So right now my current set up is a 24" ACD, a Dell u2311h, and some 1080p TV running off a 5870. I have heard that whenever you add another monitor, in cuts the amount of video RAM your GPU uses for each monitor. And because of this, I only plug in the TV cable when I want to watch a movie or need to show something on the TV.
I am wanting another Dell u2311h and will need another GPU. I am looking into the 5770 because it is only $250. I do a lot of Maya work and the added screen would be extremely helpful.
Whenever I am on Maya, the viewport is always on the 24" ACD, and I have all my other windows spread out across the u2311h. The main windows I will have open on the u2311h are nothing GPU intensive such as the outliner, hypershade, UV texture editor, light linking, render view, and a few others.
And because I heard that when you have multiple monitors running off 1 GPU the video RAM is cut in half or thirds, I would like to have the two u2311h's running on the 5770 to keep the 5870 just for the viewport.
I am wondering if this will cause any problems. Will Maya get confused by having some windows running on monitors from the 5770 and the viewport on the 5870? Would going from 2 monitors on the 5870 to 1 on the 5870 provide any performance increase? Would having 3 monitors (u2311h X 2 & TV) on the 5770 for the non-intensive windows cause any problems?
Right now I just do not want to have any performance hits by adding another monitor. So if I would have some performance hit, what would be the ideal setup for Maya with a 5870, 5770, ACD, 2X u2311h, and a TV?
Lastly, I am currently under the impression that I will need a small external power supply to do this. Both optical drive slots are filled and I am perfectly fine having an external power supply on top of the Pro and a wire running into the pro from the top PCIe slot. What power supply would you recommend?
Thanks in advance for the help!
I am wanting another Dell u2311h and will need another GPU. I am looking into the 5770 because it is only $250. I do a lot of Maya work and the added screen would be extremely helpful.
Whenever I am on Maya, the viewport is always on the 24" ACD, and I have all my other windows spread out across the u2311h. The main windows I will have open on the u2311h are nothing GPU intensive such as the outliner, hypershade, UV texture editor, light linking, render view, and a few others.
And because I heard that when you have multiple monitors running off 1 GPU the video RAM is cut in half or thirds, I would like to have the two u2311h's running on the 5770 to keep the 5870 just for the viewport.
I am wondering if this will cause any problems. Will Maya get confused by having some windows running on monitors from the 5770 and the viewport on the 5870? Would going from 2 monitors on the 5870 to 1 on the 5870 provide any performance increase? Would having 3 monitors (u2311h X 2 & TV) on the 5770 for the non-intensive windows cause any problems?
Right now I just do not want to have any performance hits by adding another monitor. So if I would have some performance hit, what would be the ideal setup for Maya with a 5870, 5770, ACD, 2X u2311h, and a TV?
Lastly, I am currently under the impression that I will need a small external power supply to do this. Both optical drive slots are filled and I am perfectly fine having an external power supply on top of the Pro and a wire running into the pro from the top PCIe slot. What power supply would you recommend?
Thanks in advance for the help!
