Best card for multiple screens

[hmmblah]

I've set up a new video surveillance system with about 70 cameras, all ip. I need to find a card that can support 4 displays to stretch this across. The card cannot get any extra power ( only from pcie slot) and won't be used for 3D. OS is windows xp pro. One screen is a 19" dell with dvi, the other 3 are 22" tvs that have hdmi.

Any suggestions?

 

[kilobravo]

Only one i could find,that came close to the requirements is this

Saphire hd5670 flex

But some adapters would be needed.

I found this expensive setup,but with 70 units installed,think price wont matter

Matrox veos

 

[hmmblah]

That HD5670 may fit the bill and it's cheap. What's a good (cheap) DP active adapter that I could use?

I also checked out the Matrox stuff. Not sure what route to take yet. I've contacted the video company as well to see what they recommend.

 

[kilobravo]

Tried to find an active DP to hdmi on newegg.Hard to find.Maybe a retailer could help you on phone.

But dvi to hdmi,there plenty too choose. 20-30$.

 

[KING_OF_SAND]

5870 eyefinity 6.

 

[hmmblah]

5870 eyefinity 6.

I knew someone would recommend that. I considered it, but it can't/won't happen. These cards are going in to Dell machines. No PCIe power and no molex connectors. I can't use a card that requires extra power without getting new machines. I'm going to give the 5670's a try and see how that goes. We are going to replace the 22" TVs too with something bigger, probably 32".

 

[Ya93sin]

More about the screen resolutions rather than the sizes, what resolutions you running on each screen?

AMD FirePro and nVidia Quadro cards are a bit expensive, but very low power (we're talking passively cooled), and do exactly what you need.

 

[hmmblah]

Max probably 720p, likely lower res than that. Remember, this is 2D only. Just looking at camera images here for a security system.

Hadn't even thought of a workstation card. Passive would be better for sure than something with a fan. I actually ordered the flex card above, but have cancelled that order now. Going to do a little more research.

Edit:

Looks like the FirePros can only do 4 monitors with Windows 7. Not sure about quadro, but for 4 monitors the cards start above $400 each. I'm going to give the flex card a shot just because it's cheap. If it doesn't work out I will look into updating to win7 and a workstation card.

 

[Ya93sin]

Yeah they are pretty expensive

 

[hmmblah]

Cards arrived yesterday, went to fit them today....grr. The Dell machines only allow single slot cards. There isn't a slot in the back of the case to allow for double slot. Now off to find a single slot card that allows 4 monitors and doesn't require extra power.....Good thing I'm not picky.

 

[hmmblah]

Looking at this card now:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814195099

I will have to update to Windows 7 Pro on the workstations. Also, what about the adapters?

From what a user review said I will need two Active display port adapters per card to use 4 monitors if they aren't DP monitors. Is this true? I can buy these adapters if need be.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814999034

Lastly, can you use a DVI to HDMI adapter on the mini-DP to DVI adapters to so I can use HDMI monitors/cabling?

 

[Rastalovich]

Sorry I hadn't seen this sooner. Dell would suggest an nVidia NVS 420, it's a single low profile card that costs around... $300 maybe. (you can actually "usually" get them from Dell)

Other options would be the likes of the VisionTek HD5570, same sort of deal for around $100 cheaper I think.

4x displays from 1x port.

A Matrox G200 would be ideal and incredibly cheap (PCI tho and no umff at-all if you needed it). These things were... $30 if you can find them on ebay or similar.

 

[hmmblah]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814133260

That looks interesting. Looks like I would get 4 monitor support with WinXP Pro?

Can I use DVI to HDMI adapters on there so I can use HDMI TVs?