graphics card [lc, quick question?]

valor

Can someone recommend me a card

I currently run 2 monitors off of one card -
256MB nVidia™ GeForce 8600GTS graphics card

and I want to install another card so I can support 3 monitors

XPS 420 Viiv Intel® Processor Q6600 Quad Core&#153 2.40GHz, 1066Mhz FSB, 8MB cache, is the motherboard

I also want it to be able to run 2600 Resolution if I eventually get a 30"

From another site "The high resolution of the 3007 requires a graphics card with Dual Link DVI-D capability."



Can someone point out a link to where I can buy one to me a card that serves my purposes and is compatible with my motherboard? I think it has to be a similar make to my current card and PCI? I'm a technical retard and when I look thru Cmputer Hard ware sites I get confuzzled

Thanks

toHex

valor wrote: »

Can someone recommend me a card

I currently run 2 monitors off of one card -
256MB nVidia™ GeForce 8600GTS graphics card

and I want to install another card so I can support 3 monitors

XPS 420 Viiv Intel® Processor Q6600 Quad Core&#153 2.40GHz, 1066Mhz FSB, 8MB cache, is the motherboard

I also want it to be able to run 2600 Resolution if I eventually get a 30"

From another site "The high resolution of the 3007 requires a graphics card with Dual Link DVI-D capability."



Can someone point out a link to where I can buy one to me a card that serves my purposes and is compatible with my motherboard? I think it has to be a similar make to my current card and PCI? I'm a technical retard and when I look thru Cmputer Hard ware sites I get confuzzled

Thanks

decide on your monitor first and then buy a card to suit. you dont need anything significant. put any extra money money into a good chair - way more important.

suilen

I'd say stick a post up in the graphics section in computers and technology, they'll probably know more about it there.

Any idea what model of monitor your gonna go for, I was thinking of replacing my 22" and 24" also with 2 30's. Looks like it will be about 1.2k for each monitor though.

edit: Actually there like 1.1k each, I was thinking of getting 2 of these. http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=347576

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

suilen wrote: »

I'd say stick a post up in the graphics section in computers and technology, they'll probably know more about it there.

Any idea what model of monitor your gonna go for, I was thinking of replacing my 22" and 24" also with 2 30's. Looks like it will be about 1.2k for each monitor though.

edit: Actually there like 1.1k each, I was thinking of getting 2 of these. http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=347576

I was looking at similiar it looks pretty sweet

mocata

ATI new GFX cards are fantastic for this. They support 3 monitors and are very easy to configure. I have found 3 the best setup, as you have both eyes on the centre screen and can turn your head to look at the side monitors. 2 screens can lead to information being split between 2 and having to read over a gap. One snag is that one of your monitors needs to have a display port connector. These are a bit more expensive than normal, but the other can just be normal DVI. If you figure to use the best monitor in the centre, and 2 decent ones to the side that would work out well.http://www.amd.com/us/products/technologies/eyefinity/Pages/eyefinity.aspx

The range of GFX card you need are available on Komplett as well http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=499576

marco_polo

mocata wrote: »

ATI new GFX cards are fantastic for this. They support 3 monitors and are very easy to configure. I have found 3 the best setup, as you have both eyes on the centre screen and can turn your head to look at the side monitors. 2 screens can lead to information being split between 2 and having to read over a gap. One snag is that one of your monitors needs to have a display port connector. These are a bit more expensive than normal, but the other can just be normal DVI. If you figure to use the best monitor in the centre, and 2 decent ones to the side that would work out well.http://www.amd.com/us/products/technologies/eyefinity/Pages/eyefinity.aspx

The range of GFX card you need are available on Komplett as well http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=499576

Seriously he needs like a 25-40 euro card tops, for a bog standard multi monitor setup. :rolleyes:

@OP: Dual link DVI is a fancy way of saying that that the video card should support resolutions of up to 2560 x 1600, so any card that can support that willl be just fine.

That motherboard seems to have additional PCIe slots so no problems putting in an extra card.

nVidia use the same drivers for multiple card series so once the card can use the same drivers as the 8600GTS there will be no problem. That means anything from GeForce 6, 7, 8, 9, 100, and 200-series desktop GPUs.

Examples of suitable cards and irish online retailers, shop around by all means.

http://www.elara.ie/products/detailsfullat.asp?productcode=ECE1824082#spec

http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=484602

http://www.pixmania.ie/ie/uk/3814448/art/gigabyte/geforce-210-512-mb-gddr2.html

Important points are
1) Card is GeForce 6XXX, 7XXX, 8XXX, 9XXX, 100 or 200 series.
2) PCIe 2.0 form
3) DVI connector
4) Supports 2560 x 1600 (Will definately be dual link)

mocata

For valor's specific request thats very true, one extra nvidia card is ample. However, for the others who were thinking about doing the same, the ATI is as simple and effective as it gets. I have built dozens of setups like this, and none were as easy to "plug and play" as the ATI one. I personally had a Matrox triplehead and 3 19" Crt's for years, and have had 2 SLi-based gaming pc's in the past 5.

marco_polo

mocata wrote: »

For valor's specific request thats very true, one extra nvidia card is ample. However, for the others who were thinking about doing the same, the ATI is as simple and effective as it gets. I have built dozens of setups like this, and none were as easy to "plug and play" as the ATI one. I personally had a Matrox triplehead and 3 19" Crt's for years, and have had 2 SLi-based gaming pc's in the past 5.

Fair enough, but it is a request in the poker forum for a suitable card to support an extra 30" monitor the aim I presume being a better multi table playing experience.

Of course eyefinity is great technology, but I don't think the OP was looking at setting up a dedicated Flight Simulator room with a wall of video screens for the total immersive gaming experience.

valor

Someone in a different thread suggested I needed a PCI because this motherboard only had 1 PCI express slot or something? you sure it has multiple?

I'm amazed any of those cheap ass cards will work, for some reason I was under the impression it was very expensive to support a 30" Monitor.

valor

I asked Dell, they said it only has one PCI express slot. Can someone recommend a PCI card that is suitable? Thanks for all the help

marco_polo

valor wrote: »

Someone in a different thread suggested I needed a PCI because this motherboard only had 1 PCI express slot or something? you sure it has multiple?

Apologies it seems I was misinformed by a dodgy website.

Hmm PCI graphics cards are quite hard to come by as I recall, I have another think later.

I'm amazed any of those cheap ass cards will work, for some reason I was under the impression it was very expensive to support a 30" Monitor.

With an expensive gaming video card you are paying purely for the 3D processing power of the GPU (physics calculations / 3D rendering / Shading etc). For normal desktop usage / DVD watching etc even the lowest end cards would be under very little strain at high resolutions.

marco_polo

Boring technical bit first. What threw me off is that the specs for the Dell say that it has one PCIe X16 and one PCIe X8 slot.

Looking at the board this seems to be the case (The long and medium size black slots in the bottom left corner http://images.google.ie/imgres?imgurl=http://www.txcesssurplus.com/catalog/4276%2520Top.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.txcesssurplus.com/servlet/the-4653/Dell-XPS-420-Core/Detail&usg=__sAz8w0cY_X-lEg-c8cb7PUlc3Ag=&h=461&w=550&sz=55&hl=en&start=3&um=1&tbnid=QvZ1HvxUjvJETM:&tbnh=111&tbnw=133&prev=/images%3Fq%3Ddell%2Bxps%2B420%2Bmotherboard%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26um%3D1)


Usually what this means is that the X8 slot is actual physicaly the same size as a X16 slot (but with half the bandwith disabled). In those cases you can put in a PCIe X 16 card and it will work fine (just a little slower), however in this case Dell seem to have put a physical PCIe X8 slot on the board which is shorter. Unfortunately graphics cards, while they can run at X8 speeds, they only come with a PCIe X16 interface in general .


In fact I cannot think of anything that needs a PCIe X8 slot so I have no idea why dell put it in there.

Anyway on to PCI cards, they are a little bit rarer and so you get a little less bang for your buck. The best deal I could find is this nVidia 8400GS here for 48 Euro. Driver wise it will be compatible with your current 8600GTS and it says it is Dual Link DVI also. I double checked to be sure and the specs from here confirm that the max resolution is 2560 x 1600.

Nearly double the price of equivelent PCIe cards but there is not much choice in the circumstances.

dvdfan

valor wrote: »

I asked Dell, they said it only has one PCI express slot. Can someone recommend a PCI card that is suitable? Thanks for all the help

Im almost certain either LuckyLyod or LuckyLucky (he was living in Portugal if that narrows down which one of them as i get there nicknames mixed up) has a Dell 30" monitor 2560 x 1600 so try pm'ing him and see what setup he has and he should be able to help.

valor

Thanks alot for all the help. That card says its a DVI-I card though

FAQ from 2+2 "Do I need a special graphics card?"

The high resolution of the 3007 requires a graphics card with Dual Link DVI-D capability. You can easily search many sites like www.pricewatch.com and www.pricegrabber.com and specify "dual link" to find compatible cards.
"

Is DVI-I enough then too? Sorry for all the stupid questions

marco_polo

valor wrote: »

Thanks alot for all the help. That card says its a DVI-I card though

FAQ from 2+2 "Do I need a special graphics card?"

The high resolution of the 3007 requires a graphics card with Dual Link DVI-D capability. You can easily search many sites like www.pricewatch.com and www.pricegrabber.com and specify "dual link" to find compatible cards.
"

Is DVI-I enough then too? Sorry for all the stupid questions

No worries, despite what it implies DVI-D does not actually stand for dual .

DVI-I stands for DVI Interlaced which means that it can carry both analogue and digital signal (This means a DVI card could be used with an analogue VGA monitor simply by the use of a DVI-VGA adapter). DVI D stands for DVI digital and simply means that the card can only carry a digital signal. Both types can be dual link.

If a card has 2650 X 1200 maximum resolution then it must be dual dvi as a single dvi only has the bandwith to go to 1920 X 1200.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Visual_Interface

valor

Thanks again

OK, so DVI-I will definitely work with the Dell 3007? If so I dont know why the 2+2 faq says DVI-D instead of just Dual Link DVI. Is it possible the 3007 doesnt have a DVI I port?

valor

From the Dell website : Extensive Connectivity – Seven connection options: VGA, DVI-D with HDCP, HDMI, S-Video, Component, Composite and DisplayPort give you a wide range of connection options.


So it has to be DVI-D, it seems? LOL, sorry to ask you yet again, but a suitable card with DVI-D?

marco_polo

valor wrote: »

Thanks again

OK, so DVI-I will definitely work with the Dell 3007? If so I dont know why the 2+2 faq says DVI-D instead of just Dual Link DVI. Is it possible the 3007 doesnt have a DVI I port?

valor wrote: »

From the Dell website : Extensive Connectivity – Seven connection options: VGA, DVI-D with HDCP, HDMI, S-Video, Component, Composite and DisplayPort give you a wide range of connection options.


So it has to be DVI-D, it seems? LOL, sorry to ask you yet again, but a suitable card with DVI-D?

DVI-D is simply the digital subset of DVD-I so they are completely 100% compatible with each other. The only requirement is that you have a DVI-D (male) to DVI-D(male) cable, as a DVI - DVI cable would not fit into the DVD-D (female) input on the monitor. The digital signal is identical, and the only difference is that the analogue signal, which an LCD monitor does not need anyway, is not carried by a DVD-D cable.

(Male DVI-D to Female DVI-I is fine as the only digital pins will be connected, but not Male DVI-I to Female DVI-D as additional analogue pins on the male will not fit in)

DVI-I is the standard on video cards, the only reason it exists is because new video cards do not have VGA outputs, but must be able to continue to work with older VGA monitors via a DVI - VGA dongle.

I am typing this on just such as setup. My LG will only accept DVD-D input and my card is a HD4870 with two DVI-I outputs .

Honestly there is absolutely no concern in getting a card with DVI-I output. (In fact I am not sure that DVD-D only output cards exists due to the need for backwards VGA compatability)

valor

Alright cool, I'll trust you I'll order that card you mentioned. Thanks alot for your help