Number of cards needed.

[topgun505]

Up until now I have strictly had a single display at home. I'm running higher-end flight simulations and have plans to bump up to three monitors. I've been eyeing some GTX 970 4GB cards.

My question is. How many cards would I need in order to run three displays at high def (not 4k) resolution?

In the card specifications it says it supports up to 4096x2160 res (for digital output) . Is windows going to see this as a single 1920x1080 spread across 3 monitors? Or is it considered 1920x1080 x 3 so 5760x3240 ? If the latter, then I assume this would require 2 cards? If the former, would a single 4 GB card be sufficient (assuming it has at least 3 digital output ports on the card)? If two cards are required, what should I look for in regards to PCI slots on the motherboard (as far as bandwidth). And, lastly, if two cards are required ... what approximate power supply would I be looking at? Initially I was thinking 850w but not sure if that'd be enough with 2 cards.

 

[Ryan_78]

It's still at 1080p. It will see it as 5760x1080p. A single 970 should drive 2 fine

 

[Epicness937]

a single 970 will run two fine if you add a third you maybe will need a second one depending on what all your doing with 3 monitors

a 2nd idea get a r9 390x

 

[topgun505]

Yes, it will be a 3 monitor rig. If I need two cards to drive them, then I probably won't spring for a top of the line video card (i.e. something costing $400+).

So for doing SLI (or whatever is the equivalent for Radeon), what do I need to pay attention to for PCI slot bandwidth on the motherboard (need to figure out what system board will work best)?

 

[Ryan_78]

Motherboards usually run both in 8x speed. It also depends on what CPU you have. Like the 5930k has 40 PCIE lanes while the 5820k only has 28. If you have multiple lanes, you could run more cards at higher bandwidths. SLI or crossfire boards usually supports 2 8x. It depends on the CPU and board. Look for boards supporting crossfire or SLI. And also have a high quality power supply

 

[topgun505]

There have been a couple (but few and far between, and expensive) boards that support 2 cards at full 16x. Is there a huge advantage to that (that would justify the expense) ... or is it generally not worth it? For 2 cards (let's say NVidia 970s SLI) ... is 850 watt psu sufficient or more leaning to a 1000 watt at that point?

 

[SoNic67]

SLI is a pain in the arse... Your simulator might not even work in SLI.
On the other hand one 970 might be sufficient for what you have, that sim might not even support resolutions that high anyway (you didn't which one it is).

 

[topgun505]

DCS. Digital Combat Simulations.