Graphics Running dual screens from Sandy Bridge integrated graphics?

I wonder if it would be possible with Z68 (or H67 for that matter) to run two displays from the IGP, and how much power that would consume.

I'm very accustomed to running two displays on laptops over the years and am planning to do the same with a new desktop build in the near future. However, I'm concerned by reports that GPUs go into relatively high power states as soon as they are driving multiple outputs (this is not the case with my laptop and I find it rather unacceptable). I imagine it may be possible for me to run a machine with a discrete GPU via Virtu (accepting the compromise of the framebuffer copy hit) and that the power savings may be significantly more pronounced than reported for instance by AnandTech for single monitor setups.

Any thoughts or insights?

 

I've done a tiny bit more googling and it does appear that it should be possible to run two displays from the IGP.... so I wonder how much idle power that would consume.

 

Yes it is possible and I do it sometimes when I want more desktop space, but you have to connect one monitor with VGA and the other with HDMI/DVI - cant have two 'digital' connections unfortunately. I use the integrated HD 3000 graphics and it runs them fine with no hiccups (but obviously you get a slightly worse image using VGA, so you would probably wouldnt like it and would be better getting a dedicated gpu that can handle dual DVI connections. Iv got a H67 motherboard but Im not sure if Z68 would differ on this issue.

 

Thanks. I don't suppose you've made any measurements of power consumption with and without a second display?

 

I dont have any concrete numbers, but if I follow you correctly you mean how much more taxing on the gpu is it? If you mean that its hardly anything I would suspect, especially if you're not running graphics intentive apps on each monitor

 

That's what I always assumed too, and that is the case with my laptop, but I've recently learned (from http://forums.bit-tech.net/showthread.php?t=202592) that unfortunately it is not the case at least with current nVidia cards, as this quote from the driver release notes indicates:

This is still the case in more recent releases than cited in that thread.