How do I use 2 GPU cards with two different resolution displays ? Need help

Eugen157

Senior Contributor Location: Palm Springs area, So.CA Joined: Dec 10, 2012 13:57 Messages: 662 Offline

Solved by

Mar 13, 2015 21:55

Graphics card is GTX 960, I tried to use two monitors set to different resolutions, 4K and HD. Each to display exactly the same.

That works only when the same image resolution is used HD, resulting in a 1/4 size image on the 4K display. Or if the 4K resolution is chosen there is only 1/4 of the image displayed on the HD monitor.

Researching this problem I came across this statement on a MS website:

Sorry. Not possible in Win7 to both (1) "duplicate/mirror/clone" the same output to two monitors, while (2) also allowing independent resolution settings for each monitor. This is only possible with "extend" mode, where each of your two monitors is dealt with separately and uniquely, and the Windows desktop spans across both.

Can this be done with two different GPU cards, the GTX960 for 4K and my old GT 640 for HD. And I do not want to span the image but the same image at full screen on each monitor with each set to its native resolution.

I think some of you have done exactly that.

Any help is appreciated.

Eugene

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at Mar 13. 2015 22:28

73s, WA6JZN ex DL9GC
CYBERLINK PLEASE ADD UHD BLU RAY BURNING SOFTWARE
PD14,
Win10,64bit.CPU i7 6700,16GB ,C= 480 GB SSD ,GPU GTX1060 6GB 1 fan. Plus 3 int, 4 ext HDD's for video etc.LG WH16NS40 reads UHD.
4K 24" ViewSonic monitor.Camera Sony FDR-A

Myk

Senior Member Location: The Hartland of Michigan Joined: Feb 05, 2015 16:09 Messages: 205 Offline

Mar 13, 2015 22:22

I'm thinking you would need 2 separate cards from 2 manufacturers. Not exactly something I would enjoy trying. .
.
Never, under any circumstances, combine a laxative and sleeping pill on the same night.

PowerSpec G310
ASRock Extreme 6 A85X
AMD A10 6800K Quad Core Processor 4.1GHz
16GB DDR3-1600 RAM
EVGA GTX960 Super OC GPU
Windows 7 Pro

Julien Pierre

Contributor Joined: Apr 14, 2011 01:34 Messages: 476 Offline

Mar 14, 2015 03:56

No, having 2 different GPUs won't help you, this is a Windows limitation.
MSI X99A Raider
Intel i7-5820k @ 4.4 GHz
32GB DDR4 RAM
Gigabyte nVidia GTX 960 4GB
480 GB Patriot Ignite SSD (boot)
2 x 480 GB Sandisk Ultra II SSD (striped)
6 x 1 TB Samsung 860 SSD (striped)

2 x LG 32UD59-B 32" 4K
Asus PB238 23" HD (portrait)

SoNic67

Senior Contributor Joined: Sep 27, 2014 14:14 Messages: 1308 Offline

Mar 14, 2015 09:09

Did you try from inside nVidia Control Panel? It has the option to "duplicate" the display.

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at Mar 14. 2015 09:15

Eugen157

Senior Contributor Location: Palm Springs area, So.CA Joined: Dec 10, 2012 13:57 Messages: 662 Offline

Mar 14, 2015 14:36

Yes, I am afraid it will not work.

If using the duplicate command, if the HD display is primary, then the image on the 4K display will only fill 1/4 of the screen while getting a true 4K signal.

With the 4K display being primary, the 4K looks great but the HD display gets only the center 1/4 of the image.

Ironically windows XP can display the same image correctly full screen with monitors of different resolution.

At the moment I use HD on the PC monitor for editing etc, using a mechanical switch, the 960 HDMI output can be connected to the 4K TV and will display the same image at that resolution. Switch over takes about 3 sec. That is how I display my own 4K videos in UHD on the TV.

So the solution to this is a 4K 60P PC monitor using a 4K HDMI signal splitter in order to have audio on both HDMI lines. Using two outputs on the 960 GPU will not work because only the output selected as default can carry audio.

Thanks for all the inputs!

BUMMER

Eugene

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at Mar 14. 2015 14:38

73s, WA6JZN ex DL9GC
CYBERLINK PLEASE ADD UHD BLU RAY BURNING SOFTWARE
PD14,
Win10,64bit.CPU i7 6700,16GB ,C= 480 GB SSD ,GPU GTX1060 6GB 1 fan. Plus 3 int, 4 ext HDD's for video etc.LG WH16NS40 reads UHD.
4K 24" ViewSonic monitor.Camera Sony FDR-A

SoNic67

Senior Contributor Joined: Sep 27, 2014 14:14 Messages: 1308 Offline

Mar 14, 2015 15:44

Amazon has OREI HDS-102 splitter for $30...
But I don't understand your work flow, why the need for cloning the same display.
For this case I would have the desktop extended to two different screens, one with the editing software and another (the TV) with a player (like WMP-HC) to see the results...

Eugen157

Senior Contributor Location: Palm Springs area, So.CA Joined: Dec 10, 2012 13:57 Messages: 662 Offline

Mar 14, 2015 17:12

Thanks.

The editing/HTPC computer set up is in our den, the 70" 4K TV about 6" away, not in a good working position, it is used for video viewing.

And we watch TV there at a distance of 6 to 8 feet in a darkened environment.

I like to be able to have the same image displayed w/o having to switch displays.

The reason I use a mechanical HDMI switch is that there are no, reasonable priced, electronic switches available that are HDMI V2.0. and handle 60P. In fact none at any price last I looked will handle 18Gb.
Same goes for splitters.
The mechanical switch, 2X1 does 4K 60P and cost less than $10.00 and is very sturdy.

Similar problem with 4K 60P HDMI PC monitors. Most have 4K 60P for DP only

Well, we had the same situation not too long ago going from SD to HD. I expect it to be vastly different by the end of the year.

Eugene

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at Mar 14. 2015 18:32

73s, WA6JZN ex DL9GC
CYBERLINK PLEASE ADD UHD BLU RAY BURNING SOFTWARE
PD14,
Win10,64bit.CPU i7 6700,16GB ,C= 480 GB SSD ,GPU GTX1060 6GB 1 fan. Plus 3 int, 4 ext HDD's for video etc.LG WH16NS40 reads UHD.
4K 24" ViewSonic monitor.Camera Sony FDR-A

SoNic67

Senior Contributor Joined: Sep 27, 2014 14:14 Messages: 1308 Offline

Mar 14, 2015 18:44

IMO the mechanical switch is not a good solution because it involves re-negotiating the HDMI encryption (HDCP) every time you switch - that's why takes so long.