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    Alienware 51M Multi Monitor Suggestion/Help

    Discussion in '2015+ Alienware 13 / 15 / 17' started by fu19900514, Mar 18, 2020.

  1. fu19900514

    fu19900514 Notebook Enthusiast

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    So while I am waiting for new laptop to arrive. I am planning to run a Quad 4x monitor setup. It will be a 1 over 3 or 3 over 1. I really don’t want to use multiple cables so it means using dock or adapter/hub.

    Planning for 4x 1980x1080 or 3x 1980x1080 and maybe 1x 1440

    1. HDMI to 4x HDMI or DisplayPort to 4x HDMI/DisplayPort or Thunderbolt/USB-C to HDMI/DisplayPort and why?

    2. If I buy a dock that has DisplayPort can I go through dock then go to monitors? I will most likely connect mouse and keyboard to dock and occasional USB Flash and/or external drives but will not be connected always.
     
    fu19900514, Mar 18, 2020
    #1
  2. alaskajoel

    alaskajoel Notebook Deity

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    A thunderbolt or USB-C dock sounds nice, but the thunderbolt port on the 51m is hard wired to the Intel GPU and not the Nvidia. The Intel GPU cannot drive 4 displays.

    Your only option is a displayport MST hub or daisy chaining displayport monitors. You can get a displayport 1.2 compliant MST hub that will work for up to 4x 1080p60 monitors. Alternatively, you can daisy chain displayport 1.4 monitors for higher resolutions or refresh rates. Displayport 1.4 MST hubs have been announced, but are not widely available yet.

    The only other single cable option is the AGA with an external GPU connecting to all your monitors.
     
    Last edited: Mar 18, 2020
    alaskajoel, Mar 18, 2020
    #2
    etern4l, Fire Tiger and Spartan@HIDevolution like this.
  3. etern4l

    etern4l Notebook Virtuoso

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    BTW Given that connecting the AGA does not disable the internal dGPU, it would follow that the internal dGPU should still be able to drive ADDITIONAL monitors connected to 51M's built-in external display port/HDMI?
     
    etern4l, Mar 19, 2020
    #3