How to configure 3 monitors of a quad monitor setup in surround?

[Dammnyouinternet]

Hey, I was reading through so many triple monitor setup threads, but I'm still kinda lost.

I was aiming for that quad monitor setup, where you have 3 identical 1080p (or even 1440p) gsync monitors for surround gaming and one ultrawide 1440p overhead for movies and games that won't work too well in surround.

Will a single gtx1080 archive this, and how would I set this up? Is it even possible for the 3 identical monitors to work in surround if there is a fourth monitor hooked to the same card?

More important, a friend told me that a single gtx1080 can't connect to 4 monitors and that I should wait for amd's 480 to run 2 of them in crossfire. (Which I don't want to, for several reasons.)

This is going to be a very big and expensive project for me, so I want to be 100% sure not to f**k everything up due to incompatibility.

Also, does anyone know yet how the 1070 performs in surround?

Thank you in advance.

 

[k1114]

4x1080p is 4k so 3x1080p wouldn't be too far behind. You can look up benchmarks for 4k on any good review and determine if you want a 1070 or 1080. But yes you can do 3+1 on a single card since the 600 series.

 

[Dammnyouinternet]

4x1080p is 4k so 3x1080p wouldn't be too far behind. You can look up benchmarks for 4k on any good review and determine if you want a 1070 or 1080. But yes you can do 3+1 on a single card since the 600 series.

Thank you very much for your fast response.

I guess that 3 times 1080p + 1 ultrawide 1440p is the way I want to go.
Do you know, by any chance, if surround would still function on the 3 identical displays? Like, if a game runs in triple monitor surround, will the ultrawide just stay inactive or do I have to disconnect it every time I want to play surround?

One thing I had a look at, was that it is technically just "3k" because the ultrawide won't be used while gaming in surround. The early reviews of the reference 1070 show that it has sufficient power for mild 4k, so I should be good to go, powering 3 1080p displays

 

[k1114]

Nvidia specifically made 3+1 config possible. It works the same as non surround. Any monitor not showing the game can be used for anything else but will alt tab out if you change focus unless you are in windowed or borderless windowed. There are some games which will black out other monitors though. It has to do with how they program full screen. 3k? You are going to set them up portrait? That term goes off horizontal res.

 

[Dammnyouinternet]

Nvidia specifically made 3+1 config possible. It works the same as non surround. Any monitor not showing the game can be used for anything else but will alt tab out if you change focus unless you are in windowed or borderless windowed. There are some games which will black out other monitors though. It has to do with how they program full screen. 3k? You are going to set them up portrait? That term goes off horizontal res.

Yet again, thanks for the reply.

And I was wondering why I could not find specific "3k" benchmarks
Now that my compatibility concerns are gone, there are at least 5 new questions on my mind...

Thanks for your help, I will look around the forum to hopefully find the rest of my answers.

 

[k1114]

Go ahead and ask.

 

[Dammnyouinternet]

Go ahead and ask.

Currently I'm thinking about the ultrawide 1440p screen, because this will be the first screen I buy and the other 3 will follow.
I decided to go with the gtx 1070 for now and will safe up for a possible 1080ti.

As I will rarely get more than 60fps on the 1070 in modern games on a 1440p all maxed out, and my eyes are kinda lazy (can't make a difference between 40 and 60 fps), will g-sync be worth it?

My understanding goes as far as that high refresh rates are useless without enough fps and g-sync works best in sub 60fps scenarios. Is this true? And for the other 3 monitors that will be added, is g-sync any good in surround?

 

[k1114]

If your eyes are lazy and you aren't seeing stuttering on your current pc with vysnc then I see no reason why you need gsync. The whole reason for gsync is stutter and input lag associated with vsync. I wouldn't say gsync works best under 60fps, but that is where it does it's magic to remove that stutter. You are still getting the benefit of increased fps for smoothness with higher fps and still getting the smoothness from gsync. Works the same in surround.