[GTALUG] PC build recommendation

[Lennart Sorensen]

On Tue, Feb 27, 2018 at 04:08:36PM -0500, Alex Volkov via talk wrote:
> I mean a some sort of a splitter driving two monitors.
> From reading replies and doing a bit of research, It looks like DisplayPort
> has the feature of carrying several video streams and supports that kind of
> splitting but not HDMI; Even HDMI 2.0 seems to have the capability of
> carrying 2 channels per physical port it's bandwidth is limited to 18Gbps
> whereas DP bandwidth is 32Gbps.

Yes DisplayPort MST hubs exist such as:
https://www.tripplite.com/2-port-displayport-1.2-dvi-multi-stream-transport-mst-hub-1920-1080-1080p~B156002DVIV2

Even tripple adapters:
https://www.startech.com/ca/AV/Displayport-Converters/Triple-Head-DisplayPort-Multi-Monitor-MST-Hub~MSTDP123DP
I suspect that one needs active adapters to convert DP to VGA/DVI/HDMI,
while a single DP+ port on the motherboard can use passive adapters
instead.  Most boards seem to have DP+ ports these days, although I am
sure exceptions exist.

> I just need HDMI to DVI converters for some rather old 1080p monitors that
> are still working perfectly fine.

Yes those are simple at least.

> The board Asrock AB350 mini ITX, or more precisely Ryzen 2400G supports HDMI
> 2.0, so in this configuration it should be possible to drive two 4K screens
> at 60Hz.
> 
> https://smallformfactor.net/forum/threads/raven-ridge-hdmi-2-0-compatibility-1st-gen-am4-motherboard-test-request-megathread.6709/page-3#post-86831
> 
> I wonder if it's possible to connect more than two screens with two HDMI
> ports? (This question is more theoretical than anything else).
> 
> Lennart mentioned MSI B350I ITX motherboard that has DP and HDMI. I looked
> at it for a bit, compared to ASRock the following put it at disadvantage:
> 
> * It's not yet available in stores
> * Ethernet chip is not Intel
> * Reviews show that MSI BIOS is consistently worse then any other boards
> * Really obnoxious naming (They even managed to call something more
> obnoxious than fatal1ty)

Yeah it would not be my preference either.  Seems the ITX board selection
for AMD is rather crappy so far.  Quite a few choices with better ports
for intel it seems.

-- 
Len Sorensen