Any way to change display order on Nvidia cards?

Zarathustra[H]

Extremely [H]
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Oct 29, 2000
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Hey all,

I have two 980ti's in SLI, and three monitors. I use only one of my monitors for games, the other two are in portrait mode on either side of the center screen, like this:

19039313541_c888a20f99_b.jpg


If I run them in separate GPU mode, I can connect my main screen (HDMI2 only) to the primary GPU and connect my side screens to the secondary GPU and everything works the way I want it to.

On the other hand, once I enable SLI I am forced to connect all the screens to the same GPU (or the ones on the secondary GPU are disabled.

19284867861_e0e064f990_o.jpg


The problem with this is that the HDMI2 port (the only port that works with my main screen) is seemingly last in the default display order.

What this means is, all boot information, and BIOS setup screens wind up on one of the side monitors... rotated 90 degrees...

I have spent way more time than I'd like with my head sideways plodding through BIOS options.

Is there any way to force the video card to use my HDMI2 port as the primary, so all pre-OS display info is on my center screen (in the correct orientation)?

Much obliged,
Matt
 
The behavior you speak of is dictated by the video BIOS. Thats what would have to change.

Looked into modded BIOS for your cards yet? I'm not sure if they tinker in this regard or not, I know they're mainly focused on voltage, clocks, and the like.
 
The behavior you speak of is dictated by the video BIOS. Thats what would have to change.

Looked into modded BIOS for your cards yet? I'm not sure if they tinker in this regard or not, I know they're mainly focused on voltage, clocks, and the like.

I am curious about aftermarket firmware, but I don't know much about it.

Can you recommend a good place to read up?
 
Afaik you can't change that with BIOS editing, at least not easily. The way the display order works is usually DVI -> HDMI -> Displayport. However, you can select from the BIOS which GPU is initialized first. That might fix your issue.
 
I don't know the answer to your question, but your setup looks pretty slick.
 
That is odd. In my case HDMI has always gotten the priority on boot with every NVIDIA card I've owned that has come with an HDMI output. If I have my TV plugged in along with my monitor to DP all the BIOS and boot information is displayed on the TV.
 
Afaik you can't change that with BIOS editing, at least not easily. The way the display order works is usually DVI -> HDMI -> Displayport. However, you can select from the BIOS which GPU is initialized first. That might fix your issue.

On these cards it appears to be DVI -> DisplayPort -> HDMI.

I tried hooking up the side monitors via displayport to DVI passive adapters, and they still initialized before the main screen on HDMI.

Selecting which GPU is initialized first would be great, but unfortunately, as soon as I enable SLI in the Nvidia drivers, it disables all monitors hooked up to the secondary GPU, and in order to get them back again, I have to plug them into GPU one, and then the problem returns.
 
I don't know the answer to your question, but your setup looks pretty slick.

Thank you :)

I just wish the dual 980ti's felt like they were beefy enough to truly keep up with 4k :p

I tested the opening scene from Metro 2033 last night (a 2010 title!) and averaged about 45fps. :(

Luckily enough they seem to handle the two titles I play most pretty well, Red Orchestra 2: Heroes of Stalingrad and Civilization V.
 
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Yeah I ran into this issue with my 970 and according to Jacob an EVGA rep on the EVGA forums, technically to change this it has to be done with a bios update. I have one 2001FP as a secondary monitor and moved my main monitor to be on a DP but all the bios messages don't show up anymore. To see them I have to turn on my 2001FP that is in portrait mod which sucks cause of the orientation.

Do any of the nvidia bios editors allow you to change those settings or are they just limited to adjusting clocks and voltages? I haven't actually looked at any of them.
 
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I always wonder why the GPU bios doesn't let you press buttons during post to enter and configure it.

I have other add-on boards that do (primarily ethernet adapters and storage controllers) so why not video cards?
 
Zarathustra[H];1041701151 said:
Thank you :)

I just wish the dual 980ti's felt like they were beefy enough to truly keep up with 4k :p

I tested the opening scene from Metro 2033 last night (a 2010 title!) and averaged about 45fps. :(

Luckily enough they seem to handle the two titles I play most pretty well, Red Orchestra 2: Heroes of Stalingrad and Civilization V.

I agree. It's one of the big reasons I'm running 1440p. I also don't feel we've hit the sweet spot for 4K monitors yet, though I suspect there will be something available next spring. For me, that monitor sweet spot is:

  • 27" or 31"
  • IPS
  • 120Hz refresh
  • $500

I too run a triple-headed setup (3 x 27" 1440ps), and while the 980Ti SLI seems to be a bit overkill, it does allow me to keep the knob turned all the way to the right (so far). Next year will be fun.
 
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I agree. It's one of the big reasons I'm running 1440p. I also don't feel we've hit the sweet spot for 4K monitors yet, though I suspect there will be something available next spring. For me, that monitor sweet spot is:

  • 27" or 31"
  • IPS
  • 120Hz refresh
  • $500

I too run a triple-headed setup (3 x 27" 1440ps), and while the 980Ti SLI seems to be a bit overkill, it does allow me to keep the knob turned all the way to the right (so far). Next year will be fun.


Yeah, I would have waited to go 4k as well, but I didn't have a choice, my 30" 2560x1600 dell was going, and I didn't want to spend money on another one at this point.

I mostly agree with your assessment above, except I think the sweet spot for 4k is 40". I got my 48, as I found an amazing deal, but ideally I would have gone slightly smaller.

Smaller than 40" and the dpi winds up being too low IMHO. Sure you can scale it, but whats the point in upping the resolution, just to scale it down again? :p
 
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