Inspiring

Question

Graphics card for dual monitor PC -- recommendations please

Forum|Forum|8 years ago
October 22, 2017
2 replies
1308 views

Hi...

I am going to build a new Windows 10 PC for LR and PS, including an i7-7700K processor, a couple of SSD drives, etc.

I currently use two monitors--NEC PA272W (primary) and HP LP2065 (secondary). My current system has two graphics cards, and I calibrate and profile the NEC using the NEC SpectraViewII system.

Video card questions:

1) Are there specific graphics cards you (the experts here) can recommend for LR & PS? I know I will need at least 2GB of video memory, 4GB perhaps better. Would you recommend two cards, one for each monitor, or one card that will run two monitors? Specific brands and models would be most appreciated.

2) If I run both monitors off of one card, can both be independently calibrated? I have read differing articles--some say yes, some say no. Or, should I consider two video cards to assure that each monitor gets the correct profile loaded?

Thank you for any help with this.

John

This topic has been closed for replies.

Ian Lyons

Community Expert

John,

While not yet listing Lr classic this linked the official Adobe answer to your questions Adobe Lightroom GPU Troubleshooting and FAQ Scroll to near bottom for dual graphics cards. As I mentioned above, Lr very little work was done to dual display mode. So, any comments made in linked document will apply

John BlausteinAuthor

Inspiring

Ian,

That FAQ page is VERY helpful. Thank you. (I did a lot of searching before posting, but didn't see that page.)

In particular, I noted that the FAQ said this:

"Lightroom CC/Lightroom 6 currently doesn't take advantage of more than one graphics processor. Using two graphics cards does not enhance Lightroom's performance.

"Multiple graphics cards with conflicting drivers can cause problems with graphics processor accelerated features in Lightroom.

"For best results, connect two (or more) monitors into one graphics card."

I think that answers my question about one card or two! In my current system, I have two cards, but they are very similar and use the same Radeon driver. For this new system, I'll stick with one card for both monitors and only calibrate the primary one.

John

Ian Lyons

Community Expert

Hi John, I trust you are still in fine fettle.

With regard to graphics cards I'm not sure that spending high $'s on bleeding edge Graphics Cards (single or dual) is going to help much at this time. Truth is, dual display code has received very little attention for a good while now. As such, it doesn't have much, if any, GPU optimised code. I expect this will improve sooner rather than later, but it's still aways off. In meantime, I've listed the current specs for Lightroom Classic below.

Graphics processor acceleration requirements
- AMD: Radeon GPU with DirectX 12 or OpenGL 3.3 support.
- Intel: Skylake or newer GPU with DirectX 12 support.
- NVIDIA: GPU with DirectX 12 or OpenGL 3.3 support.
- OpenGL 3.3 and DirectX 10-capable video adapter for GPU-related functionality.
- 1 GB of Video RAM (VRAM). 2 GB of dedicated VRAM (4 GB recommended) for large, high-resolution monitors, such as 4K and 5K resolution monitors.

I suspect above might not be exactly what you hoped for, but it is very much where we are at present.

John BlausteinAuthor

Inspiring

Hi Ian,

Yes, all is good here. Thanks. I hope you are well too.

I'm aware of the LR hardware requirements and I realize I don't need the "top of the line" when it comes to graphics cards. I was hoping for some specific recommendations from people familiar with the current choices. Also, I'm hoping someone can answer the one card versus two card question.

John

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