Cheapest multi-display card?

[icor1031]

Any card offering at least 4 simultaneously usable ports.

First, what's The cheapest?

Second, what's the cheapest considering how many ports it offers? (i.e., 4 ports for $20 is not cheaper than 8 ports for $30, theoretical prices.)

 

[Xeth]

DVI or displayport? Also does it matter if its single or dual slot

 

[/rant/]

Good lawrd, I just logged on to ask exactly the same question... both DVI and DisplayPort would be fine, but I need to drive at least 4 screens. Cheap is good, because it will solely be needed for work.

 

[icor1031]

That's funny, rant.

Must be DVI.
I prefer single, but it's not a big deal if it's dual.

 

[samuelmorris]

Either, a basic card + a triplehead2go, or an HD6950/6970. They have 4 usable ports (DP1,DP2,DVI1,DVI2)

 

[nissanztt90]

If your trying to do it cheaply, you might want to consider 2 cheap cards with 2 DVI each.

69x0 cards are a bad idea if your not gaming with it, nor are they DVI only.

A basic card + a triplehead2go is also a bad idea considering it cant drive very high resolutions and was meant for gaming. Triplehead2Go was made pointless by the 69x0 series.

 

[icor1031]

Nissan,
At least 4 in 1 card, please!

 

[paperwastage]

i've answered questions about eyefinity and multi-displays many times in this forum... search?

for a 4 output problem, either you need to have multi-card display, a mixture of card + usb solutions,

or the cheapest is a xfx 5770 eyefinity 5(~$150) + the active displayport->DVI adapters(lets say you need 4 ports, so you need 2x$30 adapters.. total of around $210). good part is that it's a single slot too

(if you want 5 displays, single slot, need an active adapter for each monitor above 2)
~$150 + adapter costs
http://www.amazon.com/XFX-Radeon-DisplayPort-PCI-Express-HD577XZ5F3/dp/tech-data/B0048DAPXC

you would need either PCIe(2 displays)+USB devices for monitor output(uses a lot of CPU processing)

or an ATI 5xxx/6xxx series card with 3 ports, 1 at least being displayport

ati 5xxx/6xxx series allows for 3 or more displays. up to 2 legacy displays(VGA/DVI/HDMI), the rest (3rd monitor and up) must use displayport. If you dont have a displayport monitor, you need an active adapter. the cheapest active adapters (DP->singlelinkDVI or DP->VGA) are around $20-$30. If you need DuallinkDVI(>1200p), then it'll cost you $60-$80 for the adapter

active displayport adapters:
dp->dvi
dp->vga

5xxx/6xxx series, cheap
(if you want all digital connectors, single slot. might need to buy some HDMI->DVI adapters from monoprice)
~$60 + $30 adapter
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150508&cm_re=5550-_-14-150-508-_-Product

(if you want a mix of digital and vga, single slot)
~$60 + $30 adapter
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102875&cm_re=5570-_-14-102-875-_-Product

(if you want 5 displays, single slot, need an active adapter for each monitor above 2)
~$150 + adapter costs
http://www.amazon.com/XFX-Radeon-DisplayPort-PCI-Express-HD577XZ5F3/dp/tech-data/B0048DAPXC
~$220 + adapter costs
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...1358&cm_re=eyefinity_5-_-14-131-358-_-Product

(if you want 6 displays, dual slot)
~$300 + adapter costs
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...2888&cm_re=eyefinity_6-_-14-102-888-_-Product

 

[a little off]

Since you said it's for work, you can get 4 DVI for $165

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814139047

 

[TheGreySpectre]

Is there any particular reason you are limited to 1 card? If you are not limited to one card you could just get 2 cheap cards for like $35 each.