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Linux + Nvidia + three displays

Tags:
  • Graphics
  • Linux
  • Displays
  • Nvidia
  • Graphics Cards
  • Monitors
Last response: in Graphics & Displays
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July 26, 2013 4:23:08 PM

I'm looking at putting together a system that will run Linux, and I'd like to hear whether anyone has successfully run Linux with three monitors.

I've read that this can be done, provided you have a video card with a DisplayPort connector. Why would this be the case? Is this just a limitation on the number of DVI-connected monitors (will 2 DVI + 1 HDMI do?) My preference is for Nvidia, because my experience is that they're better supported under Linux (and I've read that ATI cards have trouble with more than 2 displays... Is this true?). It looks like there are some GTX 650 cards with a suitable configuration. The question is whether anyone has made a setup like this work in Linux.

I'm a KDE user, and I run Gentoo. I'm not a gamer, I want three displays mostly for coding. I'm very competent at messing with system configuration, but haven't done any kernel hacking. That said, I'm a good C programmer, so I could probably manage with a bit of guidance. I just don't want to invest in an extra monitor and higher end video card if it's going to be beyond my skill level to get this all working.

More about : linux nvidia displays

August 22, 2013 12:52:05 PM

Gpu's support only two monitors, unless you connect more of them via DVI. Carefully choosing a card with good dvi outputs or putting two cards in SLI are thus your options for a triple monitor setup.

For the linux part, Nvidia is indeed you best option. If the hardware works, it should just be a matter of settings (xrandr or distro-dependant). But since I never tried triple monitors, don't take my words for the absolute truth.

Good luck!
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September 10, 2013 6:03:10 PM

Sorry for the delay, I was unexpectedly without internet for awhile.

The Haswell bridge supports three monitors without an add-on graphics card, so I decided to go for that. I figured if I couldn't get things to work with Linux, at least I wouldn't have spent money on a video card.

But I can't get things working under Linux for the moment. It seems support for three monitors with the Haswell bridge hasn't yet been implemented for Linux: https://bugs.freedesktop.org/show_bug.cgi?id=68485

Oh well...
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