4K without upgrading everything

[Harveyf]

Hi there

This is my first post and am hoping for some advice on upgrading to 4K

I have a small form factor PC with the following

i5 4460 3.2ghz Haswell 1150 LGA
Gigabyte H81M-DS2V (SOCKET 0)
16Gb (2x DDR3)
500Gb SSD
Windows 10

It is currently running a 1920x1080 monitor using the onboard graphics and DVI as I don't do any gaming and use it for office type applications.

The motherboard has a couple of PCIE 1x and one PCIE 16x slots free

I would like to upgrade to 4K, again, not for gaming but simply more screen area and if possible, keep the old monitor as a secondary display to the 4K monitor running off the motherboard HDMI connection as currently.

In addition to running a two monitor setup (one 4k, one 1920x1080) I would like to upgrade to USB 3.1 Gen 2 if possible but am faced with an either/or situation because I can't find any USB 3.1 Gen 2 upgrade boards that use a PICE 1x slot so would have to use the 16x slot.

Not sure if I am thinking this through correctly but I seem to have 3 options

OPTION ONE
Install a low profile 4k card like the Gigabyte Nvidia GT1030 low profile or ASUS GT710-SL-2GD5 GeForce GT 710 2 and use this as the main card in the 16x slot, thus closing off the USB 3.1 upgrade path, but still getting 4K, hey ho

OPTION TWO
Install a USB 3.1 card into the 16x slot and use this with an offboard docking station to get the 4K display and external USB 3.1. Although there seems to be plenty of these about not sure if they would work in a dual monitor setup.

OPTION THREE
This is where I am much less sure, but is it possible to use one of those mining rig PCIE expansion/riser cards. The system is underneath the desk so it really doesn't matter what it would look like. So if I used one of those would I be able to install the graphics card into the 16x slot and then go from the 1x slot via a riser card to a 16x slot that I could fit the 4x USB 3.1 card into

Does anyone have any similar experience with trying to squeeze a quart into a pint pot, I know the alternative is just to upgrade the whole setup but am trying to avoid the disruption, have my software setup and I like the small form factor. Again, this is not a gaming rig, mostly boring office applications

Am trying to avoid upgrading the motherboard although recognise this might also be a reasonable option

Thanks in advance

 

[Jimmy Weirdarms]

You could always look into a different motherboard - it's possible you could find a Haswell-supporting board with an HDMI port and a DVI port, or multiple HDMI ports, and be able to run all the graphics off the processor.

Something like an old ASUS Q87M-E, if you can find one on an auction site or something.

Try poking around on ************ for models that can do what you need.

 

[LuckyBenski]

I don't know if any Haswell can do 4k. I might be wrong.

I think 7 series cards (750+) can do 4k at 30FPS, as can 9 series (950+). I think 970 and above had HDMI 2.0 for 60FPS.

What do you need USB 3.1 gen 2 for? I'd say try the graphics card on the riser rather than the usb 3.1, if you actually intend to use the USB bandwidth. Maybe do your research on PCIe data rates for 4k first.

I have a USB 3 dock at work that can drive 1 HDMI and 1 DVI. I can try to find out what resolution it can drive tomorrow.

 

[shankly1985]

i5 4460
Seems it can do 4k 60hz when using a displayport from the motherboard. I just not sure what the experience will be like.

• Graphics OutputeDP/DP/HDMI/VGA
• Max Resolution (HDMI 1.4)‡4096x2304@24Hz
• Max Resolution (DP)‡3840x2160@60Hz
• Max Resolution (eDP - Integrated Flat Panel)‡3840x2160@60Hz
• Max Resolution (VGA)‡1920x1200@60Hz

 

[Quartz]

i5 4460
Seems it can do 4k 60hz when using a displayport from the motherboard.

The OP's motherboard does not have a Displayport port.

There is another option: just plug the x16 GPU into an x1 slot. This only works if the x1 slot is backless and there's nothing blocking the card, of course.

 

[tyler_jrb]

Probably best to just get the cheapest card you can. R7 250x or something like a gtx 950.

With regards to the usb issue decide what’s most needed however personally I would just get a usb hub.

 

[Randomface74]

Are you sure you need 4K?
1440p is a massive improvement in desktop real estate over 1080p.
Consider the U2715H.

You'd still need a graphics card though.
IMO I wouldn't spend money upgrading that system, I'd save up for a new one.

 

[pandem0nium]

Option three will work. But get a x1 to x16 riser card, the ones most commonly used for mining rigs.

The reason being that the card will just be producing an image, so strangling it's pcie bandwidth won't matter. Whereas the usb 3.1 ports will be held back by x1 gen 2.

You probably wouldn't be able to fit the card in the case though. it'd have to be external, connected to the x1 slot with the riser.

It's a fudge really. I'd just say stuff the usb if you can live without it.

 

[pandem0nium]

Maybe a better idea - get a monitor that supports usb-c input.

A quick google brings up the
LG 27UD88

 

[Harveyf]

Thank's all, some great ideas and food for thought. Will report back with what I ended up doing

 

[Quartz]

I would like to upgrade to 4K, again, not for gaming but simply more screen area and if possible, keep the old monitor as a secondary display to the 4K monitor running off the motherboard HDMI connection as currently

Are you sure you've posted the correct motherboard? Because the pictures of the H81M-DS2V motherboard on Gigabyte's website show only VGA and DVI ports but no HDMI port.

 

[Harveyf]

Yes, I use a converter from DVI to HDMI, sorry I didn't make that very clear in the original post

 

[Harveyf]

So I ended up putting a USB 3.1 GEN 2 card into the PCIE 16x slot and getting a Pluggable USB3.1 4K adapter with an Iiyama Prolite X3272UHS 32" 4K monitor

https://iiyama.com/gb_en/products/prolite-x3272uhs-b1/
https://plugable.com/products/usbc-6950-hdmi/

Have to say, it was pretty painless and works a treat, the motherboard connected older HD monitor is set as the secondary panel in Windows 10 and as I said, because I don't do any gaming, performance is fine on the main 4K panel

Screen was £300, Plugable adapter £85 and the USB 3.1 card about £30

Thanks again for everyone's replies