Running 6 Monitors

[lannarebirth]

Hi techies,

I've got a windows XP, quad core, 4 Gig computer I'd like to run 6 monitors on. I'm running 4 now, using 2 PCI -ASUS EAH 3450 cards (ATI clone I think). I tried to do 6 using a good ATI card I had that was a PCI Express but it didn't work. My motherboard has 2 PCI slots and 2 PCI Express slots. I also have an Nvidia 9500 GTX ? card here that's available if that helps. Any thoughts? TIA

[garyh]

What about a USB adapter

[dave_boo]

If you're really serious about running 6 monitors, the easiest way of doing it is plonking down the cash for two of these. Good thing about them is that they're external, so later when you upgrade your system they go with you. Bad thing is that it only supports 1280x1024 per monitor.

[sniffdog]

A USB adapter?

I've seen a lot of funny things here on TV ... but this one beats them all!

[surface]

mixing cards of different brands can get hairy in XP, and is basically impossible in Vista. Best to stay with all ATI, though it's hard to tell what the problem could be. Could be the motherboard, maybe your power supply isn't up to the task. You didn't tell us what happened when you tried.

[Crossy]

Invalid data removed

Edited December 2, 2008 by Crossy

[monty]

Been a while since I was doing day trading, back then I used a maximum of three monitors per PC.

Matrox cards, which apparently today is specialized in doing multiple monitor stuff.

To be honest, depending on what you are doing, I would actually go for a second separate PC. Especially if it is trading you do (most common use of multiple monitor systems).

I did this before, mainly for back up reasons, one PC used for trading, the other for charting/research, but the second one could be traded from if the first one crashed (remember our friend Murphy )...

[lannarebirth]

What about a USB adapter

I have seen that. You buy ne for the 5th monitor and a different kind for number 6. It's about a 5k Baht solution. Pretty low graphics quality, but that isn't a priority of mine.

[lannarebirth]

mixing cards of different brands can get hairy in XP, and is basically impossible in Vista. Best to stay with all ATI, though it's hard to tell what the problem could be. Could be the motherboard, maybe your power supply isn't up to the task. You didn't tell us what happened when you tried.

I had an all ATI solution, 2 PCI cards and a PCI Express, but it couldn't differentiate the primary card, or so says my computer guy.

[lannarebirth]

If you're really serious about running 6 monitors, the easiest way of doing it is plonking down the cash for two of these. Good thing about them is that they're external, so later when you upgrade your system they go with you. Bad thing is that it only supports 1280x1024 per monitor.

Yes, Matrox is THE multiple monitor, all in one solution brand. Unfortunately, no sales and support here in Thailand. Thanks.

[lannarebirth]

Been a while since I was doing day trading, back then I used a maximum of three monitors per PC.

Matrox cards, which apparently today is specialized in doing multiple monitor stuff.

To be honest, depending on what you are doing, I would actually go for a second separate PC. Especially if it is trading you do (most common use of multiple monitor systems).

I did this before, mainly for back up reasons, one PC used for trading, the other for charting/research, but the second one could be traded from if the first one crashed (remember our friend Murphy )...

It's looking more and more like a two computer solution for me monty. As you say the redundancy is a good thing. Thanks.

[H3Digital]

Couldn't you buy a new 3 way motherboard, like the ones they use to SLI 3 cards together? These have 3 PCI-E Graphics card slots.

[dave_boo]

If you're really serious about running 6 monitors, the easiest way of doing it is plonking down the cash for two of these. Good thing about them is that they're external, so later when you upgrade your system they go with you. Bad thing is that it only supports 1280x1024 per monitor.

Yes, Matrox is THE multiple monitor, all in one solution brand. Unfortunately, no sales and support here in Thailand. Thanks.

Even if Matrox isn't sold here in Thailand, are any of the hardware manufacturers really supporting you here?  Granted, Supermicro has been good to me before, but otherwise......?

Something else you might consider; there's often a video priority key in the BIOS.  Perhaps you need to look at what it's set for to see what card will control your primary display?

[slackula]

<snip>

Even if Matrox isn't sold here in Thailand, are any of the hardware manufacturers really supporting you here?  </snip>

[gregb]

What about a USB adapter

I have seen that. You buy ne for the 5th monitor and a different kind for number 6. It's about a 5k Baht solution. Pretty low graphics quality, but that isn't a priority of mine.

I bought a USB video adapter from Zeer Rangsit for 1900 Baht. Works great, graphics are fine for what I do, although I'm not trying to play games on it. Needed a second on my laptop, and this was the only way to do it.

I think the driver will support multiple monitors if you buy multiple adapters. At least, it treats it as a different monitor if you plug it into a different USB port, so my guess is if you plugged 2 of them in, both would show up.

It's worth a shot. They're not expensive.

[Bizz]

came across this a few weeks ago

here

Actually, a thin client is the right way to do this. There isn't another inexpensive method that I'm aware of nowadays.

Edited December 2, 2008 by Bizz

[nudnik]

http://www.maxivista.com - won't work in Vista.

[Bizz]

Hi techies,

I've got a windows XP, quad core, 4 Gig computer I'd like to run 6 monitors on. I'm running 4 now, using 2 PCI -ASUS EAH 3450 cards (ATI clone I think). I tried to do 6 using a good ATI card I had that was a PCI Express but it didn't work. My motherboard has 2 PCI slots and 2 PCI Express slots. I also have an Nvidia 9500 GTX ? card here that's available if that helps. Any thoughts? TIA

Got my brain thinking.

Have a look same problem

[garyh]

A USB adapter?

I've seen a lot of funny things here on TV ... but this one beats them all!

Maybe you need to get ouy more instead of watching so much TV it is effecting your IQ

[sniffdog]

I go with one of the comments on this Youtube video ..... crack kills.

How can a USB adapter (with its current speed) compete with a graphics card? Sure, it'll give you an extra monitor but at what price and/or quality?

BTW I was referring to Thai Visa, not television. Talking about (effecting ???) your IQ ... 555! What about a course in English before trying to make funny remarks?

Edited December 3, 2008 by sniffdog

[lannarebirth]

Thank you all for the responses. I think I'll probably go the USB route. There's one type of USB one buys for the 5th monitor and a more expensive one for number 6. I think I'll add them one at a time to see how it works. Next trip back to the states I may invest in a pair of Matrox 4monitor cards. I know the two computer idea gives some redundancy, but I tried it lately and two keyboards and mouses was just too unweildy.

Thanks again.

Edited December 6, 2008 by lannarebirth

[bkk_mike]

Thank you all for the responses. I think I'll probably go the USB route. There's one type of USB one buys for the 5th monitor and a more expensive one for number 6. I think I'll add them one at a time to see how it works. Next trip back to the states I may invest in a pair of Matrox 4monitor cards. I know the two computer idea gives some redundancy, but I tried it lately and two keyboards and mouses was just too unweildy.

Thanks again.

You get KVM switches for that. Mine works by pressing the num lock key twice to switch the computer that the mouse and keyboard are talking to.

That, or you could use synergy or KaVoom to transfer the keyboard and mouse commands between PCs. (Synergy is cross-platform - XP, MacOS, Linux - not sure if it works on Vista though.)

Edited December 6, 2008 by bkk_mike

[SurfRider]

"That, or you could use synergy or KaVoom to transfer the keyboard and mouse commands between PCs. (Synergy is cross-platform - XP, MacOS, Linux - not sure if it works on Vista though.)"

Yes! -- I used a standard KVM for years with four monitors on one PC linked with another single monitor PC ---

Synergy is SO MUCH better and easier -- even supports copy/paste between the two PCs --

http://synergy2.sourceforge.net/

For the multi-monitor gear, might be worth checking eBay --

Back when Matrox 4-port PCI cards were over US$700, I bought one on eBay for US$125 --