Motherboard for 3 monitor display

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imindless

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I am looking at two motherboards and I need some advice.

ASUS Maximus Hero VI
ASUS Sabertooth Z87

I am going to be hooking up 3 monitors in total for my rig and my graphics card, either Nvidia or AMD (undecided), will be of the higher end models with 4GB to support 3 monitors.

Can either of these be compatible with 3-way SLI or Crossfire? I have read conflicting reviews.

Also, will my graphics card, Nvidia or AMD, matter in terms of picking a motherboard that will compliment it?

Thanks.
 
Solution
James Mason


Ahh, that's like if you wanted to do a 5670x1080 resolution (1920x3). I don't know if nvidia cards do that, I know AMD do with Eyefinity though.

Otherwise, you'd just use windows Extend Display option under the screen resolution:
Bdgudkm.png


Which gets me this: (this is a print screen, not a picture of my actual monitors, but you can see how the screens are next to each other, and I do this with Intel HD4000 graphics, this is on my work laptop though)...
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kowashie

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No ):
The Maximus Hero VI only has 2 3.0 PCIE slots.. so you can only go up to 2 way SLI and that'll run at 2(x16 or dual at x8)
The ASUS Sabertooth z87 only has 2 3.0 PCIE slots 2(x16 or dual at x8) same as the first ^
so you'll only be able to go 2 way on those MOBO's
But honestly you wont need much more then that..
hope i help :)
 
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kowashie

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I agree i'm running 3 monitors on a Xfire 7870 and if you're going for performance, I haven't found a game i can't run at max settings, and you can definitely get higher end cards then mine too.. haha
Goodluck either way you go :p
 
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imindless

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To give you an idea of what I am trying to achieve... I am trying to spend around 200-250 for a mobo that will run 3 monitors for light gaming, video editing, work related documents (always have 5 up), video streaming while playing a game, etc.

Case: Corsairs 650D
CPU/Processor: Intel Core i7-4770K (socket 1150)
MOBO:
RAM: 16GB 1600 RAM
Graphics: mid to high range Nvidia or AMD
PSU: Corsair AX860i
SSD: Samsung 840 Pro 128GB
HDD: WD 1TB Internal
Cooling: Corsair H100i
Monitor(s): 3 monitors $200 or sub-200 each
OS: Windows 8.1

To have 3 monitors running, do I need to set it up in either SLI or Crossfire, depending on my graphics card, or is there a different way to do it?

If you say I NEED a quad channel motherboard to run 3 monitors, what are a few you would recommend within the budge I have ($200-250)??

Thanks.
 
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Tradesman1

Tradesman1

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Can run 3 monitors with a 660TI easily, for gaming would want a little better, I've got a 32 and 2 27" at 1080 that I can run off a single 780 (or less), so no real need for tri SLI, I currently have dual with the 780s but am planning to move one to my IB build
 
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kowashie

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Your MOBO isn't going to determine if you can run 3 monitors or not or how well you're going to run it.. that's your graphics card.. i'd try and get a cheaper MOBO.. and spend the most on your graphics card.. that way you will have less trouble running you 3+ screens.
 
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James Mason

James Mason

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I run three monitors at 1080p just fine with my single Radeon HD 7850 2GB.

HOWEVER, streaming will ruin your computer no matter what, and it might be cheaper to build a separate computer just for streaming:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i3-3240 3.4GHz Dual-Core Processor ($116.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock B75M-DGS R2.0 Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($54.79 @ Amazon)
Memory: Kingston HyperX Blu 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1333 Memory ($64.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($80.99 @ Amazon)
Case: HEC Enterprise MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Antec Basiq 350W ATX Power Supply ($29.93 @ Amazon)
Other: AVerMedia Live Gamer HD ($174.99)
Total: $552.66
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-03-18 16:55 EDT-0400)

Then you can lower the cost of the other parts accordingly.
 
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imindless

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So, can I run 3 monitors that only has dual channels or do I need one with quad channels?

Do monitors need to be set in SLI/xFire or can they be set up just by connecting to your graphics card?

I am a confused if there is only one, or multiple ways to set up a 3-monitor display.

I was going to do exactly that and spend less on the mobo and more on the graphics card.
 
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kowashie

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Okay so lets answer those questions from top to bottom..
Firstly, you can run 3 monitors with just one channel on your mobo it doesn't matter it all falls onto the graphics card!
Secondly, no once you connect all the cables to your graphics card, go to screen resolution<Multiple displays<extend these displays. and there you go :)
and lastly.. yes there is.. but in different ways hah, there's a lot of ways to do it but the most common is just to connect all of your monitors to your main graphics card (if you're in SLI or XFIRE its usually the top card) and just extend the displays just like what i said before
hope this helped and answered your questions!
 
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imindless

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Okay, that helped me a lot more, I think.

So regardless, I could still get the above 2 mentioned mobo's (hero or sabertooth) attached with a higher end graphics card (to run my 3 monitors)?

I would be able to plug all 3 monitors into my graphics card, via adapters (hdmi, display port, dvi,), one having each port taken up, and still play games at the highest, or almost highest settings, getting as much fps as possible? All without doing SLI or XFire.

I believe I have all the answers if my above statement ^^^ makes sense and is correct/valid. Yes?

 
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kowashie

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Yes completely correct! if you have trouble running all your monitors with just one graphics card and you're not getting the FPS you want.. then SLI or XFIRE your card and you're good to go!
but i would suggest trying it with one card first to see if you like your performance!
hope this helped, game on OP :)
 
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imindless

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You said earlier in the conversation that with the mobo's I was looking at, I wouldn't be able to do 3 way SLI/XFire. So, if I decided to do 3 way sli/xfire, not just multi window through Windows settings, I would have to look at another motherboard with quad channels? The issue everyone stated was that both boards only had 2 3.0 PCIE slots, to only be able to go 2-way.
 
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imindless

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I just want a 3 monitor display for games and work-related topics (video editing, photoshop, graphical stuff and webinar use). I suppose I don't need SLI??

But, what is the benefit of SLI over using regular monitor settings to make 3 monitors act as one?
 
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James Mason

James Mason

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Ahh, that's like if you wanted to do a 5670x1080 resolution (1920x3). I don't know if nvidia cards do that, I know AMD do with Eyefinity though.

Otherwise, you'd just use windows Extend Display option under the screen resolution:
Bdgudkm.png


Which gets me this: (this is a print screen, not a picture of my actual monitors, but you can see how the screens are next to each other, and I do this with Intel HD4000 graphics, this is on my work laptop though)
ZHfzjO1.png
 
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imindless

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So, if I was able to do gaming on a 3 monitor display, all I really need is the windows extended manager and not SLI/XFIRE?

That seems easy enough.

Don't see the need for SLI/XFIRE if that is the case. Unless there is a difference between them?
 
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imindless

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Monitors will be 23-24" IPS LED Back-lit, 1080p or more res, with HDMI inputs. (still looking into them)

GPU will be either Nvidia GTX 770 or above, or AMD 6 series and up.

Settings ultra high.
 
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kowashie

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I'm sorry you didn't understand what i was trying to say :( i was saying its possible to connect as many screens to one Graphics card as long as there are spots for it on the card (or if the card has a max screen limit) the only reason to do a SLI or XFIRE is for performance not to do multiple screens..
AMD has Eyefinity while nvidia has the same thing i just don't remember what its called.
Hope this helps :)
 
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