hrusha2002

Here's a good one for you guys! I have an unlimited budget(!) But, I have to be able to run three parallel HiDef (think HDMI at the minimum) + one head unit feeds from a single PC. I'm thinking a quad core Intel + either two or four PCI-E video cards + 8GB's of RAM. What setup would you recommend?!

Thanks!
Hru

temeteus82

Intel's Skulltrail

http://www.hardwareheaven.com/reviews/...view/index.php

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hrusha2002

Wow, that's a great system that might be able to do what I need! Do you know what the status is of the components inside the system (availability, pricing)?

Also, without going with that motherboard, what video card setup should I use that will get me the video processing that I need for all those screens?

4xSLI x16 PCI-E
2xSLI x16PCI-E
Non SLI solution

Thanks!
Hru

Lowfat

It would be very silly to go Skulltrail now since Bloomfield drops in just a matter of weeks now.

There are no 4x SLI boards available ATM.

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Syndicate2083

Arent you limited to one video output with SLI on though?

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Intrinsic Realities, Veteran-USN.

hrusha2002

That was my suspicion... so can I even hope to run say three video cards with synch in hidef on a single system (if I don't SLI and run them discretely). Should I just get three systems and be done with it?

Thanks!
hrusha

kris23

no budget huh?

ill put you to it..... lol

welcome to DH!

http://www.hardwareheaven.com/hardware...ml#post1168243

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hrusha2002

hehe, nice list mate! But while money is not at issue here, I don't think I need anything that ridiculous

On a more serious note, taking some of the water cooled components from that list is not a bad idea...

Also, i still need please!!! with cake! (and it's not a lie!!!) the best way to get 3 large screens @ hidef plus a head unit on one system or should I just go with three seperate systems and sync them! Should I go with two of the biggest baddest vid cards out there and NOT SLI them.. will that be enough?

Thanks!
Hru

kris23

so you want to run three of the highest resolution monitors and HDTVs as well as a home theater receiver?

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hrusha2002

Not quite.. actually run three 1080p24/30 projectors each with (pre-)rendered video that must by synced plus a widescreen (22"? bigger probably) monitor as the head unit controlling it.

The issue is that the videos are huge+non-compressed, so i need the GPU to be able to handle them. I'm also considering SSD drive(s) for their exceptional seek times (that is once the videos are loaded it should be able to handle runing the videos...)

Thanks!
Hru

kris23

k so the best choice probably is the skulltrail with 2 4870X2s or 2-3 GTX280s it doesnt really take much to render HD even on non compressed files so you probably could get away with an HD4850 if you wanted....... but since money isnt an issue why go there?

and with the video being synced, do you mean be synced over all 3 monitors?

lastly, with SSDs, its not very good to multitask as they cant handle random access all that well...... actually, not well at all....

the best alternative is a set of 15000RPM SAS drives....

to be honest with you, the tower unit of my 14k system suits you rather well, a bit of slimming down is probably better but it meets all your needs

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hrusha2002

I will work with is, it does seem good...

kris23

is there anything in particular that you want in this system to have or any qualities?

like be extremely silent or be OCable or anything like that?

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OldBuzzard

This video application. Is it basically one video that needs to be displayed across 3 screens?

If so there is something that will do that. It takes output from a standard card and displayes it across 3 screens.

Matrox Graphics - Products - Graphics eXpansion Modules - TripleHead2Go







Review of it here, altho it's a bit outdated, as from what I could see on the MATROX site ATI cards are now supported.

AnandTech: TripleHead2Go: The Latest External Multi-Display Upgrade from Matrox

Also, it looked like you expressed an interest in watercooling. I'm assuming that you are looking at watercooling in order to cut down on the noise that the system would produce? If so, your best bet would probably be Koolance. Not the absolute best in water cooling, but the best for first time users. They have a good reputation, and a wide range of products, that all work well with each other. Makes it easy to setup a watercooled system.

They have cases, mostly Lian-Li Aluminum ones with integrated cooling, and they also have the EXOS external versions. For waterblocks, they have CPU and GUP solutions as well. I use an Exos 2 cooling my CPU and GPU and it is a very quiet system.

For that matter, they even have a 'liquid cooled' 1300 watt PSU
http://www.koolance.com/default.php

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hrusha2002

So...the final verdict is that while it wouldn't hurt to have a powerful system, I don't in essence NEED a massive GPU investment to display hidef video on 4 monitors? As long as I'm not rendering it and I have plenty of HDD cache and RAM I should be good with just a single powerful card or two NON-SLI cards?

Thanks again to all!
Hru

kris23

yup thats right, you could do with 2x HD 4850s as the ATi 4000 series has superior GPU rendering compared to the nvidia counterparts for your particular task.... both are good though

to play 3-4x HD videos though will require a pretty beefy quad core and a lot of RAM (minimum 8GB) at the least... its always good to have extra performance as the GPUs wont handle ALL of the rendering, some slips to the CPUs if needed.

if you dont want to spend a MASSIVE amount of cash though, i say you wait until the core i7s come out and buy a system based on that.....

newest asus boards have 2 SAS ports onboard..... dunno if theyre any good or not though

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OldBuzzard

It might be a good idea to see if either AMD or Intel processors have the 'edge' in video applications as well.

If it ends up being AMD, then a 9950 Phenom and a board with the 790GX chipset may well be a good option.

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When looking for a reason as to why things go wrong, never rule out sheer STUPIDITY

kris23

nearly every video editing and playback software has had the Q6600 in the lead of even the 9950..

though the gap is tiny, its there.... Q6600 also uses less power than the 9950....

for an average build, id just get a P45 board 2x 4850 and a Q9550 or Q9650

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ChaosMinionX

X58 + Core i7 965 + Corsair Triple Channel DDR3 + 4870 X2's = Win


Throw on like a 64GB SSD for OS and 2-4 300GB Velociraptors for games+programs and for media storage grab some 500GB-1TB drives.

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comp_ali

MM CHaos 2 of 4870x2 ,cool

hrusha2002

Ok, thank you all! I think I have my answers!!!

Hru

ChaosMinionX

did some spellcheck on the title

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hrusha2002

Haha! Thanks that's great! (my fault )

Hru