PC - 2 totally different video cards at the same time?

[nemophoto]

One may wonder, why am I doing this. Simple. I have dual NEC PA241 monitors which have DisplayPort and DVI-I input. My video card is an MSI Radeon R9 390 with 8GB GDDR5, but only has one DisplayPort.

Call me dumb, but even though I've been building my own computers since 1982, I can't keep up with all specs all the time. (Hey, I'm a photographer. Enough changes there daily.) I never realized that my DVI-I on my video card couldn't output 30-bit, which the monitors can handle. Unfortunately, the card only has one DisplayPort and one HDMI, and the HDMI can't talk to the DisplayPort.

I still have an older Asus Radeon R9 290X 4GB GDDR5 card and I've thought of putting that in the system for the second monitor, on which I frequently run Lightroom. The primary monitor is usually Photoshop. This way, both monitors would run 30-bit displays.

I run Windows 10 x64. Has anyone done this? Were there issues? I looked at current prices for video cards, thinking I might go ahead and buy a new one, and they're outrageous, all thanks to the bloody BitCoin poeple. (I have no idea how that really works, except that it's put a crunch on retail prices as well as caused scarcity for AMD cards.) Thanks for the advice.

[scyth]

just use the splitter

for example = https://www.amazon.com/Tripp-Lite-B156-002-DVI-DisplayPort-Multi-Stream/dp/B00D5ZZJ6W?th=1

[scyth]

I never realized that my DVI-I on my video card couldn't output 30-bit

and why 'd you seriously need 30bit w/ a monitor that has h/w LUTs inside like NEC PA ...

[Dave Rosser]

One may wonder, why am I doing this. Simple. I have dual NEC PA241 monitors which have DisplayPort and DVI-I input. My video card is an MSI Radeon R9 390 with 8GB GDDR5, but only has one DisplayPort.

Call me dumb, but even though I've been building my own computers since 1982, I can't keep up with all specs all the time. (Hey, I'm a photographer. Enough changes there daily.) I never realized that my DVI-I on my video card couldn't output 30-bit, which the monitors can handle. Unfortunately, the card only has one DisplayPort and one HDMI, and the HDMI can't talk to the DisplayPort.

I still have an older Asus Radeon R9 290X 4GB GDDR5 card and I've thought of putting that in the system for the second monitor, on which I frequently run Lightroom. The primary monitor is usually Photoshop. This way, both monitors would run 30-bit displays.

I run Windows 10 x64. Has anyone done this? Were there issues? I looked at current prices for video cards, thinking I might go ahead and buy a new one, and they're outrageous, all thanks to the bloody BitCoin poeple. (I have no idea how that really works, except that it's put a crunch on retail prices as well as caused scarcity for AMD cards.) Thanks for the advice.

You need Firepro or Radeon Pro graphics cards to enable 10 bit display, your current cards do not have a suitable driver to enable Photoshop 10 bit display. Just go ahead and connect one display to display port and one to DVI-I, it will work perfectly OK.

[nemophoto]

You need Firepro or Radeon Pro graphics cards to enable 10 bit display, your current cards do not have a suitable driver to enable Photoshop 10 bit display. Just go ahead and connect one display to display port and one to DVI-I, it will work perfectly OK.

Actually, the one NEC monitor that is connected to the DisplayPort shows (on boot up) 30-bit, so it is getting a 30-bit signal and translating it.

[nemophoto]

and why 'd you seriously need 30bit w/ a monitor that has h/w LUTs inside like NEC PA ...

And by this you mean...?

[scyth]

And by this you mean...?

8 bit with h/w LUTs in monitor (calibration using NEC SpectraViewII for example) is delivering fine gradients to the screen ... what is the real gain from 10 bit in this case ?

[nemophoto]

8 bit with h/w LUTs in monitor (calibration using NEC SpectraViewII for example) is delivering fine gradients to the screen ... what is the real gain from 10 bit in this case ?

Accuracy? The NECs do an excellent job when I compare the 8-bit to the 10-bit, and there may very well be nothing gained, which is one of the reasons for the question. Color accuracy, as a fashion photographer, is always paramount. I've covered my ass more times than I care to remember when someone pointed to me and said, "It's the photographer's fault". I've always been able to come out on top knowing more than the clients or agency, or delivering accurate proofs from my files, if needed.

[Dave Rosser]

Actually, the one NEC monitor that is connected to the DisplayPort shows (on boot up) 30-bit, so it is getting a 30-bit signal and translating it.

It says that but you still have to turn it on in the depths of the FirePro/Radeon Pro driver as well as in Photoshop (the only application I know that can use 30 bit.  (I believe there is a 30 bit implementation in the consumer drivers but this for a few games and is not the Pro 30 bit implementation and this may  be Nvidia rather than AMD).  You will find these drivers here http://support.amd.com/en-us/download/workstation?os=Windows%2010%20-%2064#

[scyth]

Color accuracy, as a fashion photographer, is always paramount.

I am sorry -> and how 10 bit will help u to get to your "paramount" accuracy vs 8bit output + whatever h/w luts you have in NEC PA monitor ? and how you will see it w/ your eyes ?

and I 'd assume you verify how your colorimeter or spectrometer work comparing them with lab grade spectroradiometer then, no ? with words like "paramount" I imagine $10K+ calibration gear used... but then NEC PA241 spells that not.

[nemophoto]

It says that but you still have to turn it on in the depths of the FirePro/Radeon Pro driver as well as in Photoshop (the only application I know that can use 30 bit.  (I believe there is a 30 bit implementation in the consumer drivers but this for a few games and is not the Pro 30 bit implementation and this may  be Nvidia rather than AMD).  You will find these drivers here http://support.amd.com/en-us/download/workstation?os=Windows%2010%20-%2064#

Thanks for the link

[Pictus]

The current Nvidia Geforce and AMD Radeon does have 30-bit(10-bits per channel), but it
is not a format that Phototoshop can use(10-bits per pixel), only Nvidia QUADRO or AMD Fire
can output 10-bits per pixel.

10-bpc(bits per channel) vs 10-bpp(bits per pixel). 
http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?p=5052574#post5052574

What is a 30 Bit Photography Workflow?
https://photographylife.com/what-is-30-bit-photography-workflow

But you will may have color cast when using ProPhoto RGB(old Photoshop BUG)
https://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/59529291

[nemophoto]

Interesting. Thanks for the info and links. I wasn't aware of that nor had I read anything accordingly, so this will give me a chance to update my knowledge. It seems then that the DP output is truly mostly of use for higher res, than higher bit.

The current Nvidia Geforce and AMD Radeon does have 30-bit(10-bits per channel), but it
is not a format that Phototoshop can use(10-bits per pixel), only Nvidia QUADRO or AMD Fire
can output 10-bits per pixel.

10-bpc(bits per channel) vs 10-bpp(bits per pixel). 
http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?p=5052574#post5052574

What is a 30 Bit Photography Workflow?
https://photographylife.com/what-is-30-bit-photography-workflow

But you will may have color cast when using ProPhoto RGB(old Photoshop BUG)
https://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/59529291