Recommended display cards - UPDATED

[Jnaude]

I have been looking around for a while but dont really know what to get. i need a 4 Output selution for watchout 5.3.

the reselutions i use are 1024 x 768, 1280 x 720, 1920 x 1080. is there a card that has 4 DVI outputs?

[jfk]

I have been looking around for a while but dont really know what to get. i need a 4 Output selution for watchout 5.3.

the reselutions i use are 1024 x 768, 1280 x 720, 1920 x 1080. is there a card that has 4 DVI outputs?

 

I have not recently seen any ATi based offerings with four DVI output on the backplane.

They did exist a while back, but even then, beware of cards with four DVI outputs.

Such cards are generally targeted at computer based DVR applications.

They tend to have underpowered DirectX 3D accelerators as that is not a requirement of the home DVR market,

yet it is important to WATCHOUT,

Instead, cards configured in that manner tend to have beefed up hardware movie decoding,

which WATCHOUT can not / does not use.

 

It is better to look for cards with a combination of DVI and DisplayPort (both are locking connectors)

or just DisplayPort in conjunction with a beefed up DirectX 3D engine better suited to WATCHOUT.

Use quality active DisplayPort to DVI adaptors to achieve the desired DVI output.

[Jonas Dannert]

AMD Eyefinity cards - SEP12

 

We tend to use HD7970 ourselves, here is some examples:

 

6-outputs:

http://www.asus.com/Graphics_Cards/AMD_Series/HD7970DC23GD5/

http://www.asus.com/Graphics_Cards/AMD_Series/HD7970DC2T3GD5/

 

4-outputs:

http://xfxforce.com/en-us/Products/Graphics-Cards/ATI/AMD-Radeon-HD-7000/AMD-Radeon-HD-7950.aspx

http://xfxforce.com/en-us/Products/Graphics-Cards/AMD/AMD-Radeon-HD-7000/AMD-Radeon-HD-7970.aspx

 

Don't forget to use ACTIVE DisplayPort/MiniDisplayPort-->DVI-adapters for all outputs above 2, as described in the forum. http://dataton.com/forum/topic/734-watchout-5-technical-notes/

 

Apart from the ASUS cards above, most of the other brands, XFX/Powercolor/Sapphire/MSI/HIS/Gigabyte etc, are not so different.

 

One can pretty much choose what one prefer, and is available.

We tend to stay at the highend gaming cards, or AMD:s FirePro V- & W-series, ourselves.

 

A good place to check from time to time, is Tom's Hardware:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107.html

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107-7.html

 

 

AMD FirePro Eyefinity cards - SEP12

 

http://www.amd.com/us/products/workstation/graphics/ati-firepro-3d/Pages/ati-firepro-3d.aspx

 

V7900/V9800/S400

W7000/W8000/W9000/S400

 

/jonas

[cowboyclint]

Also, remember, that you can not have multiple resolutions from one video card. You could use 4-1024X768, or 4-1920X1080, but you can't combine the multiple resolutions you listed off the same graphics card. This has been said many times before, but I tend to forget it occassionally, so it is best to say it often.

[Jnaude]

Thanks for all the input. i am going for the Asus 7970 Card. the nice thing is all my display machenes are Asus so Should run Together nicely

[Jonas Dannert]

AMD Eyefinity cards - NOV12 - UPDATED

 

We tend to use HD7970 ourselves, here is some examples:

 

6-outputs:

http://www.asus.com/Graphics_Cards/AMD_Series/HD7970DC23GD5/

http://www.asus.com/Graphics_Cards/AMD_Series/HD7970DC2T3GD5/

http://www.msi.com/product/vga/R7970-Lightning.html

 

4-outputs:

http://xfxforce.com/en-us/Products/Graphics-Cards/ATI/AMD-Radeon-HD-7000/AMD-Radeon-HD-7950.aspx

http://xfxforce.com/en-us/Products/Graphics-Cards/AMD/AMD-Radeon-HD-7000/AMD-Radeon-HD-7970.aspx

 

There are some 6-output HD7870 cards, untested by us, but looks capable:

 

http://www.powercolor.com/global/products_features.asp?id=415

http://www.visiontek.com/7000-series/hd-7870.html

http://www.club-3d.com/index.php/products/reader.en/product/radeon-hd-7870-eyefinity-6.html

 

 

Don't forget to use ACTIVE DisplayPort/MiniDisplayPort-->DVI-adapters for all outputs above 2, as described in the forum. http://dataton.com/forum/topic/734-watchout-5-technical-notes/

 

Apart from the ASUS cards above, most of the other brands, XFX/Powercolor/Sapphire/MSI/HIS/Gigabyte etc, are not so different.

 

One can pretty much choose what one prefer, and is available.

We tend to stay at the highend gaming cards, or AMD:s FirePro V- & W-series.

 

A good place to check from time to time, is Tom's Hardware:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/Components,1/Graphics-Cards,4/

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107.html

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107-7.html

 

 

 

AMD FirePro Eyefinity cards - SEP12

 

http://www.amd.com/us/products/workstation/graphics/ati-firepro-3d/Pages/ati-firepro-3d.aspx

 

V7900/V9800/S400

W7000/W8000/W9000/S400

 

/jonas

[Sedat Gunduz]

I just bought 4 pcs Quadro K5000 with 4 output. Anybody used that card before ?

 

It is more expensive than Ati Firepro W8000 but in my country it is hard to find Firepro cards so I decided to go on with nVidia.

[Jonas Dannert]

It has not been tested by us, so how many of the outputs that actually will be available for WATCHOUT use, is unknown.

On a NVidia Geforce GTX680 3 outputs were possible.

Any particular reason for the highend choice of cards?

 

/jonas

[Walter]

Well Sedat, since you already bought them: how are they working out for you? Let us know!

[Sedat Gunduz]

Hi Jonas,

 

I am in shock.

 

I thought that I can use all outputs of any card with V5. 

 

I didn't open the boxes of the cards yet. How we can learn how many of these 4 outputs will be active in V5 ?

 

I am setting up 4 new PC for a big event next week with 16 outputs.

 

I used W600, V7900, V8800 before. I was planning to go on with Firepro graphics card but Turkish distributor couldn't supply new W Series for 3 months. I found suppliers in Europe but I prefer to buy from Turkey because of guarantee issues. This distributor also supplies NVidia so I decided to go n with Nvidia. I paid almost %40 more than W8000 to these card.

 

So I need your help about this subject.

 

Then I can give these cards back and order W8000 from Germany.

 

Thanks.

 

Sedat.

[Jonas Dannert]

Sedat,

 

Are you shocked, without looking at our WATCHOUT 5 Technical Notes?

This is what we've said since launch:

 

http://forum.dataton.com/topic/93-wo5-multi-output/

Posted 22 September 2011 - 09:41 PM

WATCHOUT 5 - Multi output

 

All outputs MUST come from one card.

 

"The AMD/ATI Radeon with EYEFINITY does support more than two outputs with WATCHOUT 5.

Not all vendors do that. Preferably use the HD68xx/69xx-series for this, they are tried and tested.

AMD FirePro 5900/7900/9800-cards are also very good, tested choices.

 

With NVidia, maximum number of outputs from one card seems to be 2 or maybe 3, at the moment, depending on card chosen.

How many of those one can get to work with WATCHOUT is not totally clear yet. 2 seems to be the limit.

 

I am not saying that it won't work, but I'm saying that we have not tested it.

 

NVidia NVS series will not do, they lack sufficient DirectX/Direct3D hardware acceleration for WATCHOUT-use. "

 

 

 

/jonas

[Sedat Gunduz]

Just tested the new Nvidia Quadro K5000 with 4 full HD output, works properly. Now I am waiting for the Quadro Sync cards.

[Jonas Dannert]

Sounds good, thanks for sharing!

It will be interesting to hear about your experience with the Quadro Sync cards.

 

/jonas

[Lawrence]

We have tested here in Asus Nvidia GTX 660Ti and Galaxy Nvidia GTX 670 also working seamlessly for 4x full HD display. It actually has much more stable performance than the Sapphire ATI 7970 that we bought last May, using less power and no need for active DP.

[Lawrence]

Hi Jonas,

 

It is interesting that you mention NVS series.

 

Here in our company, when we choose graphics card, we usually based on the projection system and software application used... realtime application especially works with OpenGL, we tend to choose workstation grade card like Nvidia Quadro card, entertainment video playback we usually use home/game grade graphics card like ATI Radeon HD 7000 series or Nvidia GeForce GTX series. Watchout recommended to use ATI Radeon HD series so we are quite comfortable to use Nvidia GeForce GTX eventhough it hasn't been tested. Watchout actually do has a very good compatibility! Our installations run usually 15hrs daily non-stop for a few months to as long as a year, which means we need a very stable machine. Currently we are using HP Z620 with Sapphire ATI 7970, but half of them were broken already after 6-7 mths, we replaced with Nvidia 660/670.

 

Now here come NVS, we have to design our next system, HP Z620 has this new Nvidia NVS 510 which does support DirectX 11, 2GB with 4 mDP, supports 4 simultaneously output. Do you think I can use this card or I should use back those game cards (Radeon or GTX)? Using the card comes with the workstation should give me pace-of-mind on repair because the whole system would have been tested and I can simply call HP for repair without the need to identify it is not the graphic card problem, but I'm not a software programmer so I'm not sure if support DirectX 11 is good enough or there is some other requirement.... could you give me some suggestions?

 

Thanks,

 

Lawrence

[Jonas Dannert]

We have tested here in Asus Nvidia GTX 660Ti and Galaxy Nvidia GTX 670 also working seamlessly for 4x full HD display.

 

That's sounds good.

I know that GTX680 works for at least 3 outputs, too.

 

 

It actually has much more stable performance than the Sapphire ATI 7970 that we bought last May, using less power and no need for active DP.

 

So how is it connected, exactly? Through which set of connectors?

 

/jonas

[Jonas Dannert]

Hi Jonas,

 

It is interesting that you mention NVS series.

 

Here in our company, when we choose graphics card, we usually based on the projection system and software application used... realtime application especially works with OpenGL

 

Which WATCHOUT does not use, it's based on DirectX/Direct3D

 

 

, we tend to choose workstation grade card like Nvidia Quadro card, entertainment video playback we usually use home/game grade graphics card like ATI Radeon HD 7000 series or Nvidia GeForce GTX series. Watchout recommended to use ATI Radeon HD series

 

Mainly because those were the only cards supporting more than two simultaneous outputs at the time.

It is not in anyway prohibited to use NVidia graphics with WATCHOUT. But it was not until the Kepler-based cards arrived,

it made any sense to do so, as I see it. Still, for 6 outputs, AMD is the only choice, FirePro or Radeon, depending on preference or budget.

 

so we are quite comfortable to use Nvidia GeForce GTX even though it hasn't been tested. Watchout actually do has a very good compatibility!

 

No surprise there, this is by design.

And, for the record, we are not testing every graphic card/component out there, for WATCHOUT compability.

This has to be the computer builder/configurator/suppliers task, with the configuration they chose.

Our Premium Partners takes this responsibility.

 

 

Our installations run usually 15hrs daily non-stop for a few months to as long as a year, which means we need a very stable machine. Currently we are using HP Z620 with Sapphire ATI 7970, but half of them were broken already after 6-7 mths, we replaced with Nvidia 660/670.

 

I doubt that this is/was an AMD issue, but a Sapphire problem. If this is an issue, a FirePro card might have been a better solution.

Or as you say, a NVidia card. Are the powersupply on the HP Z620 speced for a card with 225 Watts, BTW?

 

Also, one thing that can easily kill a graphics is long and/or many cable connections on the outputs, especially with a Display device,

that loads the connection more than normal. Professional cards usually shuts itself off if this occurs, gaming cards may not.

 

Now here come NVS, we have to design our next system, HP Z620 has this new Nvidia NVS 510 which does support DirectX 11, 2GB with 4 mDP, supports 4 simultaneously output. Do you think I can use this card

 

No, I don't think so.

 

or I should use back those game cards (Radeon or GTX)? Using the card comes with the workstation should give me pace-of-mind on repair because the whole system would have been tested and I can simply call HP for repair without the need to identify it is not the graphic card problem, but I'm not a software programmer so I'm not sure if support DirectX 11 is good enough or there is some other requirement.... could you give me some suggestions?

 

I can see the convenience, but it's the lack of proper DirectX/Direct3D hardware acceleration, that is the issue with

NVS series/FireProMV/Matrox M91xx-series of cards.

Please feel free to try, to see if any recent changes makes them more suitable for WATCHOUT use.

 

 

 

Thanks,

 

Lawrence

[jason]

Hi all,

 

New to the forum, thanks for all of the great info here.

 

I've been working on a build for a multi-display output system (4 projectors) and was looking at the MSI Lightning HD7970, which has apparently been discontinued. In my search I found an HIS X Radeon HD7970 with virtually identical specs (slightly higher core and mem clocks), including Eyefinity support and DirectX 11.

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161419

 

Question is, has anyone tested this card, or is it a safe assumption that this will work with Watchout v. 5 running a quad display output?

 

Thanks in advance for any feedback.

[Jonas Dannert]

It will work, for 4 outputs, with the correct ACTIVE MiniDisplayPort adapters.

 

/jonas

[screenshaper]

I have tested an Nvidia Geforce GTX 680 driving four Watchout displays.

It works perfectly.

It has 2x DVI, 1x HDMI, 1x DP (NOT mini-DP); so no need of active adapters.

 

http://www.palit.biz/palit/vgapro.php?id=1872

[Jonas Dannert]

Good to know, thanks for sharing!

 

/jonas

[jfk]

I have tested an Nvidia Geforce GTX 680 driving four Watchout displays.

It works perfectly.

It has 2x DVI, 1x HDMI, 1x DP (NOT mini-DP); so no need of active adapters.

 

http://www.palit.biz/palit/vgapro.php?id=1872

 

 

Uhh, MiniDisplayPort and DisplayPort are both the same as it relates to active adaptor / passive adaptor use.

Very possibly the nVidia card has the needed extra support for the MDP/DP to work without an active adaptor

and three or more ports lit up, but that is not related to the DP connection type.

I know that ATi cards with DisplayPort still need the active adaptor when more that two ports are used.

It stops working when two DVI outputs are used by the non-MDP/DP outputs.

On ATi, the same MDP/DP port will work with a passive adaptor when two or less ports are used,

so testing with pasive adaptors needs at least three ports lit up to be a valid test on ATi. 

 

Did you test the passive DP->DVI-D adaptor on nVidia with all ports lit up?

nVidia's info on this, How To Setup NVIDIA Surround on GeForce 600 Series GPUs

makes no mention of active/passive adaptors.

[TomT]

"I know that ATi cards with DisplayPort still need the active adaptor when more that two ports are used."

 

We´re running a 4 DP-Output from an AMD W7000 with passive Adapters and an Infinity Group!

It works fine!

[screenshaper]

Uhh, MiniDisplayPort and DisplayPort are both the same as it relates to active adaptor / passive adaptor use.

Very possibly the nVidia card has the needed extra support for the MDP/DP to work without an active adaptor

and three or more ports lit up, but that is not related to the DP connection type.

I know that ATi cards with DisplayPort still need the active adaptor when more that two ports are used.

It stops working when two DVI outputs are used by the non-MDP/DP outputs.

On ATi, the same MDP/DP port will work with a passive adaptor when two or less ports are used,

so testing with pasive adaptors needs at least three ports lit up to be a valid test on ATi. 

 

Did you test the passive DP->DVI-D adaptor on nVidia with all ports lit up?

nVidia's info on this, How To Setup NVIDIA Surround on GeForce 600 Series GPUs

makes no mention of active/passive adaptors.

Double checked. All 4 ports connected (2x DVI, 1x HDMI, 1x DP) to DVI displays using passive adapter. It works!

IMHO, active adapters are an AMD/ATi only issue.

 

Tested a couple of WatchPAX providing a single ATI mini-DP. No active adapter, no party!

[TomT]

Tested a couple of WatchPAX providing a single ATI mini-DP. No active adapter, no Party!

There´s no FirePro inside the Watchpax!