passive video

[johnoh]

I'm about to upgrade my desktop system but am not sure there is a better video card solution than what I already have, but figured I'd ask.

My requirements are: need either dual dvi or dvi+vga, passive cooled, low-ish power at idle. I've been using two Sapphire fanless hd4670s for many years and am happy with them. I run three monitors that take either vga or dvi input (all samsung 204b - go 4:3!), do not game at all, am often loading a dozen web pages at once, some with video. Is there anything better than these hd 4670s? Would like to upgrade if so, otherwise will stand pat. Thanks!

[CA_Steve]

The good news is your monitors accept DVI-D. The integrated gfx on the motherboard will easily support your needs. Most mobos have one dual link DVI-D output. Might need a Displayport or HDMI to DVI-D adapter or cable for the other monitor.

[johnoh]

I have three monitors so I'm gonna need a video card. Just want to know if there is faster one than these HD4670s.

[VERiON]

I think I'm in similar position. I don't play 3D games (on my computer). I'm graphic designer - but Adobe CC barely uses GPU acceleration. In one of my machines I'm still using GT240 (DDR5) that is a very good card - but equivalent to current gen integrated iGPU. But I'm planning to switch that card to GTX750ti (fanless) not because I have to, but this card is go great that I don't want to miss the opportunity to buy when it's still in sale.

For me the best fanless 750ti is PALIT KALM X - see the review https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Pal ... lmX/3.html

2 DVI + mini HDMI
so with miniHDMI to DVI cable you can drive 3 DVI monitors

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My second choice is ZOTAC GTX 750 ZONE
1x DVI + 1x DP + 1x HDMI - so you would need DP>DVI and HDMI>DVI cables
here's the review and comparison with KALM X http://www.hardwareluxx.com/index.php/r ... 0-ti-.html

In this review you can also read about 750ti from ASUS (strix series) that is fanless in normal use but fan starts spinning when gaming.

----

I have ZOTAC now and planning to buy PALIT for another machine.
PALIT is better in my opinion (faster GPU, 2GB of ram vs 1GB on ZOTAC) and its cooling system "looks" better (more space between fins and better fins direction).

GTX 750 is really cool (pun intended!) card - only 6W when idle (9W for multimonitor)
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gef ... 50-21.html

[johnoh]

Thanks. That Palit card looks perfect. The only mini hdmi to dvi cable i can find with reviews though is one by Startech and the reviews are pretty bad, so need to research that some more

[VERiON]

you can use miniHDMI to HDMI converter (more common and available) and then HDMI to DVI cable (that is more common - and cheaper).
Or even miniHDMI to HDMI > HDMI to DVI > DVI cable - it won't degrade the quality because it's still the same digital signal - no conversion or degradation.

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And one advice - Not a rule of thumb - but double check first if it can really drive 3 monitors simultaneously. Unfortunately - having 3 ports on the back doesn't automatically mean that it can drive 3 monitors.

So I would look for the card with 2 DVI outputs (or DVI + DP). If the card has DVI + VGA + HDMI chances are you won't be able to hook up 3 monitors - because card itself can (internally) handle only 2 outputs it just switches (auto-sensing) between 2 of the 3 and shuts one port off.

On the other hand - with the card with 2 DVI outputs (+ HDMI or DP) its "almost" certain that it can handle 3 monitors.

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I'm not sure if that PALIT can drive 3 monitors - I bet it does, but better check it first.

[quest_for_silence]

I'm about to upgrade my desktop system

What will you upgrade? Just the videocard?

[johnoh]

plan is to upgrade everything but the power supply

[quest_for_silence]

plan is to upgrade everything but the power supply

So, if I may ask, why do you need a videocard to support three monitors?
As far as I know several motherboards (at least since Haswell, 8-series chipset) can support three monitors without a discrete GPU, so that you may use an active (sometimes even passive) dongle to connect your current three monitors. Said differently, what's bad using just the IGP, in your specific case?

Some official statements: http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ ... 05556.html

[CA_Steve]

Just want to know if there is faster one than these HD4670s.

Faster isn't the qualifier you need to look for...if all of your apps are 2D (browsing, Office type stuff, streaming video, etc...). The primary benefit of a newer card (or iGP) would be lower power or potentially better picture quality when playing a transcoded video. However, because of the advances in integrated graphics (and the fact that they have the same horsepower as the low end discrete cards), there really isn't much in the way of new generation low end/cheap cards.

Try the three outputs on the new mobo. If they don't work for you, then add one of the 4670's back in.

Since you are in the US, try monoprice.com for cables and adapters.

[johnoh]

you know i've never really consdered igp, but will now. price is no issue, but the absolute snappiest video performance is, which is why i've gone with video cards. i would not want to go with igp if it was in any way slower than a vid card.. anyone have a motherboard recommendation? Btw it needs to be matx because i use a homegrown caseless mount that is matx-only.

[VERiON]

I've made a quick test today. With the simple 2D benchmark that creates 300 os widows with 2D text and measures how long it takes.

GT240 vs integrated Intel HD4600 (Iris Pro)

GT240 was about 20% faster - but so what... it was 3sec faster when drawing 300 windows.
It's only a synthetic benchmark - it doesn't matter if the iGPU is FAST ENOUGH.

I'm using that HD4600 for 2D works on daily basis with 2 screens connected - 2560x1440 and 1920x1200 and don't see the point in upgrading to a discrete card. There is simply no slowdown that can be fixed.

For me - discrete GPU shines only in 3 areas:
- 3D games
- 3D modeling and GPU accelerated 3D rendering
- video production with GPU accelerated scrubbing/rendering/encoding

If you are not interested in any of above - you can go with integrated gpu.

[quest_for_silence]

anyone have a motherboard recommendation? Btw it needs to be matx because i use a homegrown caseless mount that is matx-only.

Last time I set up a multi-monitor IGP, it was an ASRock B85 and it went fine.

So, if I were looking for such a mobo these days, probably I'd try an ASRock again, like these ones.

Take also into account that I didn't build anything with Kaby Lake up to now (so your actual mileage may vary).

[johnoh]

Cool. I'll probably get that ASRock Fatal1ty board and a new i7 7700k, try it out using the onboard triple monitor support and if I don't like that can always put my two hd4670s on it. Thanks for the input.

[quest_for_silence]

that ASRock Fatal1ty board and a new i7 7700k

Are they compatible? I knew you need a Z270 board for the K CPUs.

[johnoh]

that ASRock Fatal1ty board and a new i7 7700k

Are they compatible? I knew you need a Z270 board for the K CPUs.

I think they both support the 7700k

http://www.asrock.com/MB/Intel/Fatal1ty ... ex.asp#CPU

but since you bring it up, I'm open to suggestions as to which of all these Fatal1ty boards to get. Looks like they all support triple monitor and the 7700k.. 170/270/250

http://www.asrock.com/support/index.asp?Model=Fatal1ty

[quest_for_silence]

I think they both support the 7700k

Of course, but just at stock speed: the reason of a K CPU is overclocking, and as far as I know you can't overclock a K CPU without a Z board.

Otherwise, if you wanna stay at stock even with the 7700K (4.2GHz?), I guess the Fatal1ty B250 is fine, then.

[VERiON]

I was skimming through my mobo GIGABYTE Z97M-D3H (haswell) manual and spotted this:

Integrated Graphics Processor:
- 1 x D-Sub port, supporting a maximum resolution of 1920x1200@60Hz
- 1 x DVI-D port, supporting a maximum resolution of 1920x1200@60Hz
- 1 x HDMI port, supporting a maximum resolution of 4096x2160@24Hz or 2560x1600@60Hz
- Support for up to 3 displays at the same time - Maximum shared memory of 1 GB

So it looks like it is possible to drive 3 monitors using only integrated graphics.