Vega 64 and LG 5k Ultrafine

[Aquinus]

Howdy folks. So while my upgrade plans are on hold, I fortunately have come into the possession of two LG 5k Ultrafine displays. They work exceptionally well with my laptop with thunderbolt 3 ports, but connecting it to the tower seems to be a bit more complicated. It seems to be the case that I’ll never be able to get TB3 to work with my current tower which is too bad and the laptop only can drive them at 4k (which looks fine IMHO,) which leaves me with two questions.

1. What DisplayPort to USB-C would you use to drive 5k?
2. Can my Vega 64 even drive 5k on two devices?
Ideally, I want to drive the two 5k displays plus my existing 4k, but rotated 90 degrees. Am I going to be stuck with all three at 4k?

 

[X71200]

The V64 should be able to do 5k over DP, but all three would be at the same resolution if you go about doing surround.

If you want to game on 5k, it will mostly do light titles. Waiting for Ampere might be an option, and / or selling one of the monitors thereof (unless you have another PC to use it with).

 

[Aquinus]

The V64 should be able to do 5k over DP, but all three would be at the same resolution if you go about doing surround.

If you want to game on 5k, it will mostly do light titles. Waiting for Ampere might be an option, and / or selling one of the monitors thereof (unless you have another PC to use it with).

I only do light gaming these days like Factorio, Minecraft, and Cities Skylines. I have no intent of running surround. I mainly use my tower for dev work, so a lot of browsers, terminals, and instances of the JVM.

 

[X71200]

It should be capable of driving those monitors for that, yes.

 

[TheLostSwede]

This is old, but might help

LG 5K Monitor with a Windows PC · trenchant.org daily

Based on that, you need to get this.

Amazon.com: ASUS Expansion Card for Z170 & X99 Motherboards ThunderboltEX 3 : Electronics

Buy ASUS Expansion Card for Z170 & X99 Motherboards ThunderboltEX 3: Motherboards - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases

www.amazon.com

Only problem is, your board doesn't have a TB_header, so actual Thunderbolt signalling might not work, but it should work to pass the DP signal through if you're lucky.

Also found this snippet.

The monitor requires dual DispalyPort 1.2 streams over a single cable, which only works with a true Thunderbolt 3 port. The Asus Thunderbolt card supports only a single stream, and GPUs support 5K resolution only via DisplayPort 1.3 and above, and do not support dual streams from a single port. So no, it will not work with most PCs unless they have a true Thunderbolt 3 with dual DisplayPort 1.2 stream support. It's a shame the monitor does not support DisplayPort 1.3 or it would have worked with most PCs

Can I use the LG Ultrafine 5K display with a PC?

I remember the controversy around the 27" Apple Thunderbolt display: it doesn't work with a PC. Despite the fact that Thunderbolt encapsulates DisplayPort, you cannot use it with a DisplayPort conn...

apple.stackexchange.com

Right, so if you get Gigabyte's card, it'll work it seems, but maybe not with your board still.

Using the 27" LG UltraFine 5k Display with Linux

I'm happy to report that we *did* get the monitor working great with Linux after a lot of trial and error (see below for the details about configuring Linux ...

johnwilger.com

Amazon.com: Gigabyte GC-Titan Ridge (Titan Ridge Thunderbolt 3 PCIe Card Component): Computers & Accessories

Buy Gigabyte GC-Titan Ridge (Titan Ridge Thunderbolt 3 PCIe Card Component): Electronics - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases

www.amazon.com

 

[X71200]

There are multiple different versions of these monitors on the market. If you have DP on it, it should directly work. If it is one of those older Mac versions, then yes, you'll have to do with the adapters. However, that Asus TB adapter pretty much only works with specific boards like some X299 models. It might not work with that X79 at all.

 

[Aquinus]

This is old, but might help

LG 5K Monitor with a Windows PC · trenchant.org daily

Based on that, you need to get this.

Amazon.com: ASUS Expansion Card for Z170 & X99 Motherboards ThunderboltEX 3 : Electronics

Buy ASUS Expansion Card for Z170 & X99 Motherboards ThunderboltEX 3: Motherboards - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases

www.amazon.com

Only problem is, your board doesn't have a TB_header, so actual Thunderbolt signalling might not work, but it should work to pass the DP signal through if you're lucky.

Also found this snippet.

Can I use the LG Ultrafine 5K display with a PC?

I remember the controversy around the 27" Apple Thunderbolt display: it doesn't work with a PC. Despite the fact that Thunderbolt encapsulates DisplayPort, you cannot use it with a DisplayPort conn...

apple.stackexchange.com

Right, so if you get Gigabyte's card, it'll work it seems, but maybe not with your board still.

Using the 27" LG UltraFine 5k Display with Linux

I'm happy to report that we *did* get the monitor working great with Linux after a lot of trial and error (see below for the details about configuring Linux ...

johnwilger.com

Amazon.com: Gigabyte GC-Titan Ridge (Titan Ridge Thunderbolt 3 PCIe Card Component): Computers & Accessories

Buy Gigabyte GC-Titan Ridge (Titan Ridge Thunderbolt 3 PCIe Card Component): Electronics - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases

www.amazon.com

Being stuck with 4k has been my experience on my HP Spectre running Linux. Honestly, it’s not a huge loss. These displays look amazing even at 4k. These are good resources though, thanks!

There are multiple different versions of these monitors on the market. If you have DP on it, it should directly work. If it is one of those older Mac versions, then yes, you'll have to do with the adapters. However, that Asus TB adapter pretty much only works with specific boards like some X299 models. It might not work with that X79 at all.

I don’t think it will. They’re the USB-C TB3 displays intended to be used with an Apple device.

 

[Aquinus]

So, unfortunately these displays seem to be incapable of handling a DisplayPort to USB-C adapter and after a bunch of research suggests it may be the case that the only way I can drive these displays is with Thunderbolt 3, which is kind of lame. The upside is that I can use them with my laptop which has two TB3 ports. The downside is that I can't connect them to my current tower and in order to gain two TB3 ports, a new machine with support for 2xTB3 ports would be in order, which would rule out an AM4 build (for now.)

I'm not going to lie, I'm a little disappointed.

 

[TheLostSwede]

So, unfortunately these displays seem to be incapable of handling a DisplayPort to USB-C adapter and after a bunch of research suggests it may be the case that the only way I can drive these displays is with Thunderbolt 3, which is kind of lame. The upside is that I can use them with my laptop which has two TB3 ports. The downside is that I can't connect them to my current tower and in order to gain two TB3 ports, a new machine with support for 2xTB3 ports would be in order, which would rule out an AM4 build (for now.)

I'm not going to lie, I'm a little disappointed.

Why does it rule out an AM4 build?
ASRock for one seems to support it via this. There are some limitations if you read the fine print in the support list.

ASRock > Thunderbolt 3 AIC R2.0

www.asrock.com

 

[Aquinus]

Why does it rule out an AM4 build?
ASRock for one seems to support it via this. There are some limitations if you read the fine print in the support list.

ASRock > Thunderbolt 3 AIC R2.0

www.asrock.com

If I want to drive both displays, I need two TB3 ports, not 1. The number of options with support for two ports are a bit limited. Not to mention I really don't feel like buying a new machine right now.

 

[TheLostSwede]

If I want to drive both displays, I need two TB3 ports, not 1. The number of options with support for two ports are a bit limited. Not to mention I really don't feel like buying a new machine right now.

Sorry, but did you even click on the link? That card has two TB3 ports...
However, it seems like I found the reason why you can only drive your screens at 4k resolution.

Single-cable connection for connecting a 5K@60Hz or two 4K@60Hz displays

Sure, not wanting to buy a new computer is a fair reason, but saying that AM4 isn't going to work, isn't a valid reason.

 

[X71200]

He doesn't want to upgrade the whole thing though, which kind of takes us back to point A, selling the monitor / monitors. IMO.

 

[Aquinus]

Sorry, but did you even click on the link? That card has two TB3 ports...

The ASRock X570 Phantom Gaming only supports a single TB3 port.

 

[TheLostSwede]

The ASRock X570 Phantom Gaming only supports a single TB3 port.

Again, did you click on the link I provided?
It was not to a motherboard.

 

[Aquinus]

He doesn't want to upgrade the whole thing though, which kind of takes us back to point A, selling the monitor / monitors. IMO.

It's not exactly my preference since I don't have the boxes so shipping them safely would be next to impossible. I should reiterate, it was fortunate that I ended up with these and they're not brand new. I think I'd be better off using them with the laptop for now and look for a solution in the future. The only other option would be to find someone locally who would be interested in them.

Again, did you click on the link I provided?
It was not to a motherboard.

You need motherboard support via headers to drive TB3.

 

[TheLostSwede]

You need motherboard support via headers to drive TB3.

For crying out loud!!!!!!
Did you click on the link and read?
ASRock supports that on their AM4 boards.

I'm aware that it doesn't work with your current hardware, but that's not what we're discussing, or?
I though we were discussing the Thunderbolt support on AM4 motherboards.

AM4 : AMD X570
*1: Only three TB3 devices can be detected.
*2 : Some USB 3.2 Type-C devices will cause system reboot after wake up from S3/S4.
*3 : Cannot light up the TB3 monitor after wake up from S3/S4, re-plug the cable is needed.
*4 : Does not support Thunderbolt 3 PCIe graphics card box

11 different models of X570 boards are supported to date.

ASRock > Thunderbolt 3 AIC R2.0

www.asrock.com

 

[Aquinus]

For crying out loud!!!!!!
Did you click on the link and read?
ASRock supports that on their AM4 boards.

I'm aware that it doesn't work with your current hardware, but that's not what we're discussing, or?
I though we were discussing the Thunderbolt support on AM4 motherboards.

11 different models of X570 boards are supported to date.

ASRock > Thunderbolt 3 AIC R2.0

www.asrock.com

I must be mistaken then. I was under the impression that one TB header meant one port.

I have to mull this one over. It's really hard to justify spending the money right now.

 

[TheLostSwede]

I must be mistaken then. I was under the impression that one TB header meant one port.

I have to mull this one over. It's really hard to justify spending the money right now.

The expansion card has two TB3 ports. The internal header is NOT for TB3 signalling, it's simply for something like SPI, GPIO or a similar interface.

Even Gigabyte supports four X570 boards with their GC-Titan Ridge card, although not mine, due to:

1 x Thunderbolt™ add-in card connector (Only rev1.1 available)

GC-TITAN RIDGE (rev. 1.0) Key Features | Motherboard - GIGABYTE Global

Lasting Quality from GIGABYTE.GIGABYTE Ultra Durable™ motherboards bring together a unique blend of features and technologies that offer users the absolute ...

www.gigabyte.com

 

[Aquinus]

The expansion card has two TB3 ports. The internal header is NOT for TB3 signalling, it's simply for something like SPI, GPIO or a similar interface.

Even Gigabyte supports four X570 boards with their GC-Titan Ridge card.

GC-TITAN RIDGE (rev. 1.0) Key Features | Motherboard - GIGABYTE Global

Lasting Quality from GIGABYTE.GIGABYTE Ultra Durable™ motherboards bring together a unique blend of features and technologies that offer users the absolute ...

www.gigabyte.com

I am a little worried though that while it has two TB3 ports, that it's not going to drive two TB3 displays. I see the DP and mDP ports, but unless I knew for certain, I don't think I'd want to upgrade on the chance that it might work. Either way, there is no simple solution to this problem because LG was too dumb to allow for USB-C Alternate Mode for DisplayPort in the absence of TB3.

 

[TheLostSwede]

I am a little worried though that while it has two TB3 ports, that it's not going to drive two TB3 displays. I see the DP and mDP ports, but unless I knew for certain, I don't think I'd want to upgrade on the chance that it might work.

GIGABYTE GC-TITAN RIDGE support two displays in 4K* resolution at 60 FPS

So same limitation as ASRock. You can use one screen at 5k or apparently even 8k, but as soon as you connect a second one, you're limited to 4k on each screen.

 

[Aquinus]

So same limitation as ASRock. You can use one screen at 5k or apparently even 8k.

I'd be perfectly happy with 4k on both since that's what I get with the HP Spectre with them, but once again, I'm really skeptical to build a machine just to have it work with the displays, particularly when I want to be saving my money, not spending it. Plus, I feel like it's going to be a gamble anyways, at least with the second display. I'll probably just work with the laptop for now and think about how I want to proceed. I don't need to be playing games on these displays, I was just hoping for them to work with the tower.

 

[TheLostSwede]

I'd be perfectly happy with 4k on both since that's what I get with the HP Spectre with them, but once again, I'm really skeptical to build a machine just to have it work with the displays, particularly when I want to be saving my money, not spending it. Plus, I feel like it's going to be a gamble anyways, at least with the second display. I'll probably just work with the laptop for now and think about how I want to proceed. I don't need to be playing games on these displays, I was just hoping for them to work with the tower.

Did you try connecting just one to your HP? It should give you 5k resolution.

I'm not telling you to build a new machine, I'm simply putting your options out here.

And why would it be a gamble when the specs from the part makers says it works? They clearly must've tested them to make these claims, no? Please explain to me why these add-in cards would work in any way differently to your laptop? After all, they all use the same Intel chips for TB3, as there are no third party TB3 chips.

 

[Aquinus]

Did you try connecting just one to your HP? It should give you 5k resolution.

Yeah, the HP Spectre doesn't do the two DP 1.2 streams over a single TB3 cable. It's always 4k with one or two displays. I think that has to do with Apple's proprietary bullshit extension to TB3 to support two steams.

 

[TheLostSwede]

Yeah, the HP Spectre doesn't do the two DP 1.2 streams over a single TB3 cable. It's always 4k with one or two displays. I think that has to do with Apple's proprietary bullshit extension to TB3 two support two steams.

Or a bad/limited implementation by HP for all we know...

Then again, it also sounds like Apple did something dodgy, as per their regular implementation of "standards".

 

[X71200]

Aren't these displays 27" though? I mean with 5k at 27 inches, you're looking around using %175 scaling to read stuff properly... so UHD should also be fine.