Unsure..triple monitor setup and Nivida gtx 780

[gamernew3dfan]

("solved") triple monitor setup, G-sync, fullscreen mode, WoW & Nvidia gtx 780

Hi everybody.

I currently have a Nvidia gtx 780 with 3 GB RAM (http://www.gainward.com/main/vgapro.php?id=909&lang=en), which has the following outputs:

1. DL-DVI-I
1. DL-DVI-D
1. HDMI
1. DisplayPort 1.2

Right now i'm using a 27 inch monitor connected to the HDMI port.


What i'm unsure of:

I wish to buy 3 x 24 inch monitors.

I do NOT want to do any "surround" (dont care about the ability to span a picture/game over 3 monitors): all i want in that the MIDLE monitor is used for the desktop/games (in window mode).. and that the other 2 monitors are "black/blank" (they will only display things like webbrowser / ventrilo chat etc, after i've minimized them first in the main/midle monitor, and dragged them to either left or right monitor).

1. Is this possible?
2. Which cables would you recommend?
3. If possible i want my main/midle monitor to be a 144hz, 1920x1080 gaming monitor, the other 2 ones will be 60 hz, 1920x1080.
Would this work?


Thx a mill in advance. Im a total noob when it comes to this.

 

[jamesriley94]

For a start, I'd personally get all identical monitors as it will just look better. Look at 24inch IPS screens - I'm not 100% sure regarding having the centre monitor at 144hz whilst the others are at 60hz, but I'm sure someone else here has a better idea. I just think triple monitor set ups look a lot better if all screens are identical.

As for it being possible - it's completely possible yes. Just put one of them through HDMI, and the other two through DVI and it should run absolutely fine.

As for the Window mode on the centre monitor, I'm not sure why you'd want this. You can run it maximised on the middle monitor completely fine and still view browser windows or whatever on the two side windows.

I will say, you'll find all of this a lot easier on Windows 8 (not sure which you are using). But, Windows 8 has far better native support for triple monitors without having to use eyefinity or surround (which are both preferable to the native support in Windows 7).

 

[gamernew3dfan]

Hi James and thanks for your reply.

I'm using windows ultimate 7, 64 bit.

You have a fair point regarding window mode in the games.. i don't have to use that then (as the other monitors will act as my "when im in window mode i can alt tab to watch webbrowzer etc". Good thinking. I will run my games in full screen then, in the midle/center monitor.

I read something about that 144hz monitors need a "dual link dvi cable", i assume thats the "DL-DVI-D" output on the grafixcard.

------------

So my setup will be something like this then, cabelwise, if i understand correctly:

Left monitor: DL-DVI-I (will run at 60 hz, the monitor will be a 60 hz one)

Center monitor: DL-DVI-D (will run at 144hz, the monitor will be a 144 hz one)

Right Monitor: HDMI (will run at 60 hz, the monitor will be a 60 hz one)


Unless someone know this isn't possible..

 

[CreatiXx]

Hi, i'm not a genius either but this is what i know so far since i use triple monitors myself.
For your card it does not really matter which cables you use, HDMI or DVI, got to agree with James that 3 identical screens look better but it does not give any difference in use. For the surround part ; You can use surround option and at the same time only use your mid screen for gaming,i've tried this so far in League Of legends and it works. You have the ability to game in the mid screen and use browsers,skype,TS,... on the other screens in the meanwhile.. If you want i'll test this out on other games to. Surround just gives you the OPTION to play on 3 screens at the same time but you dont have to. I'd say, just enable it once , once you've got it and play a bit with it so you know if its easier or not to use for you. After all its still a personal opinion.

And on a side note ; dont know anything about the 144Hz screen things

 

[jamesriley94]

Surround generally sets the overall resolution at 5760x1080 whilst Windows 8 sets it more to like 1920x1080 x3 if that makes sense.

Especially on Windows 8 it does make everything so much easier. Maximising programs maximises them to the screen you're running, you get an individual taskbar on each screen etc. It just generally acts like it's running three individual screens whilst surround and eyefinity treat the three monitors as one single screen.

 

[JR23]

I'm not sure exactly what your asking but on Windows 7 with nVidia cards you can run them as individual screens (activate all) ie. centre screen as master with a taskbar and the side screens as additional but entirely separate displays so each monitor can take a full screen window at any one time giving you the option for a full screen youtube video, a full screen game and then an internet browser. OR you can run them in surround (span) which is fundamentally exactly the same but the taskbar runs across all 3 and when any application enters full screen mode it will cover them all, you could still run a windowed game and two other things but if you say full screened a youtube video it would cover the other two (side) screens with black. Both modes are very useful and with recent drivers whichever mode you are in maximized windows will still snap to an individual screen when you drag them against the top as you would expect in Windows 7, never tried Windows 8 but W7 worked perfectly for every scenario.

JR

 

[gamernew3dfan]

Hey and thanks a lot for the added replies.

I ordered a AX Accessories AXM4420 (4 x 13-27", max 10kg per monitor, VESA 70/100) stand. Will use the single top minitor to be a 19 inch led tv i had lying around, so i can watch tv aswell!

Question 1:
still not sure which 3 monitors i should get though, as no-one has replied yet if its possible to run the center monitor at 144 hz, while the other two are at 60 hz.

Ohwell, if push comes to show i will have to pay a bit more and get 3 x 144 hz 24 inch screens.

Question 2:
I noticed from the gainward link in my first post, if you click on the spec sheet pdf link, that my grafixcard has: DisplayPort 1.2, DVI *2 (dual-link), HDMI v1.4a.

Will it be possible to run all three screen in 144 hz if i connect to the DVI *2 (dual-link) and the HDMI v1.4a?





--------
I can get a good deal on 3 x http://www.asus.com/Monitors_Projectors/VG248QE/

But it says "*To activate 144Hz function (in 2D mode), both DisplayPort (or Dual-link DVI) and a selected graphics card with the latest driver are required. The monitor has: 1 x DisplayPort, 1 HDMI, and 1 x Dual-link DVI-D port".

I guess 2 of them connected via dual link dvi and the last one via Displayport, should do the trick.

Question 3:
Which displayport cable would you recommend me?


/cheeers

 

[PunkisDead]

As far as I am aware, Custom Resolution Utility (CRU, free program) can set each monitor's frequency individually.

I originally planned to get 3 Qnix 27" 1440p monitors but soon realized the space they would take up did not fit on my desk. Sort of struggling with two now. They are very nice monitors, especially for the price (in Australia it would be possible to get three for under $1000.00). Have not had any issues with mine.

The amount of screen real estate is overwhelming, even with two of these. Would love to have a three screen setup so I could use them for gaming, but it just doesn't fit

 

[SuB]

just run it in none surround and you pick the centre display as primary, all works fine. Depends on the game as to if other screens will or won't display their content while full-screen gaming. But turning off desktop composition and aero fixes this 9 times out of 10.

You're talking about pretty much my exact setup, except i have a second card for SLi

If you have a 144hz screen and other 60hz they will just work fine, no third party shit required. I've done it. and it's fine, even at different resolutions.

The issue comes when you wanna combine them as one big one, but you don't so don't worry about it.

 

[gamernew3dfan]

just run it in none surround and you pick the centre display as primary, all works fine. Depends on the game as to if other screens will or won't display their content while full-screen gaming. But turning off desktop composition and aero fixes this 9 times out of 10.

You're talking about pretty much my exact setup, except i have a second card for SLi

If you have a 144hz screen and other 60hz they will just work fine, no third party shit required. I've done it. and it's fine, even at different resolutions.

The issue comes when you wanna combine them as one big one, but you don't so don't worry about it.

Thats awesome.
This means that i can save some money (dont have to buy 3 monitors where all run at 144 hz, as i only care for the middle monitor to run at 144 hz).

On the other hand... would it be possible to run the middle monitor using a GSYNC monitor, while the other two are two cheaper 60 hz ones? (same resolutions on all 3 monitors)





..Normal monitorwise, im currently looking at:

144 hz : 1 x http://www.asus.com/Monitors_Projectors/VG248QE/

60 hz: 2 x http://www.asus.com/Monitors_Projectors/VS247HP/overview/

It says that the chassis color is "black" on the Asus website, what do you think, is it the same.. would hate it if i got different shade/gloss of black

 

[SuB]

Thats awesome.
This means that i can save some money (dont have to buy 3 monitors where all run at 144 hz, as i only care for the middle monitor to run at 144 hz).

On the other hand... would it be possible to run the middle monitor using a GSYNC monitor, while the other two are two cheaper 60 hz ones? (same resolutions on all 3 monitors)





..Normal monitorwise, im currently looking at:

144 hz : 1 x http://www.asus.com/Monitors_Projectors/VG248QE/

60 hz: 2 x http://www.asus.com/Monitors_Projectors/VS247HP/overview/

It says that the chassis color is "black" on the Asus website, what do you think, is it the same.. would hate it if i got different shade/gloss of black

Yes you can run it GSync as well but it must be on displayport to do it.

 

[gamernew3dfan]

Slight update:
I now have 1 x http://www.asus.com/Monitors_Projectors/VG248QE/ (came with gsync pre installed), works very well, took a bit of fidling with the settings, but finally it runs at 144 hz and gsync on (while in full screen).

Waiting for 2 x http://www.asus.com/Monitors_Projectors/VE248H/

Will post a update and pics + impressions when its all done.

The 4 monitor stand is absolutly enormous, feels rock solid. It even came with a optional mounting method, so i decided to drill a hole thru my 5 cm thick desk and secure it that way.

The two other monitors seem to have the same bezel and same color as the gsync one (/fingers crossed they are)

 

[SuB]

Jesus what did that cost you with a pre-installed GSync module?

 

[gamernew3dfan]

Jesus what did that cost you with a pre-installed GSync module?

I payed 401 british pounds (that's including a 5 meter long displayport cable and shipping). I live up in the northern part of Norway, in Scandinavia.

(the other two monitors im getting cost 283 pounds for the both of them, i found that to be a good price)


Sidenote:
my old main monitor used to be a "Samsung 27" LCD Syncmaster P2770FH
1920x1080, 70000:1, 1ms, VGA/DVI/HDMI", and this new 144 ghz gsync one blows it out of the water. I mainly play world of warcraft and it runs butter smooth in full screen in full ultra. Its unbeliveble. Btw im running a i7 4770k OC to 4,5 ghz (silikon lottery /meh), cooling both the cpu and gtx 780 with a ERM-3K3UC Liquid Cooling System, Copper Rev1.1 (had for 2 years, no issues) and a ocz revodrive 3 x2 HD with around 1500 read/write (been faithfull for around 2 years now, same performance as of today).

I couldnt be more happy (well when i get the two other monitors i will be!). I would highly recommend the gsync monitor.

 

[gamernew3dfan]

Another update:

i got the two other screens.

Had a lot of issues at first: only my 19 inch at the top showed up. The two new monitors were detected but i couldnt see anything on them or expand windows to it. After a loooooot of trial and error, it turned out it was a simple solution! /facepalm.
All i had to do was to click on the menu of the monitors and choose the correct input (hdmi), then everything was up and running!


(im not using the nvidia "expand / surround" at all, its possible to move mousepointer / windows freely across all monitors now, even to the small 19 inch at the top)


Then i had another issue, i wanted to see the bottom taskbar on all monitors, but seems that isnt nativly possible in windows 7 (only win 8).

So after some searching online i downloaded a free 30 day trial from http://www.displayfusion.com/.

This did the trick and it now shows on all (didnt have to do anything, became like that after the install). It can even create "paths" so it know which monitor the program you open will appear on. Cuts down on time using to manually move stuff each time you start the pc. It does have loads of other options, seems nice, just have to spend time getting to know how it all works. If its all good i might buy it after the free trial ends.


Sidenote:
im using similar to 2 x http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51ACjNgpG8L.jpg (one is connected thru the dvi dual link output and one is connected to the dvi-i output of the grafichscard), then the 19 inch (extra monitor) is connected via a normal hdmi to hdmi.

The resolutions works. 60 hz for 3 monitors and and 144 hz (and gsync) enabled on the main monitor.

work in progress: (meh i really need to sell my sofa (a smaller one) and get a larger desk etc).
Atleast it works, finally "there".
http://s290.photobucket.com/user/rolfyftw/slideshow/new monitors

There is one drawback, which could be "huge" though.
When i play with gsync, i can NOT move my mousecursor outside the game (to browse etc), it simply wont allow me. I have to either ALT + tab or press the "windows button" to get out (but then the game dissapears.. not ideal, i mainly play WoW nowadays). Then when im done doing what i want, i just enter the game and gsync is back.

This isnt a issue if you play a game which you dont care if gsync is not active (you play in window mode or fullscreen window mode), but nice to know nontheless, for those maybe wanting to get this setup.

Maybe there is a fix for this? Would be awesome if it existed. Gonna try figure out.

 

[gamernew3dfan]

After hours and hours i found a solution!

Its not perfect, but it does what i need.


1.
Download and install the free 30 day trial at http://www.actualtools.com/multiplemonitors/


2.
Double leftclick the icon on the bottom right of your windows desktop, named "Actual Multiple Monitors (8.1.4).

On the left side, click on "Hotkeys", then the small minitab named "window": the first box there is named "Ignore Deactivation".

Set a hotkey for it (i choosed "ctrl + scroll lock ".
Apply and ok, then exit.


3.
Make sure you have the internet browserwindows (etc) you want/need on the other monitors now, before you start the game. You cant slide a window from f.ex your leftmost monitor to another one, once you start the game (it will fail gsync and it reverts back to 144 hz only)


4. Start up WoW in fullscreen mode. As you enter the character selection screen, dont click anything, move the mousepointer to a corner, so its almost out of the way. Reason is that should it glitch later on, you will get a copy if you pointer somewhere in the middle of the screen (it only appear for the duration when you press a mouse button, strange).

Now, press you keycombo and /voila, you can now move the cursor outside and back to the game. While keeping gsync and 144 hc active.


Note:
Very rarely it glitches randomly when you press or is doing something on another monitor (all screens suddenly start to flicker, when you return to WoW g-sync is lost. But so far ive had good success just restarting the game and carry on. If i do figure out what does it, i will post it. Have to have pen and paper at the ready and just write down what excactly made gsync "crash" in the future, to find possible way to avoid it, i guess.

In any case, im very happy and this made me able to game in fullscreen while doing things and keeping gsync on. There are two minor issues, the "mouse arrow copy" and finding out the above mentioned issue.

All in all good progress.

/salute and thanks for all the aid everybody so far