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Can a laptop run 12 projectors?
Posted: Wed Sep 17, 2025 01:02
by vernonacla
Hello.
I'm looking for a means to use one Laptop to produce 12 Projector screens of 1080p each.
The setup is to connect the laptop to 3 Datapath Fx4 connected in Daisy Chain.
I'm currently eyeing on Asus TUF Gaming F16:
Operating System: Windows 11 Home
Processor: Intel® Core™ 5 Processor 210H 2.2 GHz (12MB Cache, up to 4.8 GHz, 8 cores, 12 Threads)
Graphics: NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 4050 Laptop GPU (194 AI TOPs), 2420MHz* at 140W (2370MHz Boost Clock+50MHz OC, 115W+25W Dynamic Boost), 6GB GDDR6
Memory: 16GB DDR5-5600 SO-DIMM, the memory speed of the systems vary by CPU SPEC, Max Capacity:64GB
I/O Ports:
-1x 3.5mm Combo Audio Jack
-1x HDMI 2.1 FRL
-2x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A (data speed up to 5Gbps)
-1x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C with support for DisplayPort™ / power delivery / G-SYNC (data speed up to 10Gbps)
-1x Thunderbolt™ 4 with support for DisplayPort™ (data speed up to 40Gbps)
-1x RJ45 LAN port
Hope someone will be able to help me.
Even if it's just some theoretical laptop. Would love to hear it as well.
Re: Can a laptop run 12 projectors?
Posted: Wed Sep 17, 2025 13:16
by tijnisfijn
Hey there,
Just a quick heads-up on your idea to daisy-chain the three Datapath Fx4s. The DisplayPort connection between the units doesn't have enough bandwidth for the massive signal needed for all 12 projectors, so you'll hit a bottleneck there.
The good news is that your Asus laptop has the perfect solution. The correct way to do it is to use three separate outputs. You can run one Fx4 from your HDMI port, a second from the Thunderbolt 4 port, and the third from the other USB-C port. This method splits the load and is much more stable.
Now, regarding the laptop's performance—the RTX 4050 is a capable GPU, but driving that many screens is an incredibly heavy load. For static images or a simple presentation, you might be okay. However, if you plan to run video or any complex content, the 6GB of VRAM will become a major limit and you'll likely experience stuttering or lag.
So in short: the laptop has the right ports to connect everything correctly, but it will almost certainly lack the power for a smooth show if you're using demanding content. For a project like this, stepping up to a laptop with an RTX 4080 or 4090 would be a much safer bet.
Hope this helps, and good luck with your project!
Here is some extra info :
https://resolume.com/support/en/lots-of-outputs
Re: Can a laptop run 12 projectors?
Posted: Wed Sep 17, 2025 18:01
by vernonacla
Thank you so much for the reply! I've been stressing about this for the past weeks.
Removing the idea of daisy-chain. How about this laptop? I think this higher GPU and VRAM would be enough to solve the bottlenecking problem from the previous laptop, no?
ROG Strix G16
-Windows 11
-Intel® Core™ Ultra 9 Processor 275HX 2.7 GHz (36MB Cache, up to 5.4 GHz, 24 cores, 24 Threads); Intel® AI Boost NPU up to 13TOPS
-NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 5080 Laptop GPU
ROG Boost: 1550MHz* at 175W (1500MHz Boost Clock+50MHz OC, 150W+25W Dynamic Boost)
16GB GDDR7
-32GB DDR5-5600 SO-DIMM, the memory speed of the systems vary by CPU SPEC x 2 Max Capacity:64GB Support dual channel memory technology
-1x 3.5mm Combo Audio Jack
-1x HDMI 2.1 FRL
-3x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A (data speed up to 10Gbps)
-2x Thunderbolt™ 5 with support for DisplayPort™ / power delivery / G-SYNC (data speed up to 120Gbps)
-1x 2.5G LAN port
tijnisfijn wrote: Wed Sep 17, 2025 13:16
Hey there,
Just a quick heads-up on your idea to daisy-chain the three Datapath Fx4s. The DisplayPort connection between the units doesn't have enough bandwidth for the massive signal needed for all 12 projectors, so you'll hit a bottleneck there.
The good news is that your Asus laptop has the perfect solution. The correct way to do it is to use three separate outputs. You can run one Fx4 from your HDMI port, a second from the Thunderbolt 4 port, and the third from the other USB-C port. This method splits the load and is much more stable.
Now, regarding the laptop's performance—the RTX 4050 is a capable GPU, but driving that many screens is an incredibly heavy load. For static images or a simple presentation, you might be okay. However, if you plan to run video or any complex content, the 6GB of VRAM will become a major limit and you'll likely experience stuttering or lag.
So in short: the laptop has the right ports to connect everything correctly, but it will almost certainly lack the power for a smooth show if you're using demanding content. For a project like this, stepping up to a laptop with an RTX 4080 or 4090 would be a much safer bet.
Hope this helps, and good luck with your project!
Here is some extra info :
https://resolume.com/support/en/lots-of-outputs
Re: Can a laptop run 12 projectors?
Posted: Thu Sep 18, 2025 09:45
by tijnisfijn
Hey, no problem at all! Happy to help you figure it out.
The ROG Strix G16 is a powerhouse and is exactly what you need to solve the bottlenecking problem.
The jump to an NVIDIA RTX 5080 with 16GB of VRAM is the perfect move. That gives you all the graphics memory and raw power needed to run your content smoothly across all 12 projectors without the issues we discussed. Your connection plan of using the separate HDMI and Thunderbolt ports will work perfectly with it.
This machine should handle pretty much anything you throw at it, you've made an excellent choice and can be very confident in this setup.