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What is the absolute cheapest solution to triple monitor gaming????

Tags:
  • Graphics Cards
  • Nvidia
  • triple-monitor-gaming
  • Graphics
  • surround
  • eyefinity
Last response: in Graphics & Displays
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May 6, 2013 3:05:17 AM

What is the cheapest solution there is for triple monitor GAMING.

I don't mind the settings being turned town to medium, and don't really want to spend too much.

Multiple options are appreciated, whether its single or double GPUs

Any help appreciated!!!

More about : absolute cheapest solution triple monitor gaming

a c 85 U Graphics card
May 6, 2013 4:00:49 AM

Which is it? cheapest or medium settings? They don't go together. You didn't say anything about your system, budget, resolution, whether you need monitors, what games... There's pretty much no info to provide a decent answer.

Medium on Farcry 3 on 3 1080p screens? A 7970 GHz. A flight or racing Sim? a 7750. resolution and game have a HUGE impact. You could just go look at the ton of benchmarks here, but a half arsed guess with no info... Maybe a 7870XT
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May 6, 2013 4:08:11 AM

unksol said:
Which is it? cheapest or medium settings? They don't go together. You didn't say anything about your system, budget, resolution, whether you need monitors, what games... There's pretty much no info to provide a decent answer.

Medium on Farcry 3 on 3 1080p screens? A 7970 GHz. A flight or racing Sim? a 7750. resolution and game have a HUGE impact. You could just go look at the ton of benchmarks here, but a half arsed guess with no info... Maybe a 7870XT



Sorry, I didn't realise the information needed to make a judgement.

I have an AMD Phenom ii x4 965 BE

I hope to power 3 17 inch monitors, (I already own these) running at 1280x1024 each, and in the future upgrading to 24 inches when I have the money. Most likely 1080p.

I would hope to play high end games like BF3 and Far cry 3, but as I said, I can turn down settings if need be.

However, it would be nice to have surround, but I will put up with single screen gaming on the more intensive games, but still need to power 3 monitors, even if they just have skype/emails open. I can OC my CPU if need be.

Thanks for the help,

Harry

EDIT: And the budget is cheap as possible, less than £150 if possible, or if SLIing then maybe £100 now and then £100 later etc. But single GPU would be better if possible, but if 2 is cheaper, then I can adapt.
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a b U Graphics card
May 6, 2013 6:22:02 AM

I would look at upgrading your CPU and motherboard as well, because it will be a limiting factor in a multiple GPU situation. Multiple GPU gaming with a Phenom II would scale pretty badly from what I've seen, even a high end single gpu would be bottlenecked a little by the older AMD chips. Even the FX chips hit a wall compared to Intels latest in multi gpu scaling. http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/crossfire-sli-scali... Your budget is kinda restricting for the level of graphics power you would need to do it as well. Especially if you plan to run 3 x 1080p monitors at some point down the road. Most people that run multiple 1080p monitors have better cpu's and allow for atleast a $600 budget for video cards alone. You could get away with a single card(7870/660ti minumum) at medium-low settings, but within a year you would allready be outdated for what you would need to maintain playable framerates in most games.

Cheap and multiple monitor gaming don't really go together.





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a b U Graphics card
May 6, 2013 7:04:56 AM

Speaking from somebody who has been multi-monitor gaming for more than 6 years (even before EyeFinity I was using SoftH) go with the BEST graphics card your budget can afford. I would say a bare minimum from the current generation would be a 7850, but a 79* series card would be much better with the additional ram. With a 7950 you can get medium to high on most current games even when running multi-monitor. With a 7850 you'd be looking at low - medium. Your current monitors are kinda old, but that would make it much easier on the video card. If you stick with your current low resolution monitors a 7950 would get you close to maxing a lot of games. When you upgrade to 1080p its a whole different story compared to your current resolution. Even with 2x 7950's in crossfire I still cant max some games when running EyeFinity resolutions. Like you stated though, you always have the option of running on one screen. With EyeFinity, a lot of it comes down to the individual game, some games work well and others dont.

As one previous person stated, your entire platform is getting kinda old. Phenom II are great chips, but if you truly want to push your video power high enough to handle eyefinity well than over the long term your processor would be a bottleneck. I did previously have a Phenom II 940 for several years running EyeFinity on a 5850 though so it wasnt much different than your setup. You will be just fine starting off as long as you dont mind dialing down settings.
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May 6, 2013 8:33:44 AM

AdioKIP said:
Speaking from somebody who has been multi-monitor gaming for more than 6 years (even before EyeFinity I was using SoftH) go with the BEST graphics card your budget can afford. I would say a bare minimum from the current generation would be a 7850, but a 79* series card would be much better with the additional ram. With a 7950 you can get medium to high on most current games even when running multi-monitor. With a 7850 you'd be looking at low - medium. Your current monitors are kinda old, but that would make it much easier on the video card. If you stick with your current low resolution monitors a 7950 would get you close to maxing a lot of games. When you upgrade to 1080p its a whole different story compared to your current resolution. Even with 2x 7950's in crossfire I still cant max some games when running EyeFinity resolutions. Like you stated though, you always have the option of running on one screen. With EyeFinity, a lot of it comes down to the individual game, some games work well and others dont.

As one previous person stated, your entire platform is getting kinda old. Phenom II are great chips, but if you truly want to push your video power high enough to handle eyefinity well than over the long term your processor would be a bottleneck. I did previously have a Phenom II 940 for several years running EyeFinity on a 5850 though so it wasnt much different than your setup. You will be just fine starting off as long as you dont mind dialing down settings.


What CPU would you recommend?? (AMD and preferably less than £100)
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May 6, 2013 8:35:48 AM

So when it comes to graphics cards for multiple displays, the more RAM the better? Or is there something else I should be considering??
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May 6, 2013 9:03:27 AM

Also, would it be better to have one ~£150 GPU that will run 3 monitors, or SLI two ~£75 GPUs for 3 monitors?
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May 6, 2013 9:16:26 AM

Quick question, if I was to scrap the triple monitor gaming, and just game on one 24 inch monitor in the middle, and then two 17 inch monitors either side:

Could I buy a nice powerful GPU (GTX 650 ti or similar) to power JUST for gaming on the single 24 inch (theoretically giving it all of its RAM and power) and then have a cheap £30 GPU to run the two 17 inch monitors (which will probably only be used for word processing and browsing). Would that work?? (Obviously being able to utilise all 3 screens for productivity, but not all for gaming)
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May 6, 2013 9:53:25 AM

BigMack70 said:
harry_derouich said:
Quick question, if I was to scrap the triple monitor gaming, and just game on one 24 inch monitor in the middle, and then two 17 inch monitors either side:

Could I buy a nice powerful GPU (GTX 650 ti or similar) to power JUST for gaming on the single 24 inch (theoretically giving it all of its RAM and power) and then have a cheap £30 GPU to run the two 17 inch monitors (which will probably only be used for word processing and browsing). Would that work?? (Obviously being able to utilise all 3 screens for productivity, but not all for gaming)


You wouldn't even need a second cheap GPU for that - it can be done on a single card just fine.



I know I could, but its jsut the fact I could spend about £150 on a GPU and then £30, rather than £250 on one graphics card, with the option to maybe add a fourth monitor in the future
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May 6, 2013 10:00:15 AM

So is it possible to do so or not??
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May 6, 2013 12:48:43 PM

BigMack70 said:
You can drive 4 monitors from any GTX 6xx card I believe so I don't know what is making you think you would need a second graphics card to do productivity on 3 screens but just game on one.


Well I can get a 650 ti for £130 (will run BF3 on ultra) and then a gt 610 for about £30. Threes no point having a powerful graphics card for the two side monitors, and it works out cheaper than buying a £230 AMD soloution. So will it work??
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a b U Graphics card
May 7, 2013 8:46:28 AM

harry_derouich said:
BigMack70 said:
You can drive 4 monitors from any GTX 6xx card I believe so I don't know what is making you think you would need a second graphics card to do productivity on 3 screens but just game on one.


Well I can get a 650 ti for £130 (will run BF3 on ultra) and then a gt 610 for about £30. Threes no point having a powerful graphics card for the two side monitors, and it works out cheaper than buying a £230 AMD soloution. So will it work??


You're not understanding. What he is trying to explain in the previous post is that you DO NOT need the second graphics card. Even going with a 650ti you can power 4 monitors. This means you can game on one monitor and still do other things on the other screens (run video, have the web open etc...). Having small things running on other screens, the hit to video performance during gameing is neglibible (trust me, I run 4 screens on one video card and will often have 2 1080p videos playing on one screen, live tv on another all while gaming on my 4th screen). You also need to realize that wether gaming on 1 screen or 3, its best to go with the best graphics card your budget can afford. 1x $150 card is a better option than 2x $75 cards in most cases. Even on one screen the top cards out still have trouble maxing some of the most current games.

As far as AMD processor for the range you listed, your best choice would be an FX6100. You can get them for about $100 bucks now and they overclock well. I run mine at 4.0ghz and could probably push my overclock higher.
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May 7, 2013 8:57:56 AM

AdioKIP said:
harry_derouich said:
BigMack70 said:
You can drive 4 monitors from any GTX 6xx card I believe so I don't know what is making you think you would need a second graphics card to do productivity on 3 screens but just game on one.


Well I can get a 650 ti for £130 (will run BF3 on ultra) and then a gt 610 for about £30. Threes no point having a powerful graphics card for the two side monitors, and it works out cheaper than buying a £230 AMD soloution. So will it work??


You're not understanding. What he is trying to explain in the previous post is that you DO NOT need the second graphics card. Even going with a 650ti you can power 4 monitors. This means you can game on one monitor and still do other things on the other screens (run video, have the web open etc...). Having small things running on other screens, the hit to video performance during gameing is neglibible (trust me, I run 4 screens on one video card and will often have 2 1080p videos playing on one screen, live tv on another all while gaming on my 4th screen). You also need to realize that wether gaming on 1 screen or 3, its best to go with the best graphics card your budget can afford. 1x $150 card is a better option than 2x $75 cards in most cases. Even on one screen the top cards out still have trouble maxing some of the most current games.

As far as AMD processor for the range you listed, your best choice would be an FX6100. You can get them for about $100 bucks now and they overclock well. I run mine at 4.0ghz and could probably push my overclock higher.


I appreciate the advice, but will it work in the way I stated, its just that my friend is selling an Nvidia GT 610, and I was wondering if I would be able to use it with my future PC build, I wont have the money for a while, so wanted a temporary option for a few months, to just run 2 monitors with no gaming.

So would it work to have the 610 powering 2 monitors and then a future GPU to add to it to power one monitor. Please note this is not for surround gaming, SINGLE SCREEN GAMING ONLY. I now that I can run 3 monitors off 1 card, but I am just trying to explore other options.

All I want is a yes or no answer will two different GPUs work to provide a triple monitor display?
(Not surround)

Thankyou for all your help so far
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May 7, 2013 9:57:00 AM

BigMack70 said:
There would be no reason to keep the GT 610 in your build once you upgrade; it's a next-to-useless card. You would be better off running everything off one card like the 650ti (or whatever you upgrade to).


I know that, but would it work or not, Yes or no?
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a b U Graphics card
May 7, 2013 10:26:05 AM

harry_derouich said:
BigMack70 said:
There would be no reason to keep the GT 610 in your build once you upgrade; it's a next-to-useless card. You would be better off running everything off one card like the 650ti (or whatever you upgrade to).


I know that, but would it work or not, Yes or no?


Yes the 610 will work fine, but all we are trying to tell you is that in the future when you do get your 650ti that you will have no need to continue to run your 610 so should remove it at the time. Technically you can run the 610 and 650 together, but you wouldnt gain anything from this unless you were trying to run more monitors than the 650 can handle alone.

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May 8, 2013 7:17:28 AM

AdioKIP said:
harry_derouich said:
BigMack70 said:
There would be no reason to keep the GT 610 in your build once you upgrade; it's a next-to-useless card. You would be better off running everything off one card like the 650ti (or whatever you upgrade to).


I know that, but would it work or not, Yes or no?


Yes the 610 will work fine, but all we are trying to tell you is that in the future when you do get your 650ti that you will have no need to continue to run your 610 so should remove it at the time. Technically you can run the 610 and 650 together, but you wouldnt gain anything from this unless you were trying to run more monitors than the 650 can handle alone.



I imight be having 4 monitors in the near future, so thank you for answering my question
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a b U Graphics card
a b Î Nvidia
May 8, 2013 7:51:45 AM

I have 2 7950's and run a dual monitor setup. One would be able to handle a triple and I really love their performance for the cost. This is a nice one that overclocks well also. http://amzn.to/10jnaPv
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May 8, 2013 8:31:34 AM

one 7950 can run borderlands 2 @ 40+ fps in medium setting eyefinity, think about that.

my cf 7950's run crysis 3 at 4800x900 @ 45+ fps to gain better framerate, the blur aint that noticeable really.
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a b U Graphics card
a b Î Nvidia
May 8, 2013 9:09:39 AM

ive seen the hanns 1366x768 18" monitor for $39.99 a few times, that would be $120 total for three.

imho, that is your final answer, you will not find a cheaper triple monitor solution, period.
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May 8, 2013 9:38:09 AM

nikoli707 said:
ive seen the hanns 1366x768 18" monitor for $39.99 a few times, that would be $120 total for three.

imho, that is your final answer, you will not find a cheaper triple monitor solution, period.


I already have the monitors, but thanks anyway (btw I live in the UK)
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September 9, 2013 9:18:30 AM

What if..... all I want is to use my 3-monitor system to FlightSim. You're all gonna think I'm nuts.... but it's what I have. The center is an Insignia 37" TV with HDMI. The "left" monitor is a Gateway 24" HDMI Monitor. The "right" monitor is a 22" Sceptre DVI monitor. I'm a disabled USMC Viet Vet, and buying a bunch of NEW stuff is not going to work for me. I have to go with what I've got. So, that being said.... What graphics card should I consider, that would do the job with HD Flight Sim on my 3 monitors?? (I'm just now going thru Half-Life Episode One which I would also like to play with 3-monitors!! Woo Hoo!!) OK even my kids laugh at me.... But back to the bottom line. Money is a real issue... What will do the job - given these perameters? Help?
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a b U Graphics card
September 24, 2013 2:07:16 PM

The size or configuration of your monitors doesn't matter as much as the resolution. You can easily get all 3 screens working with any current AMD card. I would recommend a 7850 as a bare minimum with a 7950 being a much more optimal solution. I've recently been playing flight sims myself. Right now I'm learning DCS A10C and have it running on 4 screens (3x 24 inch monitors and a 39 inch LED tv). You will most likely need an active displayport adapter.

As far as your connections, you'd be running.
1x HDMI to TV
1x DVI to HDMI cable to gateway monitor
1x DisplayPort to DVI Adapter then DVI cable to Sceptre monitor.
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