Can I run 5 things ( two monitors, TV, VR, Cintiq) on a GPU?

[NathanPuma]

Hi guys,

First time posting. Super stumped and note sure if/how to make this work.

I want to be able to run my dual monitor setup, with my primary display mirrored to my TV, leave my VR rig plugged in, and be able to run a Cintiq.
Ideally I could just plug all 5 things into my computer but it looks like most GPUs can only do 4 displays simultaneously.

Anyone have any ideas on what would be the simplest way to go about this?

Possible solutions I can think of:
-Find GPU that can magically do 5 displays
-Some sort of splitter that does DP to DP & HDMI (is this even possible?)

-Display switch for TV/Cintiq (and hoping windows figures it out, or switching display profiles)

Any suggestions, links to splitters (in canada), would be super helpful! I sort of just need this to work.

Edit: Updating Specs

PC Specs:
-AMD Ryzen 9 5900x

-32GB Kingston HyperX Fury DDR4 3200MHz CL16 (2x 16GB)

-Asus ROG Strix x570-I AM4 ITX Mobo

-NZXT Kraken Z63 280mm AIO

-650W EVGA Supernova SFX Modular PSU

-NZXT H210i Case
-Zotac Mini 2070 Super (Would like to upgrade to 3080)

Displays I want to run:
1&2. Primary and secondary display running are 23" 1920x1080 144hz displays (DP)
3. Valve Index VR HMD (DP)
4. LG Smart TV 4k (HDMI)
5. Cintiq 16 (HDMI - not plugged in)

[Origami Cactus]

EDIT: Turns out that Nvidia artificially limits the active monitor amount on the geforce cards to push quadros, so your only option is to use an Intel or AMD processor with an IGPU/APU, and use the motherboard ports, or to get an AMD card, which is not ideal due to their ongoing driver issues.

 

Spoiler

If you have an Intel  IGPU or an AMD APU, there is also a possibilty of enabling that in the BIOS, and that way you can plug stuff like Cintiq in the motherboard slot.

Otherwise you could get something like this, yes more expensive than a normal 3080, but probably cheaper than a 3080 and a display switch, and there are plenty of 5 port 3080s floating around too:

 

Other cheaper option would be an used 2080ti, those things had 5 displayouts by default: [the usb C carries displayport signal]

 

 

 

[Glenwing]

GeForce cards only support 4 monitors. Radeon cards support 6.

[Origami Cactus]

5 minutes ago, Glenwing said:

GeForce cards only support 4 monitors. Radeon cards support 6.

Even when you get a 2080ti, or a 5+ port 3080? What are the other ports on the card used for then?

for example an ASUS TUF rtx 3080: Will the fifth port just not work?

Spoiler

 

[manikyath]

if you have an intel cpu you could just plug one of them in the onboard graphics.

[Glenwing]

45 minutes ago, Origami Cactus said:

Even when you get a 2080ti, or a 5+ port 3080? What are the other ports on the card used for then?

for example an ASUS TUF rtx 3080: Will the fifth port just not work?

  Reveal hidden contents

 

Yes, only a maximum of 4 displays can be active at the same time.

[Origami Cactus]

15 minutes ago, Glenwing said:

Yes, only a maximum of 4 displays can be active at the same time.

wow, BIG YIKES

[Spotty]

39 minutes ago, Origami Cactus said:

Even when you get a 2080ti, or a 5+ port 3080? What are the other ports on the card used for then?

for example an ASUS TUF rtx 3080: Will the fifth port just not work?

Correct, the 5th port will not work. You can't use all of them simultaneously. They're there to give a choice between DisplayPort or HDMI.

 

Asus TUF 3080 tech specs page

 

 

And from my own GTX1080ti which has a total of 6 display outputs, this sheet is included in the box. "Select Max. 4 outputs".

Spoiler

[Kilrah]

On some you can connect a 5th but it will have to mirror one of the other 4, can't be independent. 

[cat milker]

for nvidia cards, the ampere architecture limits it to 4 displays. For AMD, the most is 6 I believe. The reason that there are 5 or even 6 ports on some aorus nvidia cards is so you have multiple options, such as if you have 3 hdmi monitors and 1 dp monitor or vice versa.

[NathanPuma]

On 4/25/2022 at 1:31 AM, Origami Cactus said:

EDIT: Turns out that Nvidia artificially limits the active monitor amount on the geforce cards to push quadros, so your only option is to use an Intel or AMD processor with an IGPU/APU, and use the motherboard ports, or to get an AMD card, which is not ideal due to their ongoing driver issues.

 

  Hide contents

If you have an Intel  IGPU or an AMD APU, there is also a possibilty of enabling that in the BIOS, and that way you can plug stuff like Cintiq in the motherboard slot.

Otherwise you could get something like this, yes more expensive than a normal 3080, but probably cheaper than a 3080 and a display switch, and there are plenty of 5 port 3080s floating around too:

 

Other cheaper option would be an used 2080ti, those things had 5 displayouts by default: [the usb C carries displayport signal]

 

 

 

Thanks for the reply!
You're right. As far as I can tell almost all GPUs only do 4 active displays. I have a SFF PC, with a Ryzen 9 5900X, which doesn't have integrated graphics. Any GPU I have has to fit in my case too. Although I technically have space for a double slot GPU, I don't think it could breath, so I'd have to find a smaller overall card too, even if I could find one that supported 5 active displays.

I'm thinking now my best bet might be some sort of splitter, or I'll have to give up one of my displays.

[NathanPuma]

On 4/25/2022 at 3:25 AM, Kilrah said:

On some you can connect a 5th but it will have to mirror one of the other 4, can't be independent. 

Thanks! Is this on RTX 3080 cards? Do you know which ones?
This might work perfect as my primary display is just mirrored to the TV for games, shows, and making fun of friends playing VR.