Thoughts on a triple-monitor setup?

NathanZachary · Moderator Joined: 30 Jan 2007 Posts: 2605

Hello,

I'm considering grabbing 3x of these monitors (2560x1440@165Hz over DP 1.4):
https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/dell-27-gaming-monitor-s2721dgf/apd/210-axeh/monitors-monitor-accessories

I would also like to have an AMD-based GPU and am open to suggestions. I just took a quick look and saw that the least expensive cards with 3xDP-1.4 outputs were ~$900 USD which seems steep.

Thanks for the help!

Cheers,
Nathan Zachary

EDIT: I should mention that I'm not really thinking about doing much gaming other than old console emulation. Primarily just interested in the accurate colour representations, performance, and screen real estate.

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“Truth, like infinity, is to be forever approached but never reached.” --Jean Ayres (1972)
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pa4wdh · l33t Joined: 16 Dec 2005 Posts: 815

There are two thoughts i like to share:
As you've seen GPU availability and prices are ridiculous right now. If you can, wait until prices are going down again.

For the displays, if you care about accurate color representation i can highly recommend NEC displays. They have more options to tweak the color representation than i've ever seen on a monitor. They are more expensive though, my 23" was about double the price of other similar sized monitors. Since 23" isn't that expensive in the first place (and i needed only one

) that didn't really matter, it might be different for your setup.
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radio_flyer · Posted: Tue Aug 31, 2021 5:27 am Post subject:

I'm running three 4K 60Hz DP displays (total 11520 x 2160 desktop) with no problem on gentoo/KDE using an AMD Radeon Pro W5500. I used to have a Radeon Pro WX 5100 that also worked fine with my 4K monitors. Any of the AMD Radeon Pro workstation cards should work fine with your 3 monitors and the open source AMDGPU driver, if your workload--like mine--is primarily CADD and graphics, not gaming. However, be sure the GDDR memory is fast enough to handle 165Hz if you intend to run at that rate. Unfortunately, the COVID / Crypto / Semiconductor shortage seems to be keeping all the higher-end video card prices in the outrageous zone.

szatox · Advocate Joined: 27 Aug 2013 Posts: 3150

If all you really care for in a graphic card is the number of outputs, why not just take a one 4k display instead of 3 smaller?
Or even a 4k + regular for a 2 display setup.
Pretty much any video device could handle 2 outputs at the same time, so it should do. As a bonus, with a big, single display you don't get that annoying gap in the middle of your work area, which I personally consider a solid convenience/quality of life feature.

NeddySeagoon · Posted: Tue Aug 31, 2021 12:22 pm Post subject:

NathanZachary,

That's doing it wrong.

Try a Dell P4317Q or its up to date replacement. You only need one DP output. :)
The 43 means 43" diagonal. There is no space on my desk for a second monitor, never mind a third.

I did need to wall mount it to get the top of the screen low enough to be comfortable.
I didn't pay Dell price either. It was new in a sale for 50% of what Dell were asking.
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pietinger · Posted: Tue Aug 31, 2021 12:54 pm Post subject:

I have also a 43" (Acer) monitor and I can tell you: After some weeks working with it you may think "If it would be a little bigger it wouldn't harm" ... ;-)

NeddySeagoon · Posted: Tue Aug 31, 2021 1:27 pm Post subject:

pietinger,

I lose a couple of rows of pixels at all the edges because of the viewing angle.
I need to move my head to see them. Its only noticeable on the console.
If the screen were bigger I would lose more.

Of course, a curved (in both axis) screen may help that but then your head needs to be fixed in the 'design eye' position, to borrw a phrase from the avionics industry.

I chose the Dell as I wanted the 'pixel perfect' guarantee. I Used to work on avionics displays and know from seeing hundreds, that you can't unsee a dead dead pixel once you notice it.
So I know that a a dead pixel is not something I could live with.

I did need that 'pixel perfect' guarantee. That's couple of insects, not failed pixels, as they moved about for a few days.
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NeddySeagoon

Computer users fall into two groups:-
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NathanZachary · Moderator Joined: 30 Jan 2007 Posts: 2605

Thanks to everyone for the feedback so far, and there are some points that I didn't consider. I thought that application-level support for 4K might still be shoddy, but it sounds like that's not the case. So, if there aren't any problems with a triple-4K setup, I might look at these:
https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/dell-27-4k-uhd-monitor-s2721qs/apd/210-axlg/monitors-monitor-accessories

As I'm not doing any "advanced" gaming (meaning, only running old console emulators like SNES9x), 60Hz should be just fine.

Even though that monitor only has a DP1.2 port, I believe that it still should be sufficient.

I don't think that a single large screen will work for my needs, but I'm open to further suggestions.

Thanks again!

Cheers,
Nathan Zachary
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“Truth, like infinity, is to be forever approached but never reached.” --Jean Ayres (1972)
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NeddySeagoon · Posted: Tue Aug 31, 2021 3:17 pm Post subject:

NathanZachary,

There are two schools of thought on 4k displays.

One, like mine, has a large display with standard size pixels. Everything just works.

The other, is a standard size display with smaller pixels. There used to be some faffing about to make icons and text big enough to read. I don't know how that is today.

I can only just see the standard size pixels, so I don't need a higher pixel density.
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Regards,

NeddySeagoon

Computer users fall into two groups:-
those that do backups
those that have never had a hard drive fail.

radio_flyer · Posted: Tue Aug 31, 2021 6:51 pm Post subject:

I use three independent displays because I do a lot of software/hardware engineering work. For example, it's nice to have a schematic open on one screen, the corresponding PCB layout happening on the second, and a browser on the third for displaying datasheets etc. I've been running multiple display setups like this for many years.

When I first got the 4K monitors a few years back the experience was a bit rough around the edges due to font scaling, tiny default icon sizes, and a tendency for the screens to swap around on the desktop at times. Almost all of those Hi-DPI and multi-monitor issues have now been fixed on the major desktops (I use KDE). The open-source AMDGPU drivers have been very stable for me, and the OpenGL experience is light-years ahead of where it was a decade ago. Vulkan and Wayland seem to be coming along nicely also, although they're not my defaults yet. There are some toolkits (FLTK for example) where the stable version is still stuck at low-res, but the major toolkits (Qt, Gnome, etc.) now support Hi-DPI displays so most applications do as well.

szatox · Advocate Joined: 27 Aug 2013 Posts: 3150

NathanZachary · Moderator Joined: 30 Jan 2007 Posts: 2605

Thank you, radio_flyer, for letting me know about the current state of 4K. I don't use any DE, just OpenBox as my WM. I'll have to do some reading to see if I the jump to 4K might be worth it. Ultimately, it looks like I need to decide whether the increased resolution of 4K panels or the high refresh rate of 2K panels is more important to me. Either way will be an improvement over my current setup.

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“Truth, like infinity, is to be forever approached but never reached.” --Jean Ayres (1972)
---avatar cropped from =AimanStudio---

pa4wdh · l33t Joined: 16 Dec 2005 Posts: 815

I once had a 43" 4K monitor ... and i can not recommend it. The screen area is nice of course, but especially the height of the monitor made it less usable, there is just a part of the screen that's comfortable to use. I changed it for a 34" ultra-wide curved screen and while it effectively has less pixels it's much more usable and more comfortable to use. For me the key is that everything is on the same height, with a 43" 16:9 monitor you'll also have to look up/down to see the whole screen.
_________________
The gentoo way of bringing peace to the world:
USE="-war" emerge --newuse @world

My shared code repository: https://code.pa4wdh.nl.eu.org
Music, Free as in Freedom: https://www.jamendo.com

NeddySeagoon · Posted: Wed Sep 01, 2021 7:14 am Post subject:

NathanZachary,

Your eyes can't do 60Hz, which is why interlaced TV on a CRT works.
Even though only about half a line on a CRT is actually lit at a time, your eyes do the integration so it appears to be a complete picture.

It also depends on which part of your eye you look at the screen with. The above in true for the central part.
Peripheral vision is much more sensitive to change/movement but we don't use that for looking at displays.
Hence 'interlace flicker' for people in the same room as a CRT TV but not really watching it.

I almost agree with pa4wdh about the usability of a 43" screen. To get it comfortable all over requires careful mounting and any taller would be uncomfortable.
Hence my wall mount, rather than the stand.
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Regards,

NeddySeagoon

Computer users fall into two groups:-
those that do backups
those that have never had a hard drive fail.

Zucca · Posted: Wed Sep 01, 2021 1:36 pm Post subject:

NathanZachary · Moderator Joined: 30 Jan 2007 Posts: 2605

My preference would be the 4K monitor, but it seems like there are still numerous scaling problems with Linux. I don't mind sacrificing the screen resolution and going for the 2K gaming monitors, especially seeing as they have 98% DCI-P3 colour coverage and 165Hz refresh rates (although I don't know how much the higher refresh really matters in application). Any thoughts on the DCI-P3 colour coverage or the refresh rates (especially if not doing any intensive gaming)?

Thanks again to all who have given their feedback!
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“Truth, like infinity, is to be forever approached but never reached.” --Jean Ayres (1972)
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NeddySeagoon · Posted: Wed Sep 01, 2021 3:50 pm Post subject:

NathanZachary,

You need to audition a few displays.
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Regards,

NeddySeagoon

Computer users fall into two groups:-
those that do backups
those that have never had a hard drive fail.

NathanZachary · Moderator Joined: 30 Jan 2007 Posts: 2605

I would love to, but that's not an option for me, unfortunately.
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“Truth, like infinity, is to be forever approached but never reached.” --Jean Ayres (1972)
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Tom_ · Guru Joined: 20 May 2004 Posts: 444 Location: France

I wanted to buy two 4k screens and new AMD gpu about a year ago. I postponed it for personal reasons and now it's too late : GPU prices have skyrocketed!

I'm thinking about buying a second 1080p screen (so I could keep the same gpu) and buy a new setup in 1/2 years when prices go back to normal, if they do.

@NathanZachary, have you already bought your new screen(s) and gpu ? If you have, what have you gone for ?

NathanZachary · Moderator Joined: 30 Jan 2007 Posts: 2605

Hi Tom_,

Yes, I finished my new workstation. I ended up buying the XFX Speedster QICK319 AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT and 3x Dell S2721DGF 27" QHD monitors. It's working well for my needs.

Cheers,
Nathan Zachary
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“Truth, like infinity, is to be forever approached but never reached.” --Jean Ayres (1972)
---avatar cropped from =AimanStudio---