4, 19" dvi monitors which have a native resolution of 1280x1024 each.

The graphics cards above only have 1 dvi port and 1 vga port each, which means I will have 2 dvi monitors plugged directly into the dvi ports and the other 2 dvi monitors will need an adapter (dvi2agv) to connect them to the remaining vga ports on the graphics cards.

Will I be able to get a large desktop (5120x1024). I'm just a little concered about the max analogue resolution 2048x1536. So will the 2 monitors connected to the vga ports be limited to a max of 2048x1024?

 

[oshirowanen]

typo above, should be dvi 2 vga, not dvi2agv...

 

[oshirowanen]

So basically, will I be able to connect 4 dvi monitors to 2 of those graphics cards where 2 monitors will connect to dvi ports and 2 monitors will connect to vga ports via an adapter, allowing me to have each of the 4 monitors at their native resolution of 1280x1024, effectively giving me a desktop resolution of 5120x1024?

 

[jerreddredd]

I think we need to clarify some terminology here and what you are trying to achieve:

1) are you are trying to spread your desk top across 4 monitors? this gives you 4 areas to run/output programs

or

2) are trying to make the 4 monitors appear as on large screen (nVidia Surround)?

item (1) is entirely possible with your selected cards.

item (2) is not possible. nVidia Surround only support 3 monitors (cards must be linked in SLi mode). I think AMD's Eyefinity will support 4 as one screen, but requires a bunch of display port adapters and such.

I am pretty sure you are meaning item 1.

 

[oshirowanen]

I think I am after the first one. For example, 1 get 4 screens where the start menu will probably be on the left most screen. Then when I open programs, I can move them across to any monitor and when I maximum, they should only maximize to the monitor where the program is moved too. So any given program application should not maximize across all 4 monitors. Is that option 1?

 

[jerreddredd]

I think I am after the first one. For example, 1 get 4 screens where the start menu will probably be on the left most screen. Then when I open programs, I can move them across to any monitor and when I maximum, they should only maximize to the monitor where the program is moved too. So any given program application should not maximize across all 4 monitors. Is that option 1?

yep that would be option 1. you should be ok based on the info provided.

 

[horaciopz]

Hi there!

Let me clarify something, please.

There's only 1 nVidia card that supports multi-screen and it is the GTX680. Otherwise for nVidia soundround you must have 2 or 3 GPU linked in SLI mode to be able to use more than 2 screens.

For 4 Screens at low budget, I suggetst a HD7750. AMD has eyefenity technology which lets you use more than 2 monitors in a card, using DisplayPort (as the new GTX680, to be able to run 3monitor setup, you need to use the DisplayPort)

So, you should be able to run something like this. Conect 1 monitor into the DVI port, then get a display active adapter and conecte the other 2 screens on it, theres many kinds of display port, even certified by AMD for eyefinity.

If you want 4 screens at the same time, well you should get something like this http://cirago.com/wordpress/products/hydradisplay/hdx3dv01/ With this, you will be able to connect 3 monitors into the displayport and 1 via dvi directly to the GPU.

Hope it helps, pal

 

[oshirowanen]

Hi there!

Let me clarify something, please.

There's only 1 nVidia card that supports multi-screen and it is the GTX680. Otherwise for nVidia soundround you must have 2 or 3 GPU linked in SLI mode to be able to use more than 2 screens.

For 4 Screens at low budget, I suggetst a HD7750. AMD has eyefenity technology which lets you use more than 2 monitors in a card, using DisplayPort (as the new GTX680, to be able to run 3monitor setup, you need to use the DisplayPort)

So, you should be able to run something like this. Conect 1 monitor into the DVI port, then get a display active adapter and conecte the other 2 screens on it, theres many kinds of display port, even certified by AMD for eyefinity.

If you want 4 screens at the same time, well you should get something like this http://cirago.com/wordpress/products/hydradisplay/hdx3dv01/ With this, you will be able to connect 3 monitors into the displayport and 1 via dvi directly to the GPU.

Hope it helps, pal

Aren't DisplayPort monitors and/or adapters to connect dvi monitors to DisplayPort graphics cards more expensive than the solution I posted above?

 

[horaciopz]

Well, the geforce card is not a solution, because you cant connect more than 2 monitors in that card.

And if you want to use more than 2 monitoris, at "low" cost, it is your only choice.

By the way, how much are you willing to spend? A nice GPU that can handle 3 monitor cost at least 100 bucks or less, and a adapter, 30ish or 50ish... As I posted, there are many kind of Displayport adaptar for all needs, and most of them are cheap.

 

[oshirowanen]

But that still seems more expensive. The GT 520 costs just £29 for 2 monitors. So if I get 2 of these cards, thats just under over £60 including the adapters and you get enough ports for 4 monitors. Your solution seems to be over £120 including adapters, so that's twice as much isn't it?

 

[horaciopz]

You will be able to run those cards in SLI, but im afraid they wont work correctly, since they do not have the sli finger and will work together using the PCI express bus. Theres many problems that you got to solve when you SLI or CrossfireX, it is not recomended to do it in low-end machines which brings more problems than solutions.

If you have a motherboard that supports SLI(2 lanes PCI express x16 or x8 at least), give it a try. I would not do that, as many of the fellows in this forum wont recommend that, but if you think you can handle the setup, solve some situations and live with it, I don't see why you shouldn't do that.

I really hope it works, in theory it should but i really dont know as I only have experiences with a Single card and set up for 3 monitors eyefinity. I gotta say that for my build i spent only $160 in GPU and adapters, gaming is kind of hard with my GPU with eyefinity, but for 3 monitors setup it runs great the desktop and some older games and even Dirt 3 runs pretty

 

[jerreddredd]

THE CARDS WILL NOT BE IN SLI! they will be 2 independent cards running 2 monitors each using the DVI and VGA connections to spread his desktop across them. each monitor will be able to display different apps as he drags them there.

this is not rocket science and is done in businesses every day. all he needs is his motherboard to have 2 PCIe slots.