2x980ti multi-4k-monitor question

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Krzywoustyn

Krzywoustyn

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Hi
I am going to make a crazy computer setup with 3x4k monitors/1080p projector/1440p ultrawide monitor/1080p touchscreen monitor
Would a GTX980TIx2 be able to power all those monitors? I will not be gaming on them, I just want them for productivity and sometimes some League of Legends .
A side question, would a touchscreen monitor as like a 5th monitor even work properly?
 
Solution
giantbucket
yup, easy as that. as long as you have slots available, you can drop in whatever cards you want.

now, the nVidia control panel (software) might automatically ENABLE the SLI even without a bridge so you might have to go in there and disable it. but really, yeah it is that simple. plug in a card, connect some monitors, and use Windows to arrange them however you like. you can have some in landscape mode and some in portrait mode too if you like (i have 6 portrait plus 1 landscape).

plug in the better card (presumably the one that will drive three 4k screens) into the first / top slot, and the other card(s) into the next available slots.

i don't need best answer - i just hope that people learn stuff and explore!
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DiegoD

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That is a crazy setup, man, I'm almost speechless reading it. I don't even know how to begin answering it. Whee here we go.

The 3X4k and 1440p I understand but the projector and the touchscreen; has me hazed. I'm concerned that for all this to be used productively, or even in a right way, you will need two PC's. If I may ask what where is all of this going to be used and what for?

But, to answer your question, what refresh rate will your monitors and projector be running at?
 
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Krzywoustyn

Krzywoustyn

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I am only considering GTX graphics card and 1 pc, probably at 2x980ti - the refresh rates would be 60Hz as I don't need more anyway. My question is, would that even work? Would all those screens even light up and would I be able to control them?
 
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DiegoD

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Because you are not gaming you don't need the graphics processing power that comes with a gaming GPU. A workstation GPU will give you the display power to run 6 pictures without you paying for gaming potential. Perhaps aa Nvidia NVS ...

To be honest, I don't know much about workstation GPU's or which one to go with. However, I do know that a gaming GPU is not the way for you to go. You may just want to start a new thread on workstation graphics cards I'm sure there is plenty of people to help you out on that subject.
 
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Krzywoustyn

Krzywoustyn

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I am only considering GTX 980ti X2 at the moment anyway - my question is - will it power the monitors at 60Hz or not? I can always play league of legends only on 1 monitor anyway - but will I be able to for example watch a youtube video on every single display at once? Not that I need it, but I wanna know if they can all work at once - not for gaming - just for Internet, Microsoft Office, Skype etc.
 
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giantbucket

giantbucket

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as long as the 980Ti has three outputs that can each put out 4k @ 60Hz, then sure why not. even if it only has 2, you can run 2 4k from one card and 1 4k from another card, and connect the remaining monitors wherever. heck, you can even use onboard if your mobo/processor supports it.

i ran 8 screens across 3 cards + onboard without any problems, and currently run 7 across 2 cards + onboard. i think Win8.1 can manage up to 64 screens, so you have a ways to go.

just don't SLI the cards, obviously.
 
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giantbucket

giantbucket

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too many LOLs in that post.

first, in a workstation graphics card, you pay more (a LOT MORE) for driver support. a GTX and Quadro are often built from the same chip, just have different features enabled on them and the drivers are assigned different priorities. plenty of GTX/Radeon cards can drive multiple monitors without issue, and are cheaper than a workstation card anyways. a workstation card will happily drop frames just to finish calculating the last frame it's working on, which is great for designs but crap for actual fluid use by a human with eyes. a gaming card will let an occasional glitch through just to keep the display going fluidly, which our eyes and brain can easily filter out and dispose of.

and, THIS thread is perfectly acceptable to talk about cards. nowhere in this thread does it say it's about gaming graphcis cards, so why are you kicking the OP out and telling him to start a whole NEW thread just because 80% of the people have blindly assumed GAMING GAMING OMG GAMING FPS SLI GAMING!!!

you children really need to open your minds a bit and read better. if you're what our future is going to be, we're all pretty much fooked.
 
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DiegoD

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Put in my place. I was just ravaged on the internet guys.

Well aside from that thanks for the info!
 
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giantbucket

giantbucket

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if you SLI the cards, you are no longer able to use the outputs of the second card, and you're only able to use the outputs of the first card. SLI forces the cards to add their resources to drive only the monitors on the first card.

in your case, you likely want to have the cards run independently, so that you can use each card to drive as many monitors as it can, in whatever configuration you want.

just like USB devices on a hub - you want to just be able to use more of the same type of devices, rather than to lock each new device onto an existing one and "combine" them.

gaming people do SLI / CrossFire with two cheaper cards to attempt to get more processing power. or on two top-of-the-line cards to get even more processing power.

you don't need processing power. you need outputs. which is kind of the opposite of what SLI is all about.

bottom line - if a single 980Ti will drive HALF of your desired monitors, then TWO of them will drive ALL of your desired monitors. as long as you have the slots available on your mobo and the power supply to power them.

in fact, you may not even need two 980Ti cards. if a single 980Ti can drive the three 4k screens, then for the others (1080/1440/1080) you could probably use a cheaper card like a 970 or 960 or even a 760. you don't need two identical cards if you're running them independently.
 
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Krzywoustyn

Krzywoustyn

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Just one more question and I will give you best answer - I know it's probably foolish but tbh I've never seen 2 graphics cards in 1PC not in SLI - so I just connect the 2 cards to the mobo and then not connect them via a SLI bridge or what?
 
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giantbucket

giantbucket

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yup, easy as that. as long as you have slots available, you can drop in whatever cards you want.

now, the nVidia control panel (software) might automatically ENABLE the SLI even without a bridge so you might have to go in there and disable it. but really, yeah it is that simple. plug in a card, connect some monitors, and use Windows to arrange them however you like. you can have some in landscape mode and some in portrait mode too if you like (i have 6 portrait plus 1 landscape).

plug in the better card (presumably the one that will drive three 4k screens) into the first / top slot, and the other card(s) into the next available slots.

i don't need best answer - i just hope that people learn stuff and explore!
 
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