what graphic card(s) for 4 or more projectors?

[mezkal]

Hi,

I'm building kind of interactive installation here…
And what I need is to project one very wide screen (~30m wide / 4-5m height).
I need as many layers in Resolume as I can get, but mostly simple clips. Some effects, maybe some quartz as well… anyway it must be the most capable card today

What would you suggest?
ATI 7970?
2 x ATI 7970?
ATI 7970 + TripleHead?
NVIDIA?

I'm a musician, not very good at VJing.
That's my first serious adventure in this subject, and there's so much information on the net that I just don't know anything anymore
Would really appreciate any help.

All best,
Adam

[mezkal]

I forgot to mention:

It's gonna be a WIN7 machine (cheaper than a mac), i7 i think.

[Basic]

(correct me if im wrong) but i think you can use a card like this?

http://www.amd.com/us/products/desktop/ ... rview.aspx

Im not sure if there are any newer cards.

Im a MBP user so not the most knowledgable on GPU's etc.

[mezkal]

Yeah, I could, but ATI 7970 and ATI 6990 (and newest NVidia) seems to have better performance, and I really need all I can get… And got no experience in this field.
Unfortunatelly I can't borrow those models for tests so I need to make sure I'm buying the best available option without testing.

[Mulky]

I'm on the same journey, just about. I only know two chords though.

AFAIK with GPUs you/we want:
Single card, not multiple cards. Need info on 6990's dual GPU.
Some ATI cards allow up to 6 outs on one card. 7970 only 3 for now, future drivers = up to 6.
Eyefinity itself is for massive desktops (PC sees it as one display, so not ideal). Set up without display groups.

Definite issue with DWM.exe (Desktop Window Manager) in win7 64 with HD7970 card. Can be disabled as workaround.
Sapphire HD 7970 has a buzzing electrical noise at high load.
HD 7970 performance not much greater than nVidia 460GTX (in relatively brief tests). Decks were switching slower and causing big hits to fps in the process. Methinks this card and/or drivers are too new.

I'd like to think this http://www.amd.com/us/products/workstat ... v9800.aspx is the pinnacle - anyone tested?

I've used a Watchout 5 rig with 3x1920x1080s out of one v8800 (or was it 9800) - it was smooth but only playing 1 or 2 streams at a time.

[mezkal]

Yup, agree on every point.

Info about 6990 vs multiple projectors / resolume would be great, it's much better in benchmarks, but I know we should avoid multiple cards, so…
Any ideas when to expect new 6 outs drivers for 7970? Couldn't find any traces.
Then there is Triplehead. Maybe it's better to use it on ati card to get better performance, than use eyefinity? Just a guess. Or use 2 eyefinity outs and the third out thru triplehead? Is it possible at all?

Looks like the v9800 isn't that much a pinnacle that it used to be - 7970 seems better in almost every case (that's what specifications and benchmarks shows)

Ehh couldn't it all be a bit less complicated?

[HerrNieDa]

NVIDIA
new ATI series seems to have problems with the actual version.
also with ati cards i recognized the performance is very constrained to the screen number and resolution.
with nivida i have much less problems.

also i can approve a ati 5750, running with 2 triple heads on 6 screens also is still smooth...
suggest such a card should be enough.
Best config expect the newest top models is a nvidia gtx 285.
running 8 screens @1024x768 (via 3 extra graphic cards and triple head), performance goes under 25fps if i run more than 10 layers

[mezkal]

Great news then
Thanks a lot.
Got one little question though...
Can you get a single superwide screen (4 or more outputs) on your configuration, or is it limited to single triplehead, eg. 3 outputs as one screen?
Thanks again.