Trouble With 4 Monitors

[BradleyT]

More RAM isn't a waste, 1GB is the min anyone should have who does any type of multi-tasking - especially with 16 tables of poker + PT + whatever else he runs.

Will it fix this specific problem? Probably not. Will it help overall system performance? Yes.

[The Dude]

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The guy didn’t lie to you about PCI Express. Unless your computer is very new and came with it, your motherboard doesn’t support it. PCI-E cards do not fit in a PCI or AGP slot.

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My motherboard has a PCI-E slot on it. The video card I used to run dual monitors was a PCI-E card. Is it possible for my motherboard to have that slot, but still not be compatible with a quad-display video card?

[BusterStacks]

no.

[The Dude]

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Just try disabling 2 or 3 of the screens and see if you still have the same sluggishness. If it speeds up, you have your culprit.

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I did that, and the computer runs fine on 2 monitors. I then pulled up 12 tables, Poker Tracker, Player View, Outlook Express, iTunes, AIM, and Firefox. My peak commit charge was 534000, so it definately looks like I need more RAM.

So here's my question for you guys. Assuming this guy I talked to misunderstood what motherboard I had, and that the PCI-E card will work on my computer (meaning I don't have to buy a new computer, should I just swap the PCI card for the PCI-E and buy more RAM, or should I just go ahead and buy a new computer anyway?

How much money would I have to spend to get a completely new comp that would easily handle the load I'm trying to give it?

[Terry]

Hmmm ... you have a PCI-E slot and he sold you a PCI ... I would tend to get my information from another source. [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

If you are positive you have a PCI-E slot (look it up for yourself, or take the easy way out and post which board you have here – some of us are probably sucker enough to check it out for you) then switching to the better card (and it is much better for your purposes) and adding another stick of RAM will definitely make a difference. Whether the difference is “enough” is something you can only find out by trying it. I think it is probably worth a shot, though.

Since your system is now marginal in its ability to handle what you are trying to make it do, tweaking it will still leave it marginal, even if you succeed.

You can take a look at the custom system configurator at monarchcomputer.com to get a ballpark figure for a dual processor or 64 bit system. If you decide to go the new computer route, I think you really need to go for something powerful rather than messing around trying to get something that will just “work”, but it’s gonna cost you.

BTW, thanks for an interesting thread. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[The Dude]

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If you are positive you have a PCI-E slot (look it up for yourself, or take the easy way out and post which board you have here – some of us are probably sucker enough to check it out for you)

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Hey, man. I may be over my head with this system, but I know a PCI-E slot when I see one. It's there.

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If you decide to go the new computer route, I think you really need to go for something powerful rather than messing around trying to get something that will just “work”, but it’s gonna cost you.


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How powerful are we talking, and how much is it going to run me. Since you admitted to being sucker enought to look up my motherboard, are you sucker enough to post a link to a comnputer that fits my needs well?

[Terry]

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are you sucker enough to post a link to a comnputer that fits my needs well?


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No. If I started doing that sort of research it would take me several days ... and I would want one.

Just keep in mind that you do not want a high-powered gaming machine. Your needs are very different from the Alienware type stuff that is aimed at providing super framerates on one monitor for one game. You need serious computing power as well as data moving ability – that’s why I keep mentioning dual processor or 64 bit systems.

If I were in your situation, I would try a PCI-E card and a stick of RAM first. That might very well hold you til the prices start to come down on the stuff that is cutting edge right now.

If you really want to go for the new set up, I would tend to look for lots of processing power (to run the multiple applications) AND fast FSB (Front Side Bus) to be able to move lots of data ... and PCI-E would be a must. Sorry, but I really can’t be any more specific than that cuz I just haven’t researched such a system.

[Luv2DriveTT]

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Hey, man. I may be over my head with this system, but I know a PCI-E slot when I see one. It's there.

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Dude: How old is your computer? If it is 1/2 year old or less, you MIGHT have a PCI-E slot. PCI-E is brand new technology, something that wasn't possible until recently. My guess is you actually have a plain vanilla PCI slot (actually, you might have 3 or more) and you might be confusing the two.

The reason why PCI video cards can handle 4 monitors for stock traders is because trading apps don't need to screen refresh quickly, so slow performance is not an issue.

TT [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]

[The Dude]

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My guess is you actually have a plain vanilla PCI slot (actually, you might have 3 or more) and you might be confusing the two.

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I have a PCI-E slot. I use an HP Media Center PC m 1070m. You can look it up if you're that convinced I don't know what I'm talking about, but it's there.

[Terry]

Since your Peak usage is high, adding RAM will make a very big difference. That in itself might solve the whole problem.

Since you do indeed have a PCI-E slot, using it will also make a meaningful difference. Exchange that sucker – it’s a bet you can’t lose.

Your motherboard will support up to a 3.4 GHz Pentium. The difference there would be smaller than the other upgrades, but getting the one with the 2MB cache would be more likely to be a meaningful difference than the 1MB cache.

My money says RAM and PCI-E does it for you.