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aiber

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aiber

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April 2nd, 2020 18:00

Work laptop with six 4k monitors

I'm looking for a work laptop that can support six 4k monitors.

This is my current laptop I want to upgrade:

Year Model Display size (inch) Resolution Touch display? Active pen? Processor RAM (GB) GPU GPU RAM (GB) TB3 count USB-C count Display outputs Max external 4k display count Power adapter port?  Cost  eGPU build 1 eGPU build 2
2015 Precision 7510 15.6 FHD (1920 x 1080) No No Intel Core i7-6820HQ Quad Core 2.70GHz, 3.60GHz Turbo, 8MB 45W 32GB DDR4 2667MHz SuperSpeed memory Nvidia Quadro M2000M 1 0 0 2 (HDMI, mDP) 2        

 

Here's what I'm looking for in a new laptop, starting with the most important & descending.

  • I would like to at least maintain the same performance as the previous laptop.
    • 32 GB of RAM
    • GPU with 4+ GB of RAM.
  • Ability to drive six 4k monitors (more on this later).
    • A docking station would also be great so I have to plug in fewer cables when returning to my desk.
    • I couldn't find any docking stations that would let you drive more than three 4k monitors.
  • A touch + active pen display would be best.
  • Under $2500.
  • Preferably a 4k screen or better, on the laptop itself.

I don't care about:

  • Weight
  • Battery life

Yes, I did consider a desktop. I need to attend meetings frequently though.

I could get a desktop + laptop, but here's why I can't do that: OneNote synchronization is unreliable.

OneNote is critical to my work & we have no WiFi or Office 365 to synchronize changes with a laptop. It's guaranteed that one day I will edit my OneNote content, without internet, & I fear the changes won't be merged correctly.

The only way to share OneNote between computers on our subscription (no SharePoint, no OneDrive due to security restrictions) is over a shared network drive.

It is possible to synchronize changes (mostly real time) by sharing a OneNote notebook over a shared network drive (I tested it), but it appends the initials of the editor everywhere, & is overall a risk I'd rather not take.

I did not test editing offline & trying to merge the changes.

Regarding the six 4k monitors: my productivity/workflow could be much improved. I already have 3 monitors & find myself crowding them very frequently. I have worked with 5 monitor setups before & more benefits could be had.

I would probably get the Dell P2415Q 24" 4k monitor.

I don't need more than 30 Hz on each 4k monitor.

Here are the laptops I looked at already:

Year Model Display size (inch) Resolution Touch display? Active pen? Processor RAM (GB) GPU GPU RAM (GB) TB3 count USB-C count Display outputs Max external 4k display count Power adapter port?  Cost  eGPU build 1 eGPU build 2
2018? Precision 7530 15.6 15.6" FHD IPS 1920x1080 AG, No n-touch, 45% color gamut LCD No No Intel Core i7-8750H (Six Core 2.20GHz, 4.10GHz Turbo, 9MB 45 W) 32GB,2x16GB, 2666MHz DDR4 Non- ECC Memory NVIDIA Quadro P2000 w/4GB GDDR 5 4 2 0 2 (HDMI, mDP) 4    $    3,680.63    
2019 XPS 13 7390 13.4 UHD+ (3840 x 2400) Yes Yes 10th Generation Intel® Core™ i7-1065G7 (8 MB Cache, up to 3.90 GHz) 32GB 3733MHz LPDDR4x Memory Onboard Intel® Iris Plus Graphics - 2 0 0 6    $    1,999.99 sadxps  
2018  XPS 15 9575 15.6 4k (3840 x 2160) Yes Yes 8th Generation Intel® Core™ i7-8705G (8 MB Cache, 4 Core, up to 4.10 GHz) 16GB DDR4-2400MHz Integrated Radeon™ RX Vega M GL Graphics with 4GB HMB2 Graphics Memory 4 2 2 0 6 with USB-C monitors    $    1,899.99 waha usafballer
  Precision 7540 15.6 4k (3840 x 2160) No No Intel Core Processor i7-9750H (6 Core, 12M Cache, 2.60GHz up to 4.5GHz Turbo, 45W) 32GB,4x8GB, DDR4 2666MHz Non-ECC Memory Radeon Pro WX 3200 w/4GB GDDR5 4 2 0 2 (HDMI, mDP) 6 Yes  $    2,379.11    
  Precision 7740 17.3 4k (3840 x 2160) No No Intel Core Processor i7-9750H (6 Core, 12M Cache, 2.60GHz up to 4.5GHz Turbo, 45W) 32GB,4x8GB, DDR4 2666MHz Non-ECC Memory Radeon Pro WX 3200 w/4GB GDDR5 4 2 0 2 (HDMI, mDP) 6 Yes  $    2,566.79    

 

To compute the "max external 4k display count", I used the following resources.

  • One Thunderbolt 3 (TB3) port can drive two 4k monitors at 60 Hz. Source.
  • One USB-C port can drive one 4k monitor. Source.
  • HDMI, Mini DisplayPort (mDP), & DisplayPort (DP) can all drive one 4k monitor each. Source for DP.

Some examples:

The XPS 13 7390 has 2 TB3 ports & no other display outputs. So it can support 2 x 2 = 4 4k displays.

The problem with this is that it doesn't have a discrete graphics card. The bigger problem is that it can't support six 4k displays.

The XPS 15 9575 has 2 TB3 ports & 2 USB-C ports. So that's 2*2 + 2 = 6 4k displays.

This is perfect assuming all six displays actually work, with the exception of the maximum 16 GB of RAM on any configuration.

The Precision 7740 has 2 TB3 ports, 1 HDMI, & 1 mDP. That's 2*2 + 1 + 1 = 6 4k displays.

No touch + active pen display.

Open questions:

  1. The biggest question of all is thus: does having some combination of TB3, HDMI, mDP, & USB-C ports, alone, mean the laptop is fully capable of driving all six 4k monitors?
  2. How many monitors can I daisy chain via DP, with the seed monitor being connected via TB3?
    1. Could I use this to get around have not enough TB3 or video ports?

I want to use eGPUs as a last resort only, due to extra hardware, cost, complexity, & potential for troubleshooting.

There are other options, like MST hubs to split 1 DP to 4 DP, but those are limited to 1080p max. Their reliability seems suspect, computer to computer.

Obviously this is a very expensive thing to test & find out it doesn't work, so is there is Dell expert who can demonstrate it or guarantee it works?

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