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What Card can supply 4 Monitors at once?

adlerweb
By adlerweb
in Graphics Cards
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Posted

Hi,
 
I've got a rather unusual setup: My main PC is used for dev/video stuff (no gaming), running Linux and currently using two antiquated GeForce 8600 GT (SLI MultiView, 2 Monitors per card). While the setup mostly works nvidia dropped their mainline support and with every new update there are more problems appearing with direct rendering. For example: If I move a chrome window to a monitor connected to another card it is nothing more than a solid black rectangle. The cards where released several years ago, current drivers seem to no longer support the models and most other components have been replaced over time.
 
So I went out to find a new setup, however while most vendors proudly state how many ports their cards feature its hard to find out how many of them I can use simultaneously. Performance is not that much off an issue, I guess standard browsing, text terminals and 1080p playback should be possible with all cards currently sold. Also I would like to avoid SLI - 2 Cards take a lot of power and the driver support is mostly optimized for gaming, not multiview. I also would like to stick with Nvidia, if possible, since AMD/ATI-drivers for Linux where usually not that much fun.
 
tl;dl: Has anyone an idea which card can support 4 simultaneous outputs? Thanks in advance.

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all current nvidia and AMD GPUs support at least 4 screens

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I could have sworn that nvidia drivers on linux were worse.. at least as of late...

 

from best to worst

 

tian Z

980

290x

970

290

280x

960

280

some 750 ti's

270x

270

260x

Thats that. If you need to get in touch chances are you can find someone that knows me that can get in touch.

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Hi,

 -snip-

tl;dl: Has anyone an idea which card can support 4 simultaneous outputs? Thanks in advance.

read the bottom quote here.

 

Either a titan x in sli or 980 in triple sli.

he doesnt want to go SLI, and he didn't say it was for gaming.

 

all current nvidia and AMD GPUs support at least 4 screens

the current gtx900 lineup supports 5 monitors. 3 DP ports, 1 HDMI, and 1 DVI

 

OP, that should be enough to drive what you need. you might need DP adapters though

We can't Benchmark like we used to, but we have our ways. One trick is to shove more GPUs in your computer. Like the time I needed to NV-Link, because I needed a higher HeavenBench score, so I did an SLI, which is what they called NV-Link back in the day. So, I decided to put two GPUs in my computer, which was the style at the time. Now, to add another GPU to your computer, costs a new PSU. Now in those days PSUs said OCZ on them, "Gimme 750W OCZs for an SLI" you'd say. Now where were we? Oh yeah, the important thing was that I had two GPUs in my rig, which was the style at the time! They didn't have RGB PSUs at the time, because of the war. The only thing you could get was those big green ones. 

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A GTX 650 Ti would even do the job if you don't want to spend a lot of money

 

Either a titan x in sli or 980 in triple sli.

 

that is super super super overkill 

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Everything with 4 different outputs that your screens support. You do not need anything very powerful for what you are talking about.

 

Just be aware of outputs and inputs.....Avoid converters whenever possible.

 

Maybe Gigabytes 970? Its a lot of money to spend if you aren't gaming, but that has a lot of outputs. 3 DPs, 1 HDMI and 2 DVI...The problem is probably in regards to what your screens supports.

Or the 960 Strix...

 

But you really don't need that much performance.

But there are a bunch of cards since GTX 500-600 series, where there are a few DVis, and several DP and HDMI slots. Should be pretty easy to find.

The Mistress: Case: Corsair 760t   CPU:  Intel Core i7-4790K 4GHz(stock speed at the moment) - GPU: MSI 970 - MOBO: MSI Z97 Gaming 5 - RAM: Crucial Ballistic Sport 1600MHZ CL9 - PSU: Corsair AX760  - STORAGE: 128Gb Samsung EVO SSD/ 1TB WD Blue/Several older WD blacks.

                                                                                        

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the current gtx900 lineup supports 5 monitors. 3 DP ports, 1 HDMI, and 1 DVI

Nope, you can only use 4 monitors at the same time with one card. You can only use the hdmi output OR the dvi output, not both at the same time unfortunately (tested it myself).

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Nope, you can only use 4 monitors at the same time with one card. You can only use the hdmi output OR the dvi output, not both at the same time unfortunately (tested it myself).

tested it myself too, works for me.

We can't Benchmark like we used to, but we have our ways. One trick is to shove more GPUs in your computer. Like the time I needed to NV-Link, because I needed a higher HeavenBench score, so I did an SLI, which is what they called NV-Link back in the day. So, I decided to put two GPUs in my computer, which was the style at the time. Now, to add another GPU to your computer, costs a new PSU. Now in those days PSUs said OCZ on them, "Gimme 750W OCZs for an SLI" you'd say. Now where were we? Oh yeah, the important thing was that I had two GPUs in my rig, which was the style at the time! They didn't have RGB PSUs at the time, because of the war. The only thing you could get was those big green ones. 

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tested it myself too, works for me.

How? Windows just tells me "cannot apply the current monitor configuration" or something along those lines. 

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i was looking for exactly the same thing. someone (USERID: "name taken") told me about this:

 

http://plugable.com/products/usb3-3900dhe

 

you just need two usb 3.0 ports and tada!. make sure your processor is powerfull though.

 

if you still want to go the graphic card way i know for a fact that r7 260x (at least the one from msi) supports 4 displays but youll need an mst hub. all cards beyond 260x work too i guess. from nvidia, im not sure but gtx 750 might work.

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Thanks for your input. I could snipe a 660 for under 50$ so I'll try this first - NVidia marketed the card as 4-screen-capable back when it was released.

 

the current gtx900 lineup supports 5 monitors. 3 DP ports, 1 HDMI, and 1 DVI

...and - at least according to EVGAs support - only supports 3 at the same time (NVIDIA SURROUND). 4 Would be possible, but the additional display would have no acceleration. Datasheet doesn't tell any restrictions so not sure who's right...

 

Everything with 4 different outputs that your screens support.

As said: A lot of vendors say 2 or 3 max (depending on the card) - at least for some Intels and AMDs thats true, I couldn't activate more displays on Windows.

http://plugable.com/products/usb3-3900dhe

 you just need two usb 3.0 ports and tada!.

"Not compatible with Mac and Linux at this time." - so not an option for me. Also only 2 supported displays and moving between GPUs is no fun, especcially if they are using varying chips.

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I'm looking at the new Quadro's with displayport myself. You can either daisy chain or buy a Displayport Hub, so It will support at least four, and maybe up to 12 or 16? I highly doubt that many thou, but I can dream.

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Thanks for your input. I could snipe a 660 for under 50$ so I'll try this first - NVidia marketed the card as 4-screen-capable back when it was released.

 

...and - at least according to EVGAs support - only supports 3 at the same time (NVIDIA SURROUND). 4 Would be possible, but the additional display would have no acceleration. Datasheet doesn't tell any restrictions so not sure who's right...

 

As said: A lot of vendors say 2 or 3 max (depending on the card) - at least for some Intels and AMDs thats true, I couldn't activate more displays on Windows.

"Not compatible with Mac and Linux at this time." - so not an option for me. Also only 2 supported displays and moving between GPUs is no fun, especcially if they are using varying chips.

Maybe you should be looking at GPUs that aren't targeted for gamers then. I run 3 monitors on a Matrox m9140 at work.

The Mistress: Case: Corsair 760t   CPU:  Intel Core i7-4790K 4GHz(stock speed at the moment) - GPU: MSI 970 - MOBO: MSI Z97 Gaming 5 - RAM: Crucial Ballistic Sport 1600MHZ CL9 - PSU: Corsair AX760  - STORAGE: 128Gb Samsung EVO SSD/ 1TB WD Blue/Several older WD blacks.

                                                                                        

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