Second 8 Series card for 3rd monitor

[EmilioEstevez]

Im looking to hook up my TV as a third monitor but I already run 2 screens from my current card.

Now I'm running a 8800GTS 512 in the one PCIex16 slot my motherboard has (GA-P31-DS3L) and am planning to just buy another cheap 8 series card (something like the 8400GS) to hook up my third. But since my board only has 1 physical PCIex16 slot im planning to take a flat head screwdriver or something and remove the divider at the end of the spare PCIex1 slot on my board.

Is this a good idea? Will it work? If so will a cheap card such as the 8400GS in a PCIex1 slot be enough to run my third monitor (will need 1920*1080 resolution).

My other option is to get a 5850 or something and pay for an active displayport to HDMI converter, but thats gonna set me back 10x the price this will. Plus I dont have the cash to spring for a full new system and not sure if my Q6600 will be a bottleneck?

Thanks.

 

[borisof007]

Hahaha! Nice name ; )

I'm going to answer in a reverse order here: No you won't be bottlenecked.

Probably not a great idea to take a screwdriver to a motherboard. In fact, I'm not even sure I can picture what you're trying to accomplish by doing that. If a card requires a PCI-E 16x slot, then there's no way around it.

You can get a cheaper ATI card that supports eyefinity and get a displayport adapter, as long as it's an ACTIVE converter. From AMD's web site directly:

"To enable support for more than 2 monitors, “active” DisplayPort™ adapters/dongles are required (or monitors with direct DisplayPort™ connectivity must be used)."

http://support.amd.com/us/eyefinity/Pages/eyefinity-dongles.aspx

You can visit that URL for a complete list of dongles that are approved active display port converters. Additionally, there's also a list of ATI eyefinity approved cards that have 3 ports that are much cheaper than a 5850. Granted, they may not give you the performance you want, however I believe in your situation with only one PCI-E 16x slot, that it is your only option (short of building a new rig)

 

[borisof007]

As a follow up, to make sure that I'm clear, you would need 1 displayport adapter for the 3rd monitor, the other two would still be fine via their respective legacy connections (I believe this is correct, If I'm wrong, someone please correct me)

 

[jefe323]

As a follow up, to make sure that I'm clear, you would need 1 displayport adapter for the 3rd monitor, the other two would still be fine via their respective legacy connections (I believe this is correct, If I'm wrong, someone please correct me)

you are correct. only the third monitor needs an active adapter. the other two can be dvi, hdmi, or vga.

you can also try a passive displayport->vga adapter for resolutions at or below 1920x1080. i have tried this and can confirm it works, but the image quality is not as good as using an active adapter for dp->dvi

 

[EmilioEstevez]

Thanks, the confusion came as when I googling around to see if it was possible several people have claimed to have done this, saying that the card would simply use the bandwidth available to it. Since this isnt possible, what are the use of the x1 to x16 extension adapters you see sold everywhere?

Thanks for the tip with the dp -> vga adapter, im not too concerned if 1 of the monitors is slightly lower quality, and that'll save me £60.

 

[Mousemonkey]

@phrancis, Please start your own thread.