3 monitors question

OldSmoke wrote on 5/4/2014, 2:17 PM

A card like yours while having 3 connectors can only drive 2 monitors. The HDMI is sharing the port with the DVI connector, meaning you can connect a monitor to this port by DVI or HDMI but not two monitors. There are not many cards that can drive 3 monitors and still be good with Vegas 12. I use 2xGXT580 because I have 4 monitors. The newer 600 and 700 card can do it but are not as good with Vegas. I am not sure about AMD/ATI cards but I doubt it will be anything less then a powerful gaming card.

EGS wrote on 5/4/2014, 2:27 PM

Well, I've been running 2 monitors for quite some time with this video card, one with HDMI and the 2nd with DVI. Can't get the VGA to work and get all 3 though. So it seems I need to replace the video card. Any specific card recommendations for me? Do you suggest then that I get 2 GXT580's? Thanks !!!

OldSmoke wrote on 5/4/2014, 2:38 PM

Interesting. It is usually the HDMI and DVI ports that are shared beause they have similar signal standards. I am sure there are AMD/ATI cards that can handle 3 monitors and are ok with VP12. The earlier 5000 and 6000 cards should be ok. I just ordered a 6970 from eBay in addition to my GTX580 but I havent had time to check if it can drive 3 monitors. I personally prefer to run more then one card, just to balance the load between the cards. You should check your bord if it can handle 2x PCIex16, most boards scale back to PCIe x8 when more then on PCIe card is installed. This was the main reason I switched to socket 2011 and X79.

EGS wrote on 5/4/2014, 3:16 PM

I do not know much about video cards. Do you think this fanless card will work:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202092

HDMI---->monitor 1
DVI--->monitor 2
DisplayPort--->active DisplayPort adapter--->monitor 3
Do you think this will work?

OldSmoke wrote on 5/5/2014, 3:35 AM

I am sorry but I dont have much experience with AMD/ATI cards. The one I just ordered will be my first one of this kind. There are more knowledgeable users in this forum that could help but the general rule for AMD/ATI is the same as for Nvidia, the older 5000 and 6000 series seems to work better. I also cant see from the specs of your poposed card that it would support 3 monitors simultaniously.

NickHope wrote on 5/5/2014, 3:43 AM

After reading this thread I came to the conclusion, based on what I read and not on experience, that one of these or one of these discontinued cards is currently the "best" graphics card for VP12 or VP13.

I asked if they can run 3 monitors and didn't get a reply. I would love to know. Otherwise I might get 2 of them and run 4 monitors, but OldSmoke's "scaling back" comment has me a little worried.

OldSmoke wrote on 5/5/2014, 7:56 AM

Nick, both links are for a HD6970 which is the card I got at home. Unfortunately I am in Europe until end of this week and can only try it out next week. It seems to handle 6 monitors but I am not sure if that applies to Vegas too. I know AMD has that Eyefinity feature but I am not sure how well that plays with Vegas. I do know that other users have suggested the HD6970 as it has better OpenCL support hence better preview in Vegas. I hope to be able to mix one GTX580 with one HD6970 and get both worlds. MC AVC with GTX580 and CUDA support is a lightning fast renderer and I hope to get better timeline performance with the HD6970. My current 2x GTX580 setup is fast on renders but BCC8 plugins are a nightmare to work with, extremly slow preview.

ritsmer wrote on 5/5/2014, 9:27 AM

If one of the monitors is just used for simple things like file explorer etc. then why not just get a some 50 USD card like a GT 630 ?
you can even have these cards in silent, fan-less versions.

On my machine (6 core Haswell based) any talk about GPU-"acceleration" will slow down render times by a factor 3-4++ (for the video formats that I use) so any cards able to display a reasonable picture on the screens will do.

Steve Mann wrote on 5/5/2014, 9:20 PM

Windows will use as many displays as you can plug cards into your motherboard. I normally have three displays, and on one a fourth.

I do not use ATI/Radeon cards. Too many driver issues.

Most display cards will only support two displays, As stated before DVI and HDMI are the same signals on different connectors.

You can buy cards that support more than two monitors, but I don't recommend this. Realize that the bandwidth of the GPU on the card is divided between the monitors, limiting the max resolution on each monitor.

The best method is a second display card. I strongly recommend that they be the same card, or at least the same GPU family. This way your PC only needs to install one driver.

If cost is an issue, I have used USB-2 to DVI adapters. They work, but only for static displays. No video. They can't keep up with that.

NickHope wrote on 5/5/2014, 11:54 PM

OK so if I build a machine with one of those AMD HD 6970 cards I linked to as the workhorse for 2 big displays for preview etc., what would be a sensible, cheaper 2nd AMD card to run 2 smaller, mostly static monitors off?

Arthur.S wrote on 5/6/2014, 2:31 AM

I've been using a Plugable technologies USB display adaptor for a 3rd monitor for a long time. I still use it, even though my current GPU can display to 3 monitors. Cheap 'n' easy. :-)

OldSmoke wrote on 5/6/2014, 3:22 AM

Low end cards and GPU acceleration will slow you down, no doubt. But with good cards you get a good 300% boost. Just simply putting in more then one card depends on your system For example, socket 1150 and 1155 do not allow for PCIe slots to operate in 2x PCIex16 mode and will switch back to 2x PCIex8 or x16 + x8, even some lower cost socket 2011 can only x16 + x8. To get full peerformance you need a motherboard then provides 2x PCIex16 when two cards are installed. I know that socket 1366 and 2011 can do it.

Bandwitdh is certainly a concern and I too would only use two monitors per card. I am sure a lower range 6000 series card as a compaion to the 6970 will work just fine, two 6970 are sure better if budget allows, the motherboard supports 2x PCIe x16 and the PSU can handle it.

In my 2x GTX580 system I have constantly 3 monitors and sometimes a HDTV too. I can see a difference if the preview window and the external monitor preview are on the same card or on different cards, preview performance is better when these two are split.

TheHappyFriar wrote on 5/6/2014, 5:29 AM

I have a Radeon HD 7850 that supports up to 6 monitors. I currently use 3: two HDMI and one Displayport. You *NEED* and *ACTIVE* displayport adapter if you're wanting more then two monitors ANd one of the monitors doesn't have a displayport plug on it. AMD has a list of them on their site. I'm sure Nvidia has a list of approved ones too. I got a single active adapter for $27 on Amazon. You can also get active hubs that support multiple monitors.

Before I figured that part out (wasn't anywhere in the instructions with the card, not on the specs on ATI's site, had to find out via a MS blog) I was using two monitors on it. There is NO performance difference in anything when I have one, two or three monitors running. With one, two or three monitors the Vegas preview works just as good (with the demo of 12 & GPU preview acceleration). There's no performance difference when I play a D3D or OGL games on either of the monitors (resolution being the same). There's no difference when I drag a video windows that is playing back between monitors.

All the monitors can be independent: I have one 1440x900, 1920x1080 & 1280x1024. You can arrange them however you want: in a line left to right, top to bottom, in an "L" shape, etc.

The Eyefinity feature is for games: it sets all monitors to be like a single monitor so that you can display a game across all your monitors. It has nothing to do with using multiple monitors outside of a game.

TheHappyFriar wrote on 5/7/2014, 11:04 AM

I took my machine + one screen to a client yesterday to review a project. I decided to rearrange my desk when I got back.

It's not perfect (a complete mess, bottom screen needs to be more vertical, top two need need to angle down more, etc) but it shows a way to arrange multiple monitors with current OS+drivers.

OldSmoke wrote on 5/9/2014, 3:05 PM

I am back! I got home from my Europe trip and was exited to see the HD6970 on my table. I just simply plug it into my last free PCIe slot (x8 only), installed AMD driver 13.12 and off it went. It's a great card! I changed the preview device to the HD6970, opened the press release project and rendered it to MC AVC with OpenCL. Rendertimes are ok, 37sec. versus 29sec with two GTX580. But, rendering MC AVC with CUDA, having 2x GTX580 and HD6970 in the system, got me down to 27sec. It turns out, VP12 uses both architectures nicely. One of the GTX580 and the HD6970. I suppose that all OpenCL operations are handled by the HD6970 and all CUDA related ones by the GTX580. Aside from all that, BBC8 is now finally running smoother, which is the main reason I bought the HD6970.

It seems it isn't a bad idea to have both "worlds" in the same system. Later, when I got more time I will take out one GTX580 to get a free PCIe x16 slot and do more testing but so far so good.

BruceUSA wrote on 5/9/2014, 4:38 PM

Olsmoke,

I am glad that HD6970 card works out well for you. I guess, we, meaning you and me are loving the old, out of date card or what ever. While, most people will continue to buy newer cards, then bitchin and moaning why their newer card are not working so great.

PS. I will probably add a 4th monitor for external preview in Vegas. Right now I can use it as 3 seperate screen but i can't preview on the 2nd, 3rd monitor with vegas because it is in eyefinity setup as one big screen. But with a 4th monitor hooking up to a passive display port. I should be able to preview external, 4th monitor on Vegas.

OldSmoke wrote on 5/9/2014, 4:51 PM

+1 Bruce

Chanimal wrote on 5/17/2014, 1:25 PM

I have FOUR monitors. 3 are 23" that are on my desk and a 4th monitor is a Samsung 32" TV that mounts on the wall and plays at 1080. I use a 6870 card that support the four monitors. On my other machine, I have a R9 270x (overclocked) that also supports four monitors.

I notice no difference in speed with 4 as with 2 monitors.

The key to get your card to work (the specs will say if it supports more than two monitors), as described above, is you MUST get an ACTIVE mini-DVI adapter (most are passive)--they are hard to find. I found them online but also at Fry's electronics (but not where the passive adapters were--but in the video card isle). The difference is that the video cards have only two timing chips for the DVI and HDMI ports (even if they support more than two monitors). The reason is because some native mini-DVI monitors (i.e., MAC) do not need the timing chip. If they put four timing chips on the card these monitors would not work. So, you must get the ACTIVE mini-DVI to HDMI or ACTIVE mini-DVI to DVI adapter and it includes the timing chip in it (that is powered by the signal itself). This way ALL three or all four video screens will have the timing chip and all four will work.

I learned this by watching a video at the AMD website and FINALLY figured out how to get all the monitors to work. Remember: ACTIVE adapter (it will say "Active"). Nobody at Fry's (which are usually geeks) and nobody at Best Buy Geek Squad was aware of this--until I explained it. It should be explained in the ATI documentation better. I would see "active" in the documentation but I didn't know the difference--and neither do most of the reps at the stores.

I noticed that you spread the desktop across all three of your screens as one big desktop. I do not. I have four separate screens that are each distinct (not blended into one huge monitor). The files and mouse moves between them as though they were all one, but the problem is if I open up a spreadsheet all the way, it opens completely on one monitor--not across all four (which is over 8 feet across). If I want to open it larger, I do not open it all the way and then just re-size it across as much space as I prefer. I also don't like it your way since the startup for windows is all the way to the right and it is a LONG distance between anything else. I run my menu on my middle monitor on my desktop. I used to use a windows utility that would allow me to have a startup or buttons on every screen or configure it any way I wanted to, but I would get crashes, so I just went with the ATI setup (a little confusing at first to even get the screens setup correctly with my startup in the middle, but I figured it out).

This also allows me to run Vegas on two monitors, the preview on the 32" wall and have an extra monitor to open other apps, find my files easier, etc.