[b3achsk1mmer]

Hello World!

This is my first post, and I hope you can help me. I am trying to upgrade a Dell Optiplex 960 Computer to support 8 monitors at once, but before I sink money into the project I want to be sure that all of the hardware will be compatible. Relevant Dell Optiplex 960 specs:

OS: Windows 7 Enterprise Service Pack 1 (build 7601)
CPU: 3.00 gigahertz Intel Core2 Duo
Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 ST3320418AS 320GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive
Motherboard: Dell Inc. 0H634K A00
Memory: 4 Gigabytes
Graphics Card: ATI Radeon HD 4600 Series
Power Supply: 255 Watts Max

My main concerns are:
1. There are 3 PCI 16x slots on the motherboard, so 4 inexpensive cards supporting two monitors will not work.
2. I need to ensure the graphics cards are compatible with the motherboard / OS.
3. I need to ensure that the graphics cards are compatible with the modest 255 Watt power supply.

As is usually the case, I am trying to do as best a job as I can with the minimum investment. Any and all help is appreciated!

TJ

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Gday b3achsk1mmer,

As is usually the case, I am trying to do as best a job as I can with the minimum investment.

We do need an actual budget so we know what not to specify.
Any configuration would need a new PSU and this is the ideal simplest solution,
> http://www.newegg.co...N=-1&isNodeId=1
> http://www.matrox.co...s/m9188pciex16/


What exactly will the setup be used for?
What displays will be used?
What applications/software will be used for the job?
Your GPU is not all that powerful, so will a lot of other applications be running at the same time?

[iammykyl]

Gday b3achsk1mmer,

As is usually the case, I am trying to do as best a job as I can with the minimum investment.

We do need an actual budget so we know what not to specify.
Any configuration would need a new PSU and this is the ideal simplest solution,
> http://www.newegg.co...N=-1&isNodeId=1
> http://www.matrox.co...s/m9188pciex16/


What exactly will the setup be used for?
What displays will be used?
What applications/software will be used for the job?
Your GPU is not all that powerful, so will a lot of other applications be running at the same time?

[b3achsk1mmer]

Primary use: Writing mathematical code. The outputs can require decent rendering capabilities.
Secondary uses: office work, home theater, RTS gaming (generally low system reqs)

Budget:
My budget for PC components is $400. I only need enough GPU power to play a movie smoothly, so it seems like the cost is primarily driven by the number of connections a card supports. Monitors and cables are not a consideration for the purposes of this post.

[b3achsk1mmer]

Programs: the coding output will have highest system reqs by far - games are old / basic.
Mathematica, Matlab, C++/Java/Python/Cinder/ etc IDE's
MS Office, Photoshop, various TeX editors
VLC media player, iTunes, etc.
Stronghold (original), Warcraft III, Eufloria, Fallout: New Vegas, etc.

Displays:
19" Dell monitors. Dell has a few different 19" monitors with very, very similar specs so I have been acquiring them. I can get whatever conversion cables from HDMi/VGA/DVI/etc that I need. I intend to run each monitor at a 1280x1024 resolution.

[iammykyl]

Gday.
Thanks for the info. It is my opinion that you cannot do what you require with a limited budget of $400. Cheapest would be using 2 x 600 series AMD cards each with 2GB Vram + 650 watt PSU having the required PCI-E connectors. depending on the PCI- x 16 slots, they may only run at 8x8 which may not give enough bandwidth to drive 4 monitors from each card.
Second option is 2 x ATI 100-505603 FirePro V8800 2GB 256-bit > http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814195094 + 42- watt PSU. NB. no CUDA support and not the best type of cards for gaming.

You will need more RAM.
I think the CPU will struggle to support the system.
The on board sound may be a problem. Not looked closely at this.
If you could get sound to two or more displays, you would need some method to mute all but one and be able to select which one and automatically mute the others.