AW 15 & Dual Monitors

Hello,

I am considering picking up an Alienware 15 and I would like the laptop to be able to run dual monitors as an extended desktop with the lid closed while at my desk without the graphics amp. When I want to go portable I just unplug the monitors and open the lid. Is this possible? I have been trying to dig up this information with no luck.

TIA!

 

Yes. You have an HDMI port and mini DP port on the back of the laptop to use.

 

Thanks for the reply,
Is there a chance the laptop can run two external monitors as well as it own at the same time?

 

Yes. I don't see why it couldn't.

 

The intel IGP powers the outputs but is capable of the internal (eDP) + DP + HDMI all at the same time, you just can't use the nvidia drivers to stretch full screen games across all three.

 

Okay so now I'm confused. You say the Intel processor controls the display port and HDMI so does that mean the nVidia card cannot play games out one of the external ports....is it limited to the laptop screen only?

 

Despite the iGPU powering 3 displays, the dGPU (Nvidia GPU in this case) will be doing the legwork for the displays. This is how Optimus, switchable graphics, works.
However, you are at the mercy of the iGPU drivers for multi-monitor gaming.

 

Yes the IGP controls the internal screen too, the nvidia chip is not hooked up to any displays.

 

So I understand this. The Intel chip renders an image to all active external and internal displays....the nVidia chip will render the 3D image and hand that off to the Intel chip to be displayed. But...does this mean that I can choose which display to play the game on? I understand that I will not be able to game on several monitors at once, but can i choose the display i want for the 3D image and have 2D running on the others?

I am out of touch with PCs as I haven't built a new one in 7 years. I have never had a gaming laptop so I am trying to understand all of this before pull the trigger.
I want to use my big monitors when the laptop is at the desk and the internal screen when I go mobile. I am still trying to decide between the 15/17 and the GTX970 or 980.

Thanks a bunch!

 

I think you can choose which monitor is the gaming monitor and which aren't.

 

It will output the game to your primary display (selectable in windows) unless the game has options to choose another.

 

Ok that is what I figured. Thanks a bunch for clearimg that up guys.

 

I failed to do that with AW13. What the OP asked was my setup using 2 years old HP notebook (HDMI and VGA connectors). I just got new AW13 (HDMI and mini DP). I had two notebooks side by side and was switching the monitors between them to compare. Both run Win 8.1, and I am very experienced user. Whichever multi monitor option I selected from the AW13 Win 8.1 would recognize both monitors correctly (models, resolutions), but the second external monitor was always black (no sync). I eventually gave up, as I do not need a second monitor anymore, I was trying to do this only out of curiosity. Unfortunatelly I was unable to determine where the problem was with the AW13. Not seeking help, I just thought I mention my experience here. Maybe there is something unique in AW13, maybe I missed something obvious, not sure.

 

That's exactly it. The nVidia card will render the games and the iGPU will output the image through the ports.

 

Dear Alienware-L_Porras,

I've just found this forum which is the only one I was able to find that discuss this question: connecting multiple displays to Alienware laptops. I'm considering to buy a new generation of the Alienware laptop: the 15 R2. The discussion above talks about the previous model which has HDMI and miniDP-1.2 ports to connect external displays. The new model (R2) has HDMI and USB Type-C ports. I wonder if that's possible to connect 3 external monitors Dell U2515H (2560x1440 each) to this Alienware 15 R2 laptop? One can go from the HDMI port for sure. But the other two - can they be daisy chained from the USB Type-C port? The specs say this port supports Thunderbolt 3 technology. Does it mean it can also carry DisplayPort 1.2 signal? If yes, then I guess it can support two 2560x1440 monitors in daisy chain, right? If the answer to this question is yes again (hopefully ), then what graphics card will be used while the displays are connected via the USB Type-C port - the dedicated NVIDIA or the integrated Intel HD? As far as I understand the USB Type-C port is part of the motherboard and not the graphics cards, so I suspect when you connect external displays to the USB Type-C port, the video signal will be handled by the motherboard graphics (integrated Intel) and not by the dedicated NVIDIA. Correct? I actually have a stocks trading application which uses multiple displays by detaching windows so you can place a separate window on a dedicated display. Based on your previous replies I understand there could be an issue to do this.

Thanks in advance!