# Upgrade to a triple 4K monitor



## Renald (Apr 30, 2015)

Hey guys, thanks in advance for  the time you'll spend here 


My need is to upgrade my triple screen configuration, and mainly my central monitor (the other two are optional).

I have some questions about  the limitation of my actual rig, which is custom made : i7 860 + HD 6950 3G
I'm not planning onto changing my CPU, since it still does the job (I have a i7 3770 in stock if I want to change). Question is : will my 6950 be able to run this resolution ?
In my time there were limitations on triple screen, and I wonder if I can mix this kind of resolutions (full HD + 4K)? 
Also, my 6950 seems to work on DP 1.2 : http://forums.amd.com/game/messageview.cfm?catid=440&threadid=174727 but is there any considerations about drivers problems with multiple resolution, etc.
I'm using different resolutions every day, but 4K seems to be still unpredictable while you use it.

Is there any considerations to take for a 4K setup ? I'm not playing "fat games" but, if Fidji is interesting, I'll probably upgrade later.


Thank you in advance for your advices !

PS : i've spotted this screen : Samsung 28" LED - U28D590D 
Do I "need" to have an IPS screen, or TN is still good enough considering my limited space (max 27-28") ?


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## wolar (Apr 30, 2015)

Doesn't matter how big the screen is , ips will always be better for almost every person (except "competitive" gamers who can feel the <10ms difference)
for your setup i really dont know anything more , but in my opinion triple monitor is waste , i can't play any game good when i play at more than 24in, but thats just me


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## qubit (Apr 30, 2015)

I don't know whether your 6950 actually supports 4K, but if it does it's unfortunately too old and therefore too slow to give you decent framerates with it. You have to replace it if you want to avoid a slide show. Note that this card can only have 2GB or 4GB RAM, not 3GB as in your post. Most likely yours is 2GB, which is not enough for 4K 3D gaming.

I don't know the actual performance difference between those two CPUs, but I'd hazard that the 3770K would give you a useful performance boost. This is because the one you're using is pre Sandy Bridge which had a fair amount of performance improvement over yours. The 3770K has incremental IPC performance improvements (but not overclockability) over SB, hence making for a useful performance boost.

www.techpowerup.com/reviews/HIS/Radeon_HD_6950


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## INSTG8R (Apr 30, 2015)

A 6950 would have issues with running one 4K screen with any decent FPS.


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## bpgt64 (Apr 30, 2015)

INSTG8R said:


> A 6950 would have issues with running one 4K screen with any decent FPS.



Ehh not true.  It supports DP 1.2, and it probably has enough juice to run most games at 4k with no AA(which you don't need) on medium-high settings at 60 fps.  Will it max out 4k? no.

I have a Dell Up2715Q, a Samsung UD590D, and a Acer Xb280HK.  Avoid the Dell Up2414 and the Up3214q...anything using MST..avoid like it's satan's taint.   SST is where it is at...so much easyier, and stable.  I am actually getting ready to sell the Dell and the Samsung though, the Acer..while not as good a quality as the IPS on the Dell, it has Gsync, and Gsync at 4k is vvverry nice.


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## ZenZimZaliben (Apr 30, 2015)

bpgt64 said:


> Ehh not true.  It supports DP 1.2, and it probably has enough juice to run most games at 4k with no AA(which you don't need) on medium-high settings at 60 fps.  Will it max out 4k? no.



More like low-medium settings for more modern games and even then I think it will struggle.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/MSI/HD_6950_Twin_Frozr_III/12.html


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## bubbleawsome (Apr 30, 2015)

Yeah, a 6950 is not enough for 4k except on lows. He would want a 290 or 970/980 for one 4k screen, with a 280x or 780/ti as a minimum. To even consider triple 4k you need something crazy like an 8GB 290x triple cf or a TITAN class card. You're going to shoot past 4GB VRAM very quick.


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## st2000 (May 1, 2015)

qubit said:


> The 3770K has incremental IPC performance improvements (but not overclockability)


according to info i searched 3770k has no benefits vs 3770 cause of bubblegum between chip and it's cover(you cant OC more than 4.3-4.4Ghz(both cpus, you can OC nonK intel cpus but not that much as K) if you dont replace intel's "revolutionary solution" to liquid metal  and void guarantee)


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## 15th Warlock (May 1, 2015)

Triple 4K setup on a single 6950? It should be to drive all three screens for 2D apps without any problems.

As far as gaming, you'll need to lower all details on most games to be able to run them on a 4K single monitor, but you didn't even mention gaming in your post, so I don't think that's even an issue for you


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## bpgt64 (May 1, 2015)

Ehh sorry, for some reason I thought the 6950 and 7950 were very similar, figured they wouldn't have a problem with most games on med at 4k.  I was wayyy off base.  A single R9 290, or 970/980 definitly, a single 4k monitor, 3 ..no.


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## OneMoar (May 1, 2015)

bpgt64 said:


> Ehh sorry, for some reason I thought the 6950 and 7950 were very similar, figured they wouldn't have a problem with most games on med at 4k.  I was wayyy off base.  A single R9 290, or 970/980 definitly, a single 4k monitor, 3 ..no.


4K with a single gpu is simply not feasible yet even a 980 is gonna have a tough time with recent titles


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## Iceni (May 1, 2015)

I'd buy a GTX 970 or GTX 980. And run with DSR on. It'll let you play at 4K res on a single 1080p screen. And you'll still have enough power to be able to run 5760x1080 in games you want to triple monitor on with all the detail pretty high. 

My current setup is a GTX970 and triple monitors. And it'll play FC4 at 5760x1080. Granted it needs some eye candy turning off but the game is still pretty and still playable. Trying to do the same thing on 3x 4K monitors would be impossible.

If you desperately need a monitor upgrade and you want the bigger resolution then do it, but if your monitors are fine matched and working then you can have the GPU upgrade for less than the cost of one of those monitors.

http://www.ldlc.com/fiche/PB00174316.html

http://www.ldlc.com/fiche/PB00176098.html


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## Aquinus (May 1, 2015)

4K alone has trouble running on a single GPU and you're talking about running 3 displays? Just getting one 4k display working well is a trick in and of itself, so maybe you should start there because to do 3x4k you're talking about thousands of dollars of hardware just to probably run it on medium graphics with plenty of bugs to boot, I'm sure. It's not exactly feasible, so I would recommending sticking with one for the time being.


bubbleawsome said:


> Yeah, a 6950 is not enough for 4k except on lows. He would want a 290 or 970/980 for one 4k screen, with a 280x or 780/ti as a minimum. To even consider triple 4k you need something crazy like an 8GB 290x triple cf or a TITAN class card. You're going to shoot past 4GB VRAM very quick.


This. Very quickly you'll find that your GPU's memory is full and performance will plummet. This happens on my 6870s in CFX even with more recent titles at 1080p at full graphics.


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## Renald (May 1, 2015)

Thanks for your replies.

First, I forgot to mention that it's not a "gamer" setup. I'm not searching for a rig that can run GTA V on a Triple 4K  setup. I only play in my main screen ; I tried triple screen playing, but I didn't liked that. The test was with Crysis 2 running on full details at 21-23 FPS.
Anyway, I think  I'll  pass until i get a brand new card, which  is not now cause of HBM coming on both AMD and nVidia cards (Pascal for nVidia) to get a triple screen setup.
I don't want to go under 30FPS in my game even for my work.


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