Graphic card for supporting a 46 inch NEC LCD4615 monitor in a DellOptiplex 790 mini-tower

The Optiplex 790 mini-tower is using two Dell P2210 monitors
http://www.dell.com/ed/business/p/dell-p2210/pd

Will this Optiplex run NEC LCD4615 monitor
http://www.necdisplay.com/p/large-sc...5?type=support
as the third monitor if a graphic card like MSI GeForce GT 730 DirectX
12 N730K-2GD5LP/OC 2GB 64-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready Video
Card
is used?

Or, are there other cards which would be suitable?

Any advice would be appreciated.

t wrote:


The Optiplex 790 mini-tower is using two Dell P2210 monitors
http://www.dell.com/ed/business/p/dell-p2210/pd

Will this Optiplex run NEC LCD4615 monitor
http://www.necdisplay.com/p/large-sc...5?type=support
as the third monitor if a graphic card like MSI GeForce GT 730 DirectX
12 N730K-2GD5LP/OC 2GB 64-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready Video
Card
is used?

Or, are there other cards which would be suitable?

Any advice would be appreciated.

That would depend on what screen mode you think
this setup will be running in.

The device itself isn't particularly challenging.

http://www.nec-display.com/ap/en_dis...index.html#spe

46"
1920 x 1080 dots
DVI-D (HDCP)

If a video card had a number of DisplayPort output
ports, you can put adapters on them to make other
digital standards. So if you found a single
video card that had DVI*2 and DisplayPort*4, then
one of the DisplayPort could be converted to another
DVI.

DisplayPort adapters come in passive and active ones.
For example, if you want to make a VGA DSUB15 from a
DisplayPort, that is digital to analog conversion
(to make analog RGBHV), the dongle needs power, and
costs a bit more than passive adapters. The price
has steadily come down on at least some of the
active adapters.

So in terms of characteristics, your LCD4616 is demanding
of DVI, to the same extent that the P2210 is (1680x1080).
The situation is more or less like running three P2210.
With the LCD4616 being "only a bit bigger" from a pixel
point of view.

Now, if you use two video cards, then I would expect
Windows to support the configurations directly.

If you do it with one card, on ATI(AMD) cards, you
can probably support a 2x3 matrix of cards as one
display surface. Whereas, on NVidia, I think you
can support a 1x3 matrix as a landscape. That sort
of thing. That's if you insist on one video card
doing the job (which is a perfectly reasonable
expectation). There isn't a standard as such for
this, so the instruction manual for Eyefinity will
be quite different than the one for NVidia Surround.

For the longest while, video cards were "dual head". You
had two logical channels for rendering, and at one time,
only two connectors. A perfect match. Later, a "crossbar"
was added to the GPU, so that the dual heads could feed
any two of five outputs. But, the limit was two monitors.
It was just any two of five.

If you had two video cards in that case, you could run
four monitors, two on each card. I've simulated this here
in WinXP, using a couple FX5200 cards. The setup was a trifle
flaky, as the left hand monitors decided to magically swap
places with the right hand monitors, in the middle of a session.
Good fun.

*******

So when you run in the modern fashion, it would seem
the video card is "more than dual head". But, if you were
to find some actual info on these modes, it would probably
turn out that the dual head part still plays a role.

An AMD card could have six connectors. Typically, this consists
of two traditional connectors (a tip of the hat to Dual Head),
plus four more DisplayPort connectors (full size or Mini).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AMD_Eyefinity

"which support multi-monitor setups by integrating
multiple (up to six) display controllers on one GPU"

"Playing a racing video game on Single Large Surface
(SLS) with a 5x1 portrait display group configuration"

"2–6x 5120x2880 @ 60 Hz" --- the surface has res. limits

"Starting in Catalyst 14.6 AMD has enabled mixed resolution
support, allowing for a single Eyefinity display group to be
created while each monitor runs at a different resolution.

This feature is made possible through the addition of two
new Eyefinity display modes, Fit and Expand, which join the
traditional Fill mode. In both Fit and Expand mode AMD is
compensating for the mismatched resolutions by creating a
virtual desktop that is of a different resolution than the monitors,
and then either padding it out or cropping it as is necessary."

"AMD Eyefinity works with games that support non-standard
aspect ratios, which is required for panning across
multiple displays.

SLS ("Single Large Surface") mode requires an identical
display resolution on all configured displays."

And that's why we start with an article like that, to discover
just how much of a zoo that is going to be. That's going to take
an instruction manual to figure out - or a damn good review.

*******

NVidia does 1x3 at least. Obviously, working better if all
monitors have the same res. If you want them all running
native and set up as a panorama, then that's more demanding
of their software. The demo here, didn't tempt fate by
mixing monitors.

https://www.cclonline.com/article/11...d-Single-GPU-/

NVidia has a few web pages for Surround. This page offers
more traditional info, such as a "configurator" so you can
find out the capabilities of their latest cards. For example,
I entered GTX 1070, and it tells me I can run three monitors
with max surface of 11520x2160.

http://www.geforce.com/hardware/tech...m-requirements

"GTX1070 in 2D Surround...

Orientation: Landscape
Accessory Display: Yes, no additional GPU (if using 3 or less displays)
Maximum Resolution: 11520x2160
Maximum Resolution (Bezel Correction): 10240x1600
Maximum number of displays: 2-4 in Surround,
1 Accessory Display when using
3 or less displays in Surround"

You may be able to plug your current card in there, and
see whether it even has Surround. The Surround was the
NVidia response to Eyefinity.

*******

Now, if you didn't use either of the ATI(AMD) or NVidia special
modes (available on modern cards), then you could use two video
cards to run up to four monitors, using the Windows monitor arrangement
panel.

The first document I ran into, was this one.

"TECHNICAL GUIDEBOOK INSIDE THE OPTIPLEX 790"

http://clascsg.uconn.edu/download/specs/O790.pdf

Page 4 shows the machine has an x16 and an x4 wired slot.
Both are x16 sized, but the bottom slot is "sub-wired"
with only four lanes of bandwidth. This is still sufficient
to run two video cards (i.e. any cards that will fit
into the box - a double-wide card may not fit in the
bottom slot). Maybe it wouldn't play Crysis at
30FPS across all three monitors, but it should be
sufficient for other purposes.

I can't guess at what video card is currently in the
machine, so I'll stop there.

The job is filled with challenges. It helps if you
aren't completely strapped for cash :-) Or, if you're
in a SOHO situation, you can "borrow" a PCI Express video
card long enough from another machine, to verify that the
Windows monitor method, running on two cards, will be
good enough. Before wasting money on some card and an
untested plan. Before you buy the 4615, you can even
grab an HD monitor off someone elses desktop and use it
for simulation.

Note: Before working inside the PC, remember to unplug
the computer. There should be no power inside it, when
changing or moving video cards. Use anti-static precautions,
such as an antistatic strap fastened to the chassis
while you work.

(Contains a series 1 megohm resistor to limit discharge currents...
A plain piece of wire is not a substitute. Clip to an I/O
screw on the back, as there are few other places to secure it.)

https://www.radioshack.com/products/...ic-wrist-strap

Paul

On 1/14/2017 3:21 AM, Paul wrote:
t wrote:


The Optiplex 790 mini-tower is using two Dell P2210 monitors
http://www.dell.com/ed/business/p/dell-p2210/pd

Will this Optiplex run NEC LCD4615 monitor
http://www.necdisplay.com/p/large-sc...5?type=support
as the third monitor if a graphic card like MSI GeForce GT 730 DirectX
12 N730K-2GD5LP/OC 2GB 64-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready
Video Card
is used?

Or, are there other cards which would be suitable?

Any advice would be appreciated.

That would depend on what screen mode you think
this setup will be running in.

The device itself isn't particularly challenging.

http://www.nec-display.com/ap/en_dis...index.html#spe

46"
1920 x 1080 dots
DVI-D (HDCP)

If a video card had a number of DisplayPort output
ports, you can put adapters on them to make other
digital standards. So if you found a single
video card that had DVI*2 and DisplayPort*4, then
one of the DisplayPort could be converted to another
DVI.

DisplayPort adapters come in passive and active ones.
For example, if you want to make a VGA DSUB15 from a
DisplayPort, that is digital to analog conversion
(to make analog RGBHV), the dongle needs power, and
costs a bit more than passive adapters. The price
has steadily come down on at least some of the
active adapters.

So in terms of characteristics, your LCD4616 is demanding
of DVI, to the same extent that the P2210 is (1680x1080).
The situation is more or less like running three P2210.
With the LCD4616 being "only a bit bigger" from a pixel
point of view.

Now, if you use two video cards, then I would expect
Windows to support the configurations directly.

If you do it with one card, on ATI(AMD) cards, you
can probably support a 2x3 matrix of cards as one
display surface. Whereas, on NVidia, I think you
can support a 1x3 matrix as a landscape. That sort
of thing. That's if you insist on one video card
doing the job (which is a perfectly reasonable
expectation). There isn't a standard as such for
this, so the instruction manual for Eyefinity will
be quite different than the one for NVidia Surround.

For the longest while, video cards were "dual head". You
had two logical channels for rendering, and at one time,
only two connectors. A perfect match. Later, a "crossbar"
was added to the GPU, so that the dual heads could feed
any two of five outputs. But, the limit was two monitors.
It was just any two of five.

If you had two video cards in that case, you could run
four monitors, two on each card. I've simulated this here
in WinXP, using a couple FX5200 cards. The setup was a trifle
flaky, as the left hand monitors decided to magically swap
places with the right hand monitors, in the middle of a session.
Good fun.

*******

So when you run in the modern fashion, it would seem
the video card is "more than dual head". But, if you were
to find some actual info on these modes, it would probably
turn out that the dual head part still plays a role.

An AMD card could have six connectors. Typically, this consists
of two traditional connectors (a tip of the hat to Dual Head),
plus four more DisplayPort connectors (full size or Mini).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AMD_Eyefinity

"which support multi-monitor setups by integrating
multiple (up to six) display controllers on one GPU"

"Playing a racing video game on Single Large Surface
(SLS) with a 5x1 portrait display group configuration"

"2–6x 5120x2880 @ 60 Hz" --- the surface has res. limits

"Starting in Catalyst 14.6 AMD has enabled mixed resolution
support, allowing for a single Eyefinity display group to be
created while each monitor runs at a different resolution.

This feature is made possible through the addition of two
new Eyefinity display modes, Fit and Expand, which join the
traditional Fill mode. In both Fit and Expand mode AMD is
compensating for the mismatched resolutions by creating a
virtual desktop that is of a different resolution than the monitors,
and then either padding it out or cropping it as is necessary."

"AMD Eyefinity works with games that support non-standard
aspect ratios, which is required for panning across
multiple displays.

SLS ("Single Large Surface") mode requires an identical
display resolution on all configured displays."

And that's why we start with an article like that, to discover
just how much of a zoo that is going to be. That's going to take
an instruction manual to figure out - or a damn good review.

*******

NVidia does 1x3 at least. Obviously, working better if all
monitors have the same res. If you want them all running
native and set up as a panorama, then that's more demanding
of their software. The demo here, didn't tempt fate by
mixing monitors.

https://www.cclonline.com/article/11...d-Single-GPU-/


NVidia has a few web pages for Surround. This page offers
more traditional info, such as a "configurator" so you can
find out the capabilities of their latest cards. For example,
I entered GTX 1070, and it tells me I can run three monitors
with max surface of 11520x2160.

http://www.geforce.com/hardware/tech...m-requirements

"GTX1070 in 2D Surround...

Orientation: Landscape
Accessory Display: Yes, no additional GPU (if using 3 or less displays)
Maximum Resolution: 11520x2160
Maximum Resolution (Bezel Correction): 10240x1600
Maximum number of displays: 2-4 in Surround,
1 Accessory Display when using
3 or less displays in Surround"

You may be able to plug your current card in there, and
see whether it even has Surround. The Surround was the
NVidia response to Eyefinity.

*******

Now, if you didn't use either of the ATI(AMD) or NVidia special
modes (available on modern cards), then you could use two video
cards to run up to four monitors, using the Windows monitor arrangement
panel.

The first document I ran into, was this one.

"TECHNICAL GUIDEBOOK INSIDE THE OPTIPLEX 790"

http://clascsg.uconn.edu/download/specs/O790.pdf

Page 4 shows the machine has an x16 and an x4 wired slot.
Both are x16 sized, but the bottom slot is "sub-wired"
with only four lanes of bandwidth. This is still sufficient
to run two video cards (i.e. any cards that will fit
into the box - a double-wide card may not fit in the
bottom slot). Maybe it wouldn't play Crysis at
30FPS across all three monitors, but it should be
sufficient for other purposes.

I can't guess at what video card is currently in the
machine, so I'll stop there.

The job is filled with challenges. It helps if you
aren't completely strapped for cash :-) Or, if you're
in a SOHO situation, you can "borrow" a PCI Express video
card long enough from another machine, to verify that the
Windows monitor method, running on two cards, will be
good enough. Before wasting money on some card and an
untested plan. Before you buy the 4615, you can even
grab an HD monitor off someone elses desktop and use it
for simulation.

Note: Before working inside the PC, remember to unplug
the computer. There should be no power inside it, when
changing or moving video cards. Use anti-static precautions,
such as an antistatic strap fastened to the chassis
while you work.

(Contains a series 1 megohm resistor to limit discharge currents...
A plain piece of wire is not a substitute. Clip to an I/O
screw on the back, as there are few other places to secure it.)

https://www.radioshack.com/products/...ic-wrist-strap

Paul
Thanks Paul,

I appreciate the detailed clarification. I will try to find another
video card and see if it can support the NEC monitor.

As always, you are a great help to this forum.

t wrote:

On 1/14/2017 3:21 AM, Paul wrote:
t wrote:


The Optiplex 790 mini-tower is using two Dell P2210 monitors
http://www.dell.com/ed/business/p/dell-p2210/pd

Will this Optiplex run NEC LCD4615 monitor
http://www.necdisplay.com/p/large-sc...5?type=support
as the third monitor if a graphic card like MSI GeForce GT 730 DirectX
12 N730K-2GD5LP/OC 2GB 64-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready
Video Card
is used?

Or, are there other cards which would be suitable?

Any advice would be appreciated.

That would depend on what screen mode you think
this setup will be running in.

The device itself isn't particularly challenging.

http://www.nec-display.com/ap/en_dis...index.html#spe

46"
1920 x 1080 dots
DVI-D (HDCP)

If a video card had a number of DisplayPort output
ports, you can put adapters on them to make other
digital standards. So if you found a single
video card that had DVI*2 and DisplayPort*4, then
one of the DisplayPort could be converted to another
DVI.

DisplayPort adapters come in passive and active ones.
For example, if you want to make a VGA DSUB15 from a
DisplayPort, that is digital to analog conversion
(to make analog RGBHV), the dongle needs power, and
costs a bit more than passive adapters. The price
has steadily come down on at least some of the
active adapters.

So in terms of characteristics, your LCD4616 is demanding
of DVI, to the same extent that the P2210 is (1680x1080).
The situation is more or less like running three P2210.
With the LCD4616 being "only a bit bigger" from a pixel
point of view.

Now, if you use two video cards, then I would expect
Windows to support the configurations directly.

If you do it with one card, on ATI(AMD) cards, you
can probably support a 2x3 matrix of cards as one
display surface. Whereas, on NVidia, I think you
can support a 1x3 matrix as a landscape. That sort
of thing. That's if you insist on one video card
doing the job (which is a perfectly reasonable
expectation). There isn't a standard as such for
this, so the instruction manual for Eyefinity will
be quite different than the one for NVidia Surround.

For the longest while, video cards were "dual head". You
had two logical channels for rendering, and at one time,
only two connectors. A perfect match. Later, a "crossbar"
was added to the GPU, so that the dual heads could feed
any two of five outputs. But, the limit was two monitors.
It was just any two of five.

If you had two video cards in that case, you could run
four monitors, two on each card. I've simulated this here
in WinXP, using a couple FX5200 cards. The setup was a trifle
flaky, as the left hand monitors decided to magically swap
places with the right hand monitors, in the middle of a session.
Good fun.

*******

So when you run in the modern fashion, it would seem
the video card is "more than dual head". But, if you were
to find some actual info on these modes, it would probably
turn out that the dual head part still plays a role.

An AMD card could have six connectors. Typically, this consists
of two traditional connectors (a tip of the hat to Dual Head),
plus four more DisplayPort connectors (full size or Mini).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AMD_Eyefinity

"which support multi-monitor setups by integrating
multiple (up to six) display controllers on one GPU"

"Playing a racing video game on Single Large Surface
(SLS) with a 5x1 portrait display group configuration"

"2–6x 5120x2880 @ 60 Hz" --- the surface has res. limits

"Starting in Catalyst 14.6 AMD has enabled mixed resolution
support, allowing for a single Eyefinity display group to be
created while each monitor runs at a different resolution.

This feature is made possible through the addition of two
new Eyefinity display modes, Fit and Expand, which join the
traditional Fill mode. In both Fit and Expand mode AMD is
compensating for the mismatched resolutions by creating a
virtual desktop that is of a different resolution than the monitors,
and then either padding it out or cropping it as is necessary."

"AMD Eyefinity works with games that support non-standard
aspect ratios, which is required for panning across
multiple displays.

SLS ("Single Large Surface") mode requires an identical
display resolution on all configured displays."

And that's why we start with an article like that, to discover
just how much of a zoo that is going to be. That's going to take
an instruction manual to figure out - or a damn good review.

*******

NVidia does 1x3 at least. Obviously, working better if all
monitors have the same res. If you want them all running
native and set up as a panorama, then that's more demanding
of their software. The demo here, didn't tempt fate by
mixing monitors.

https://www.cclonline.com/article/11...d-Single-GPU-/


NVidia has a few web pages for Surround. This page offers
more traditional info, such as a "configurator" so you can
find out the capabilities of their latest cards. For example,
I entered GTX 1070, and it tells me I can run three monitors
with max surface of 11520x2160.

http://www.geforce.com/hardware/tech...m-requirements

"GTX1070 in 2D Surround...

Orientation: Landscape
Accessory Display: Yes, no additional GPU (if using 3 or less
displays)
Maximum Resolution: 11520x2160
Maximum Resolution (Bezel Correction): 10240x1600
Maximum number of displays: 2-4 in Surround,
1 Accessory Display when using
3 or less displays in Surround"

You may be able to plug your current card in there, and
see whether it even has Surround. The Surround was the
NVidia response to Eyefinity.

*******

Now, if you didn't use either of the ATI(AMD) or NVidia special
modes (available on modern cards), then you could use two video
cards to run up to four monitors, using the Windows monitor arrangement
panel.

The first document I ran into, was this one.

"TECHNICAL GUIDEBOOK INSIDE THE OPTIPLEX 790"

http://clascsg.uconn.edu/download/specs/O790.pdf

Page 4 shows the machine has an x16 and an x4 wired slot.
Both are x16 sized, but the bottom slot is "sub-wired"
with only four lanes of bandwidth. This is still sufficient
to run two video cards (i.e. any cards that will fit
into the box - a double-wide card may not fit in the
bottom slot). Maybe it wouldn't play Crysis at
30FPS across all three monitors, but it should be
sufficient for other purposes.

I can't guess at what video card is currently in the
machine, so I'll stop there.

The job is filled with challenges. It helps if you
aren't completely strapped for cash :-) Or, if you're
in a SOHO situation, you can "borrow" a PCI Express video
card long enough from another machine, to verify that the
Windows monitor method, running on two cards, will be
good enough. Before wasting money on some card and an
untested plan. Before you buy the 4615, you can even
grab an HD monitor off someone elses desktop and use it
for simulation.

Note: Before working inside the PC, remember to unplug
the computer. There should be no power inside it, when
changing or moving video cards. Use anti-static precautions,
such as an antistatic strap fastened to the chassis
while you work.

(Contains a series 1 megohm resistor to limit discharge currents...
A plain piece of wire is not a substitute. Clip to an I/O
screw on the back, as there are few other places to secure it.)

https://www.radioshack.com/products/...ic-wrist-strap

Paul
Thanks Paul,

I appreciate the detailed clarification. I will try to find another
video card and see if it can support the NEC monitor.

As always, you are a great help to this forum.

i have just plugged my pc into a 40 inch Samsung lcd tv using dvi to hdmi
converter. i had to change the scaling of applications after thou.

the graphics card is a amd rx 470. it plays game with out any problems.