Support for 3 Monitors Need ideas

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daones

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Dec 19, 2008
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Hello,
Im currently on a ECS A780-GMA motherboard it only has one PCI x 16 slot for a video card and the regular PCI-e x1 slots. But it does have a onboard ATI Radeon HD 3200 chipset.

Right now im running a GTX 460 but is it possible to utilize the onboard and use the GTX 460 for 2 of the monitors then the onboard for the 3rd monitor? I heard it would conflict if you have an outside video card and try to enable onboard. Any ideas would be appreciated
 
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borisof007
You cannot do that.

Only ATI GPU's that are rated for Eyefinity can support more than 2 monitors at once from a single GPU source. And even then, you would need 2 regular outputs for the first 2 monitors and for EVERY monitor thereafter, you'd need to use a Displayport or Minidisplayport from the GPU source. If your monitor doesn't connect via Displayport, you'd need to use an ACTIVE displayport converter, not a passive one, for each monitor beyond the 2nd.

Nvidia GPU's do not support more than 2 monitors per card as well. In an SLi config they can support up to 3, but that'll cost you too much for what you need.
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Novuake

Novuake

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No you will not be able to use your onboard graphics to use a third monitor, but you have several other options to choose from, none of them cheap.

Do you already have al 3 screens? (some can be daisy-chained)
What screens are they?
What brand/edition is the GTX 460?


The easiest solution would be to get a graphics card that has some way (3x DVI ports for example) to support 3 LCD's, like the Sapphire Radeon HD6770 Flex.
 
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daones

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I dont have the screens already, well technically I do but I was probably going to buy one new one... I have a 32 LCD then a 22 LCD and 19 LCD... i was going to replace the 19. The thing is my graphics card has 3 outlets technically... two are DVI and I have one S-Video out... I was thinking i could use the two DVI on the PC monitors then hookup an S-Video to my 32in TV screen... would this work or would the one graphic card not be able to render 3 different screens. Im using it for gaming specifically Iracing which the side screens will render both sides of the car.
 
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borisof007

borisof007

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You cannot do that.

Only ATI GPU's that are rated for Eyefinity can support more than 2 monitors at once from a single GPU source. And even then, you would need 2 regular outputs for the first 2 monitors and for EVERY monitor thereafter, you'd need to use a Displayport or Minidisplayport from the GPU source. If your monitor doesn't connect via Displayport, you'd need to use an ACTIVE displayport converter, not a passive one, for each monitor beyond the 2nd.

Nvidia GPU's do not support more than 2 monitors per card as well. In an SLi config they can support up to 3, but that'll cost you too much for what you need.
 
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daones

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Yeah i guess im out of luck, i would have to upgrade my motherboard and reinstall windows and everything which is a pain especially since i have OEM windows i dont think it will work on a different motherboard. Ill just have to live with two monitors.
 
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Novuake

Novuake

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Nvidia Geforce GTX 590 supports 3 monitors.

I would still recommend Radeon's Eyefinity though.
 
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Novuake

Novuake

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You wouldn't have to do any of that. Just get a new GPU.
 
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daones

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Yeah I forgot about that, so technically I could go with an ATI card like the Radeon HD 6870... how would this card be for display on 3 monitors for gaming? I currently am just using a single 460 gtx card and the FPS in the game i play is at 80FPS but i know using 3 monitors i can expect less performance. Would a ATI 5870 be any better for the extra $100 bucks compared to the 6870?
 
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Novuake

Novuake

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The 6870 is more than sufficient.
No I would not suggest getting the 5870 for $100 more.
 
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Novuake

Novuake

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1. It's severely underclocked GTX 580 X2
2. The reference card is a 2 slot Card
3. The term GPU stands for Graphics processing Unit, which specifically means the "square" and the 590 has 2





the 5870 would technically be more powerful than the 6870, but I would get the 6870 as 5870s have been EOL'ed for quite a while and the 6k cards are better in DX11.
IMO, for Tri-Screen, get a Sapphire Flex card as it's HDMI port can be used for the 3rd display
Click to expand...

Note the use of the word "your". I know the technical jargon.

Anyway, nice GPU you got. Why didn't you get the 2GB version for like a few dollars more?
 
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daones

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Thanks for all the help guys. Ill probably end up getting a 6870 to use 3 monitors on one card with my situation. Although where im at it looks like only Asus is available for the ATI cards.
 
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daones

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Hey Greg, looking at the specs of the card it looks to include 2 DVI outputs (DVI-i, DVI-D) then it has HDMI Output : Yes x 1 (via DVI to HDMI adaptor x 1 )

I also looked at the adapters it included:1 x CrossFire cable
1 x Power cable
1 x DVI to D-Sub adaptor
1 x DVI to HDMI adaptor

so i would be able to use what is included as long as i had two DVI capable monitors and one HDMI capable monitor right?

edit: actually my mistake i noticed its not direct HDMI its coming from the DVI. So the only other ports opened would be the 2X display ports which i know nothing about.
 
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