The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    can m17x run six external monitors?

    Discussion in 'Alienware 17 and M17x' started by warakawa, Aug 11, 2010.

  1. warakawa

    warakawa Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    50
    Messages:
    664
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    while I was reading up on the vidock and eyefinity to my x200t (so that I can run six external monitors), I found out the m17x have built in Radeon HD5870, so I was if the m17x can run six monitors without the vidock and external GPU setup.

    however m17x only have one displayport out not six, so can someone clarify this for me?. I would be so much better if I can get a laptop with built in 5870 than me having to built on externally.

    thanks.
     
    warakawa, Aug 11, 2010
    #1
  2. lead_org

    lead_org Purveyor of Truth

    Reputations:
    1,571
    Messages:
    8,107
    Likes Received:
    126
    Trophy Points:
    231
    only the eyefinity edition of the 5870 can run 6 external LCD (normal edition can only support 3 external LCD), and they are a desktop grade graphics card. The 5870 in the M17x is a laptop MXM type solution, and AFAIK it can support 2 external LCDs.
     
    lead_org, Aug 11, 2010
    #2
  3. Phoestre

    Phoestre Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    62
    Messages:
    446
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    leadorg is right. M17X has Mobility HD5850 not HD5850 the desktop GPU.

    But, AFAIK any eyefinity enabled card -including mobile ones-, can run up to 6 monitors. However whatever your GPU will be able to take that load is up to question and is not related to what eyefinity can support however I don't think you can get a decent performance with screens more than 2 and settings around medium-high.
     
    Phoestre, Aug 11, 2010
    #3
  4. morgonian

    morgonian Notebook Guru

    Reputations:
    3
    Messages:
    74
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    just out of curiosity OP what do you need six monitors for?
     
    morgonian, Aug 12, 2010
    #4
  5. warakawa

    warakawa Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    50
    Messages:
    664
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    at the moment I don't need six external monitors, however in the not too far distant future, I will probably need more monitors to keep eyes on various share, futures and options markets.

    Looks like I need to move to a desktop in the future.
     
    warakawa, Aug 12, 2010
    #5
  6. morgonian

    morgonian Notebook Guru

    Reputations:
    3
    Messages:
    74
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    ahhhh that makes sense :)
     
    morgonian, Aug 12, 2010
    #6
  7. lead_org

    lead_org Purveyor of Truth

    Reputations:
    1,571
    Messages:
    8,107
    Likes Received:
    126
    Trophy Points:
    231
    You would need 6 mini displayport to support the 6 external monitors. I don't think Laptop would be shipped with more than 3 external LCD support, since very few would run more than 4 LCD off their laptops.
     
    lead_org, Aug 12, 2010
    #7
  8. Defter

    Defter Newbie

    Reputations:
    4
    Messages:
    4
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    Defter, Aug 23, 2010
    #8
  9. sgogeta4

    sgogeta4 Notebook Nobel Laureate

    Reputations:
    2,389
    Messages:
    10,552
    Likes Received:
    7
    Trophy Points:
    456
    You could always run monitors off of USB (to DVI for example), or use other solutions such as Matrox TripleHead2Go since you won't be using the monitors for anything intensive such as games.
     
    sgogeta4, Aug 23, 2010
    #9
  10. warakawa

    warakawa Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    50
    Messages:
    664
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    how does a triplehead2go work?
     
    warakawa, Aug 24, 2010
    #10
  11. lead_org

    lead_org Purveyor of Truth

    Reputations:
    1,571
    Messages:
    8,107
    Likes Received:
    126
    Trophy Points:
    231
    lead_org, Aug 26, 2010
    #11
  12. WaR

    WaR Notebook Virtuoso

    Reputations:
    2,391
    Messages:
    2,128
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    55
    If you are not planning on gaming on the extra monitors just use DVI-to-USB devices for each monitor. They can do video no problem. Some allow up to 1920x1200 resolution. Again, no gaming, but everything else works just fine. It's a very affordable solution too, as opposed to the armed robbery that Matrox is.
     
    WaR, Aug 26, 2010
    #12
  13. warakawa

    warakawa Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    50
    Messages:
    664
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    yeah, I agree with war, I think matrox is a lame excuse for a graphic card. Plus it only gives you 3 monitors instead of the potential six with the hd5870.
     
    warakawa, Aug 27, 2010
    #13