PC running GTX 1070ti: Possible for 2 users accounts to see different 2 displays?

djc45

djc45

djc45

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Hi,
I have a bit of an unusual question, and quite a long post, so please bear with me, but I'm hoping that someone might be able to give me some advice, and steer me in the right direction, as to whether what I'm trying to do is actually possible or not.

I have my gaming PC running a GTX 1070ti that we got at the end of last year, currently in the living room connected to the 65" Samsung Q90 TV with hidden usb cables going to 3 Rift sensors fixed at ceiling height. So I am using one hdmi output for the TV, and one connected to the wall plate that I plug the Rift h/set in whenever I am using VR. This all works really well. However, in my study I have a 2017 5k iMac that I use for video editing and general office work. It has occured to me the gaming PC is actually a better spec for me to use for video editing, with the 1070ti than the iMac is. Added to that my work are planning to prohibit the use of all pen drives that are not encrypted and purchased from them, and you guessed it, they refuse to make the dual format pen drive available only PC, so when this policy changes I will be unable to access work files from my pen drive on my iMac.

I have been trying to plan a solution to allow me to use the gaming PC in both the living room and the office, for both use cases, gaming and work. The sensor cables for the rift already run up to the floor above, where the study is. I would like to move the PC to the floor above where it is now, which is a large, well vented cupboard, near the study, and the rift sensors would all still be reached with their current cable runs. I should be able to run HDMI and USB cables back down to the living room without difficulty and would use a usb 3 hub in the living room for gaming keyboard and mouse. The problem comes with the study end.

I reckon I should be able to hide 2 hdmi and a usb 3 cable from the cupboard to the study, and if I use an active powered repeater cable to the hub at my desk all should be well, but I appreciate any input from anyone who has done something like this to keep me from any pitfalls.

What I am looking to do is find some way to have 2 separate windows accounts, one for office and one for gaming, which obviously is easy enough to set up. But I am looking for some way to have the gaming account only see the Rift and Tv screen, and the office account only see the other 2 displays. For work I use 2 displays regularly and don't want the chance of 'losing' windows on to another display I cannot see from my study, if that makes sense. Obviously, the TV will often be on while I'm working in the study.

Is this something that it is possible to set up in Windows 10, or is there any 3rd party software that will enable this? I have never tried to use 4 displays in Windows 10 in this way before, and don't want to start the large distruption and expense of moving stuff and running new cables if it is not going to be practical to do. I think it could be a good solution, that would improve the video editing side of things and also allow me to play some games in the study when not able to use the living room screen, and the iMac even with a windows partition still wouldn't cut it for gaming. Another plus would be that I would no longer need the iMac which I could then sell to offset some of the cost of PC upgrades going forward.

I hope I've explained this in a way that can be understood, and again I apologise for the length of the post. I really appreciate any advice or comments on the idea itself, anything I should be aware of, as well as advice on how to deal with the 4 displays: 2 screens to each windows user idea.
Thanks

Duncan
 
So firstly: you won't be able to log onto 2 accounts simultaneously. Your PC won't support that as it is, it will log one person out when another logs in.

I don't know where display configuration stands in that context.

You could set up virtual machines and have them live on separate displays. You'll always run into issues with screen boundaries sooner or later.

In all honesty I'd say it's more sensible to either install Windows on your Mac (you're not currently gaming on it so you don't lose anything), or sell the Mac and build a simpler gaming PC.

If the 1070 Ti is really that useful then you could offload rendering onto that machine as and when needed. But surely for the price of the Mac you could build something with a decent graphics card?
 
I not convinced this will work entirely, but my first thought would be to use https://www.displayfusion.com/.

I've used it for a good few years to handle my multiple displays... only 2 mind you. But this does allow you to create multi monitor profiles that can be loaded/unloaded at any time. I'm not sure if there is an option for it to apply on logon, but this probably could be done with Task scheduler and a batch file.

For me, i have a hot key combo that either enables 2 screens or only enables 1 screen. I'm sure you could set up a profile for both scenarios and see if you are able to switch between them as you require.

I believe it's free for like 30 days, you can get it through steam for like £27. Although you might be able to find it cheaper with a code somewhere!

A completely other thought is to use RDP or something from your iMac to your PC, you may still need a USB for the pen drives, but not the display. RDP may not be the best bet if your doing rendering work and whatnot as im sure you'll want a high bitrate, but a remote display app of some descript may fit the bill.
 
Thanks for the reply Lucky.

No, I wasn't wanting to have any more than one user on the PC at a time. I just wanted to be able to log in under a 'work' account in the study to only see say displays 3 and 4 which would be connected in the study, or under a 'gaming' account in the living room to see only displays 1 and 2, the Rift and the TV.
 
Thanks HecFan, I did wonder about Display Fusion, and did fire them off an email asking about the use case I had in mind. Am waiting to hear back. If I don't hear back, guess I could have a play with their trial version.
 
Depending on your skills it looks like the only way to do it is to bifurcate the cables coming from the mouse and keyboard or hack an KVM switch. Essentially connecting both sets of output wires so that both PCs are controlled at the same time.
 
Sorry Drakukton, I don’t think I explained myself well enough.

I’m only working with 1 pc, and don’t need to use the same keyboard and mouse. All I’m trying to do is connect outputs 1 and 2 of the graphics card to one location, and outputs 3 and 4 to a different location, and then have usb socket sin the 2 locations, which should be fairly easy. The difficulty is that I want to set 2 different windows accounts to each have a different main and secondary screen, and not see all 4 displays. I would then use one login for office use, and one for gaming and the rift.
 
So essentially:
-1 PC
-4 Displays
-Display 1 and 2 in 1 location doing one thing
-Display 3 and 4 in another location, doing their own thing?

Im sure it can be done, but Im sure you won't be able to use it at the same time
 
Yes Praz , but not being interacted with at the same time. Although I suspect the 1070ti probably can drive 4 displays.

It would be either using displays 3 and 4 in the study for work OR using displays 1 and 2 for rift and gaming in the living room, under 2 different windows user accounts, so that when in the study using displays 3 and 4 I have my own main desktop with icons related to work, and when gaming in the living room using displays 1 and 2 I have an appropriate desktop. What I’m trying to avoid is windows ‘seeing’ all 4 displays although at my location I can only see 2, which could lead to me ‘losing’ icons or windows over on to screens I cannot see in my location, if that makes sense.

I’m now wondering whether I could set the 4 displays to be 1 and 2 above, and 3 and 4 below in a square arrangement avoiding the chance of accidentally dragging a window onto the wrong screen. Then I could use one pair of displays when gaming, then the other 2 when doing office work.

Does anybody think that might work?
 
I think you'll have issues with the Windows login screen being fixed to one display. Possibly you could run dual display, mirrored to two other displays. But something tells me it'll get messy.

What if you open a program and windows plonks it onto display 3 or 4?
 
That’s a fair point lucky, never thought of that.

Maybe I’m looking at just using the 2 outputs then and a a pair if 4k@6ohz bidirectional hdmi switches to select which 2 screens are connected prior to boot up.
That would let me select either Rift with 65” TV or 2 office monitors.

I wonder if that might work. What’s anyone think?
 
djc45 said:
That’s a fair point lucky, never thought of that.

Maybe I’m looking at just using the 2 outputs then and a a pair if 4k@6ohz bidirectional hdmi switches to select which 2 screens are connected prior to boot up.
That would let me select either Rift with 65” TV or 2 office monitors.

I wonder if that might work. What’s anyone think?
Click to expand...
This makes more sense - we're effectively talking about a KVM setup now.
 
Yes, it’s probably going to be a lot easier.

Are there any issues in terms of use of a switch and the Rift continuing to work correctly, that I need to be aware of?
 
djc45 said:
Yes, it’s probably going to be a lot easier.

Are there any issues in terms of use of a switch and the Rift continuing to work correctly, that I need to be aware of?
Click to expand...
Couldn't comment on the Rift as I haven't used one. HDMI switches are relatively simple things but I don't know what the VR stuff does differently e.g. is it a higher frame rate?
 
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