Serious help with 3 monitor setup

Discussion in 'Videocards - NVIDIA GeForce' started by Techio, Oct 22, 2011.

  1. Techio

    Techio Guest

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    Hello guys again.
    As strange as it sounds, I do have 3 monitors hooked up to one GPU.
    1 HDMI - MINI HDMI thingo that came with my card plugged in, one Analouge to DVI in 1 that also came with the box and the same thing in the other slot (Which came from my other GPU)

    My computer can't detect three monitors, only two. Everything is secure and placed. Do I really need another GTX 560TI to display 3 monitors? Or can I use my old 9400GT or GTS450 to display 3 monitors?

    To make my question simpler, do I have to use SLI to use 3 monitors or can I grab a differant card to display 3?

    Eg, HDMI and 1 DVI-Analouge to my GTX 560TI while ONE other DVI-Analoge in the other card to show a total of three monitors together?

    It is hard to explain but it's the best I can describe.
     
  2. Hayden202

    Hayden202 Master Guru

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    In order to power 3 monitors. You will need to install your 9400GT or the GTS450 into your PC and connect second and third monitor to that (should be the most efficient way-so your main 560TI can be just outputting to game screen-but it shouldn't matter much). In this case SLI would be disabled and you would not connect the cards with a bridge. This would be the solution if you just need the screen space and don't need a widescreen display.

    In order to run 3 monitors as one large resolution screen using NVIDIA surround, you will need a second 560TI, and would need to connect the cards with an SLI bridge. This is the way to go if you want to play games at widescreen resolutions.

    Alternatively, you could purchase a single ATI card that natively supports 3monitors or more. The only single cards from Nvidia, that I know of, that support more than 2 monitors are the 590 (dual gpu) and the EVGA 460 2win (dual gpu). Which are essentially SLI just on one PCB.

    If you do switch to ATI, I would stay away from the 6950. This card has a strange issue that can cause strange screen tearing on one or two of your three screens depending on how you hook it up. Apparently its an issue caused by a different delay between the Display Port, HDMI, and DVI ports. Last I heard, the issue has not been resolved.

    The 5850 or 5870 are a bit older, but still perform great. The 6850 and 6870 are good choices as well. The 6770 would be a budget option for a 3 monitor display with a single card but gaming performance in newer games will be weak at those resolutions to say the least.
     
    Last edited: Oct 22, 2011
  3. LinkDrive

    LinkDrive Ancient Guru

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    As Hayden said, currently there is no way to have a working triple monitor setup with just one Nvidia GPU. You'll need a second card to get that third monitor working.

    If you want to use NV Surround then be sure to follow the connector recommendations when you get a second card ( http://www.nvidia.com/object/3d-vision-surround-system-requirements.html ). If you simply want to extend the third monitor for additional desktop space, an inexpensive video card should work ( again, don't connect any SLI bridges if it's not a GTX560 ).
     

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