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Low power video cards / Multiple monitors

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ottozylch46

Weaksauce
Joined
Oct 7, 2009
Messages
77
I am looking to get some input on different video cards I could switch to that use less power.

Currently, I am using a four monitor setup, 2x 24" (1920x1200) and 2x 22" (1680x1050). The two 24" are driven by a 4870 and the two 22" are driven by a X1950 Pro. A little history on why I am using these cards: the 4870 I had gotten from a co-worker for just about $0 and the 1950 I had laying around from a previous system, thus the configuration.

I do mostly work on the system...no gaming but an occasional movie now and then. I'm not a video card expert, but I'm sure I'm using more power and creating a lot of heat for nothing.
My question is: what pair of video cards would suit my purpose better than I have now? I would like to use less power and create less heat output, but still need to be able to run at 1920x1200, and possibly go to 2560x1600 (30") in the future.

I don't want to spend a ton of money, so if anyone would have some alternative options for me I would greatly appreciate it.

Thanks.
 
two low end 6k or 5k series cards would work. but it also depends on what you do as far as work goes. if anything you are running takes advantage of cuda you may want to look at 2 GT 430's.

the only thing i'm not sure on yet is if the low end 6k series cards with 2 dvi ports have 1 dual link 1 single link dvi like the high end cards but i'm looking that up now and will update my post.

so from what i've seen it looks like the 6770/50 both have 2x dual link DVI but also have models with 1xdual link 1xsingle link. the 5770/50 on the other hand has 2xdual link dvi on all the cards. but these would be the best option for performance, temp's and power usage with the display requirements you want.

just in case you didn't know dual link DVI is required for resolutions over 1920x1200 where as single link works for everything else.
 
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Thanks for the suggestions. Most of the work is with spreadsheets and Word, FireFox also open etc. Just spoiled and like to have many things open at once without really minimizing. Am looking for lower power cards mostly that can still drive higher resolutions and that will last for a few years.
Thanks.
 
I run on my work PC a HD 5450 from Gygabyte. It has two HDMI ports, one DP and on VGA. I use one HDMI, one DP with an active adapter (the $100+ type), and a VGA. This drives 3 LCDs. It only uses 20W and some of the don't even have cooling fans.
 
Concerning the 5450's, would I be able to just use a HDMI/DVI cable and a DVI off the same card for two monitors? Would it have enough power to run two 24" at 1920x1200?
 
ottozylch46 said:
Concerning the 5450's, would I be able to just use a HDMI/DVI cable and a DVI off the same card for two monitors? Would it have enough power to run two 24" at 1920x1200?
Click to expand...


the 5450 he mentioned doesn't come with a dvi port its just 2 hdmi 1 dp 1 vga, so you would use a hdmi to dvi a active DP to dvi(for 1920x1200 or higher resolutions). the card is plenty powerful enough for 2 displays when just doing regular desktop stuff/applications.

if you absolutely need DVI ports a card like this will allow for the same 3 displays on 1 card using 2 DVI+ DP(displayport) or 1 DVI+1 HDMI+1 DP. it will also allow you to run 3 30" displays if you wanted to on a single card.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150448
 
How about a Sapphire FLEX series like this 6770:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102938&cm_re=sapphire_flex-_-14-102-938-_-Product

That way you can use a single card to drive all four monitors, which should save you power *AND* problems (I know all about that, used to run 6 monitors on 3 video cards). This will only work if you are running Vista or Windows 7 as this will use Eyefinity - if you are on XP you'll need 2 cards. To get 4 DVI ports, you'll need a HDMI-to-DVI converter and a DisplayPort-to-DVI single link active adapter (about $30). Only one of the DVI ports is dual-link, so if you get more than one 30" LCD you'll have to rethink the entire video card setup, although chances are you'd buy ones with DisplayPort so you could put 2 30" in your rig without having to change anything on the video card or adapter side. If you go 4 30", you should consider a more powerful card like a (FLEX HD6950 which I believe can drive 4 monitors at that resolution, 6 if they ever come out with DisplayPort 1.2 MST hubs.

You could theoretically use a FLEX 5670 which is cheaper and uses less power to do exactly the same thing as the 6770, but you'd have to find it in stock somewhere.
 
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