Does multiple monitors slow down computer if nothing is running on them?

[ForgottenT]

Hey guys, this might be a silly question but I've been wondering since I'm thinking about getting an LG 34UM94C-P, and two ASUS VN247H 23,6 monitors.

My computer is running an GTX 970, and i7 4790k, I've never bothered getting dual (and definitely not triple) monitors before, but I really want to upgrade, and I'm going to build a custom desk that'll be big enough to house them all, but I'm curious, will the extra monitors slow down my pc if nothing is shown on them? I'll probably just have skype and other IM's Spotify etc running on the two utility screens while doing everything else on the ultrawide including gaming, even though I know the games won't run anywhere near as smoothly as they currently do on my Samsung 27inch 1080p 120hz, I don't mind taking the hit to the framerates, for the ultrawide, but it would be annoying if the two other monitors slowed it down even further even though there wouldn't be any graphical intensive programs running on them.

Just a question I couldn't find an answer to googling around, and I haven't had any extra monitors to test it myself.

Thanks

[DXMember]

no it doesn't slow down your computer

[ChatDaw]

I don't recommend going with this setup, with "just" a GTX 970..

[ForgottenT]

2 minutes ago, DXMember said:

no it doesn't slow down your computer

Thanks!

 

 

1 minute ago, ChatDaw said:

I don't recommend going with this setup, with "just" a GTX 970..

I know, but if it's really not powerful enough for what I want I'll just have to save up a bit and sell my 970 to buy a more suitable card, wouldn't be too much of a problem, I'm mostly playing indie games nowadays anyways not so much FPS games anymore.

[Bl00dgod]

the question shouldnt be if the desk is big enough to house all the displays

the point is the poor 970 will have a hard time with 1440p on the 34"

 

even if you dont care much about fps you should keep in mind that playing with a fps number that matches the hz rate of your display lets it look smoother, if the fps drop below the hz rate you'd benefit from gsync

 

other displays wont slow down if nothing that needs gpu load is running there

[ForgottenT]

Just now, Bl00dgod said:

the question shouldnt be if the desk is big enough to house all the displays

the point is the poor 970 will have a hard time with 1440p on the 34"

The table part wasn't really a question, I don't think the ultrawide alone would be a problem as far as I know it can only display 60fps anyways and it can't be overclocked, but even if the 970 shows to be a problem I don't mind upgrading it, I'm not really playing that many games now a days anyways even though I used to be pretty hardcore on fps games.

My question is just if the two extra monitors will slow it down even further which would be a problem, and I haven't been able to find an informed answer to that question and currently I have no way of testing it myself.

Right now I'm just trying to build myself an awesome setup, I'll keep upgrading it over time, even if the graphics card isn't perfect for it I'll just put that next on the queue to upgrade.

[Bl00dgod]

it wont slow down              i use a 34" 3440x1440 and 22" 1080p and the 2nd and sometimes a 3rd display dont change anything

( vram could be an important size with growing resolution )

i'd recommend running something to monitor temperatures and whatever you want on the side display, like rainmeter

[ChatDaw]

4 minutes ago, ForgottenT said:

The table part wasn't really a question, I don't think the ultrawide alone would be a problem as far as I know it can only display 60fps anyways and it can't be overclocked, but even if the 970 shows to be a problem I don't mind upgrading it, I'm not really playing that many games now a days anyways even though I used to be pretty hardcore on fps games.

My question is just if the two extra monitors will slow it down even further which would be a problem, and I haven't been able to find an informed answer to that question and currently I have no way of testing it myself.

Right now I'm just trying to build myself an awesome setup, I'll keep upgrading it over time, even if the graphics card isn't perfect for it I'll just put that next on the queue to upgrade.

It probably won't slow it down, or not by much if nothing GPU intensive is running, but it may hurt your VRAM actually. The performance could be really poor if you have all your VRAM used.

[ForgottenT]

1 minute ago, Bl00dgod said:

it wont slow down              i use a 34" 3440x1440 and 22" 1080p and the 2nd and sometimes a 3rd display dont change anything

i'd recommend running something to monitor temperatures and whatever you want on the side display, like rainmeter

 

1 minute ago, ChatDaw said:

It probably won't slow it down, or not by much if northing GPU intensive is running, but it may hurt your VRAM actually. The performance could be really poor if you have all your VRAM used.

 

Thanks for the answers guys, really appreciate it, I completely forgot about VRAM, I'll have to look into that and keep it in mind next time I upgrade my GPU

[DXMember]

6 minutes ago, ForgottenT said:

 

 

Thanks for the answers guys, really appreciate it, I completely forgot about VRAM, I'll have to look into that and keep it in mind next time I upgrade my GPU

that will be negligible the amount of additional VRAM used will be only for the foreground applications running on the extended displays

it's good to be aware of it, but in the modern world you shouldn't worry about that (to put in perspective maybe additional 20~50MB of VRAM will be used at most)

[ForgottenT]

2 minutes ago, DXMember said:

that will be negligible the amount of additional VRAM used will be only for the foreground applications running on the extended displays

it's good to be aware of it, but in the modern world you shouldn't worry about that (to put in perspective maybe additional 20~50MB of VRAM will be used at most)

Ah I see, I just remember people freaking out over the 4GB VRAM on the 970 only really being 3.5GB usable so I figured it must have had some relevance, I never looked into it cause it was never an issue for me since I was only using one 1080p monitor, thanks again for the answer.