# First build multi-monitor system...



## Podimer (Apr 18, 2010)

Howdy,

2 weeks ago, I had intended to buy a complete system but someone convinced me that the way to go was to make my own, especially because I need to run 6 monitors.  Besides, I will be learning a new skill (that is, IF i can actually do it...on that, any how-to books or favorite youtube video recommendations would be great)
Now, I am just waiting on the rest of the boxes to arrive, any and all comments are welcomed with a big, teethy smile
This is what I have or is still on its way:
Intel Core i7-930
ASUS P6T SE X58 motherboard
Corsair XMS3 3x2GB
video: 3 x PNY nvidia Quadro NVS 295 256 MB GDDR3
Intel X25-M MLC hard-drive
Seasonic x-650 (power supply)
Antec Solo case
Prolimatech Megahalems rev.b heatsink and fan
UPS-APC back UPS RS 1500VA/900W
64 bit windows 7 ultimate
and the cables, mouse, speakers, etc. 
The thing is, if you ask me "WHY?" on any of this, all i can say is that it is what was recommended by a kind soul.  However, any thoughts will be considered and researched as much as possible and/or be used in the build for my brother's computer (again, contingent on success on this one).
Thanks in advance and have a great weekend


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## Phxprovost (Apr 18, 2010)

your choice of workstation cards confuse me, yea they have display port but they look incredibly weak, what are you using them for?

wouldnt something like This be better? or do you need nvidia?


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## Podimer (Apr 18, 2010)

Phxprovost said:


> your choice of workstation cards confuse me, yea they have display port but they look incredibly weak, what are you using them for?
> 
> wouldnt something like This be better? or do you need nvidia?



thanks for the post.
I don't require crazy graphics as am using it just for daytrading so need charts, excel spreads, etc.  this nvidia was suggested and from the few sources I looked into, it had good reviews and apparently works well with this mobo and is cool and quiet?


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## Phxprovost (Apr 18, 2010)

Podimer said:


> thanks for the post.
> I don't require crazy graphics as am using it just for daytrading so need charts, excel spreads, etc.  this nvidia was suggested and from the few sources I looked into, it had good reviews and apparently works well with this mobo and is cool and quiet?



guess you cant argue with that, though i cant help but think theres a cheaper way to get what you want


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## Podimer (Apr 18, 2010)

Phxprovost said:


> guess you cant argue with that, though i cant help but think theres a cheaper way to get what you want



your thought is no doubt true on cutting costs somewhere but do you reckon it will be fast with good synergy of the components, ye who know much more than i?


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## freaksavior (Apr 18, 2010)

if you need 6 monitors. why not go with a http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...0048 1068337012&Description=Ati 5870&name=2GB

it supports 6 monitors.. I understand this is a day trading thing, so it would be perfect for the 6 monitors.

Solid State in my opinion are still to expensive. Yeah they are fast, but day trading I see how it would make no difference.


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## Marineborn (Apr 18, 2010)

i agree with freak way cheaper them 3 nvidida and itll be alot sexier then trying to fuck with nvidida bullshit software. Sorry bad exsperience with nvidida software. lol


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## freaksavior (Apr 18, 2010)

Marineborn said:


> i agree with freak way cheaper them 3 nvidida and itll be alot sexier then trying to fuck with nvidida bullshit software. Sorry bad exsperience with nvidida software. lol



Not only that, but running 3 cards will be confusing as heck to the system. I've ran multi cards in non sli-crossfire Its annoying. makes me wanna


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## Delta6326 (Apr 18, 2010)

def. get the 5870 6 display there good, other wise everything else looks pretty good, though i don't have a clue what day trading is


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## freaksavior (Apr 18, 2010)

Delta6326 said:


> def. get the 5870 6 display there good, other wise everything else looks pretty good, though i don't have a clue what day trading is



http://lmgtfy.com/?q=Day+Trading


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## Podimer (Apr 18, 2010)

freaksavior said:


> if you need 6 monitors. why not go with a http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...0048 1068337012&Description=Ati 5870&name=2GB
> 
> it supports 6 monitors.. I understand this is a day trading thing, so it would be perfect for the 6 monitors.
> 
> Solid State in my opinion are still to expensive. Yeah they are fast, but day trading I see how it would make no difference.



Thanks for the post
That looks great.  Wondering, will it work better than what I have coming in conjunction with the rest of the components?  Like I said, I have no idea about such things (which is why I posted originally) but I see it says GDDR5 memory type so will that work with my chosen mobo (yes, new use of computer jargon;-)?  
Regarding the hard drive, I think you are saying that I could get by with less expensive than solid state and it really would not give rise to the computer getting bogged down in ultra-volatile periods with huge amounts of data being transmitted and NOT that it doesn't matter if my computer is lagging, if even for a couple of seconds, which WOULD make a difference day trading?


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## Podimer (Apr 18, 2010)

Marineborn said:


> i agree with freak way cheaper them 3 nvidida and itll be alot sexier then trying to fuck with nvidida bullshit software. Sorry bad exsperience with nvidida software. lol



hmmmmm...that is exactly what i don't want, i.e. something that will make it even more difficult for noob me to put together the system.  you are saying that the 3 nvidia's will not work so well as the price, if i was reading correctly, is $500 for the diamond 5870 where i spent just $420 on the 3 nvidias?


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## Podimer (Apr 18, 2010)

freaksavior said:


> Not only that, but running 3 cards will be confusing as heck to the system. I've ran multi cards in non sli-crossfire Its annoying. makes me wanna



so, yeah, i can easily send the stuff back if need be.  will the much more user friendly 5870pe52g work well with my mobo (i also have a p6x58d that i have yet to send back)?
much thanks for your insight


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## Cuzza (Apr 18, 2010)

The 5870 is fully compatible with all your other components. The 3nvidia cards may work and may be cheaper but for simplicity's sake a little extra $$ on the 5870 is definitely worth it. 

The only thing to worry about is your monitors which you have made no mention of yet. To connect to the 5870 at least 4 of them will need to have displayport inputs.


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## Podimer (Apr 18, 2010)

Cuzza said:


> The 5870 is fully compatible with all your other components. The 3nvidia cards may work and may be cheaper but for simplicity's sake a little extra $$ on the 5870 is definitely worth it.
> 
> The only thing to worry about is your monitors which you have made no mention of yet. To connect to the 5870 at least 4 of them will need to have displayport inputs.



Ahhhhhhh...sorry, therein lies the rub.  Besides the dell 30" 3007wfp, my 22" samsungs are only VGA or DVI.  That must be why my friend had recommended the what may be a rather difficult or headache ridden build?  So, with that, any chance for adapters to rectify this?
Also, if I decide to change up the monitors, any suggestions for good quality, but less expensive ones (than the Dell) that have the display port connectivity option or is it that such is the new technology thus more expensive?


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## Cuzza (Apr 18, 2010)

You can connect the 30" Dell and two of your Samsungs directly with the 5870. To connect the other three you will need ACTIVE DISPLAYPORT ADAPTERS, such as this one.

As you can see they are rather expensive so I wouldn't want to go buying three of them, but up to you. DON'T be tempted to buy a smaller cheaper displayport adapter such as this. It is not an active adapter and will not help you.

Since you're already in this for a lot of $$$ anyway, If I was you I would splash out on three new monitors. Here on the displayport website there is a list of displayport monitors, so take your pick.


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## Completely Bonkers (Apr 18, 2010)

Hello Pidomer. Welcome to TPU and welcome to multi-monitor set ups.

Don't worry about using multiple cards... so long as they are THE SAME VENDOR, and preferably SAME MODEL.  When you try to mix and match display cards, esp. across different vendors, then the PC needs to run different drivers for each and it can cause a real headache and hardware conflicts.

If you will not be gaming, ie. you dont need to use fast 3D acceleration, then the nV workstation cards are great. I have used earlier models and they have been 100% rock solid.

But I also have some other tips for your set up.

1./ For your purpose, I think you are going overkill on the CPU/chipset.  An i5 would be more suitable. Remember that for day trading you are not running massive simulations or data crunching. You are also not using multiple PCIe lanes for data movement, ie. no RAID, no multi ethernet cards, no controller cards, etc.  I think the i5 is more than enough.  Remember that for Excel use, internet use, the i5 if 100% of the speed of the i7, ie. the same. The platform will save you money, be a quieter solution, and give you budget to implement point 3 below.

2./ You need to go silent. Most of the people here on TPU are gaming enthusiasts, and dont mind a bit of noise... to overclock their machines, to pump up the sound effects or background music... that's the environment they will be "working" in.  For you it is different. You need a system that is SILENT so you can concentrate on the graphs, data, reading research, telephone, and trading without any noise or distraction. THEREFORE, get a system with a CPU and cooler that you can run silently. Also get graphics that run passive or are capable of passive aftermarket coolers

3./ Save some money on Windows... I think W7 professional is more than enough for your workstation. HOWEVER, I actually think you should implement something else too:  set up a small server. Use the server to run Microsoft sharepoint services 3.0 (free so long as you have a windows server license).  I think you could really use this for file management, content management, storing research articles, version control, scratch pad, and include Microsoft Search (free).  You could also run other services, like PDF generation, or OCR, web and email.  You can set it up for remote access also, so when you are on the road, you can access the data you have on your server easily, and with a lot of functionality, much more than just using a NAS.  You might need some help with setting this up, but the combination of a lower powered machine, but supporting infrastructure on a small low power server, will give you 100% of the performance and 300% of the feature set.

To put your upgrade into perspective, what are you upgrading from?


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## Fourstaff (Apr 18, 2010)

+1 to Completely Bonkers, consider getting an i5, its cheaper and for your uses, just as good. Between a i5 750 and a i5 860 chip though, I would go for an i5 750, its cheaper and when you are in need of an upgrade, its time to overhaul your computer anyway. 

Also, you might want to get a Noctua NH-D14 over the Megahalems, they are reputedly to be whisper quiet:
http://techpowerup.com/reviews/Noctua/NH-D14/5.html

you might want to consider setting up RAID 1 (mirror) on the hard disk to protect your precious data. 

Lastly, welcome to TPU and enjoy your stay . If you make some money as a day trader (some get ridiculous amounts), share


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## Podimer (Apr 18, 2010)

Much thanks for the wonderfully informative, comprehensive post.  With reference to the i7, I only paid $295 and if it will not hurt my performance, i might as well keep it.  If I can figure out how to create the server you speak of, that would be great as I travel out of the country often and will not be taking my rig along with me so if I can access all of my files from a laptop, that would be ideal, especially if I ever get around to automating at least part of my system.  
Noise doesn't bother me too much as i have bloomberg radio playing the news all th etime and then the seemingly random boings, pings and clapping for different order fills but somehow manage to keep at least partially focused on what is going on with the hundreds of stocks and ETFs that are being analyzed in different ways.  On that, I don't know what it is relative to but it seems like a lot of data as I have 3 excel spreads being fed real time data from a charting vendor and each spreadsheet has anywhere from 50 to 300 stocks going through a few different calculations each a few times per second in the most volatile times.  
Still, I am guessing it is nothing compared to the wacky games (though have seen my current task manager's performance tab hovering at around 90% at these times, which brings me to your final question.)  I have been running an HP pavilion 4GB laptop attached to one 22" samsung through VGA and a 4GB Macbook pro running the XP OS and connected to another 22" samsung by DVI.  I have been cursing myself for months about somehow figuring out the necessary additional screen(s) as I miss stuff all the time because i am constantly juggling windows to see what i need to see.  
So now, here I am.  How much do you reckon it will cost to put together the server as you suggested in point #3 and do you know of any good books/sites to help out in such an endeavor?
Thanks again and have a great day!!




Completely Bonkers said:


> Hello Pidomer. Welcome to TPU and welcome to multi-monitor set ups.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


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## Podimer (Apr 18, 2010)

Thanks man, this is a great site with a bunch of exceptionally helpful folks.
Again, as the noise is not a major problem to me, Meegahalem will probably work, though just looking at the thing, it is a bit daunting as it looks like a 6" radiator and when i opened my old Dell, Compaq and Emachine in past years, I don't recall seeing anything that looked like it.  Even looking at the "how to" viddies on heatsink installation, they are not close to as large.  Whatever, we will see.
Yeah, while some I know do make relatively ridiculous amounts just tapping at the keys, I am not one of them or at least, if I have a $500 in 5-minute happy moment, i am sure to give it back to the market in one way or another 
Take it easy and thanks again.



Fourstaff said:


> +1 to Completely Bonkers, consider getting an i5, its cheaper and for your uses, just as good. Between a i5 750 and a i5 860 chip though, I would go for an i5 750, its cheaper and when you are in need of an upgrade, its time to overhaul your computer anyway.
> 
> Also, you might want to get a Noctua NH-D14 over the Megahalems, they are reputedly to be whisper quiet:
> http://techpowerup.com/reviews/Noctua/NH-D14/5.html
> ...


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