3 Monitor Set up

[illusion]

Hi,

I am wondering what type of graphic card would I need for a 3 monitor set up?

I am already getting a 256 MB Nividia card, don't know which one it is included in the computer. Would something like that be able to support 3 monitors or are there special cards out there?

Thanks

 

[Bryce W]

Well I currently run dual monitors which is done using montiors with dual heads.

I currently run a Ti4800 graphics card (yeah yeah, old by todays standards but it works) which has three plugs.

Here is a pic:

I use my normal screen on the Blue VGA plug and I have a DVI to VGA converter on the white DVI plug.

XP automatically detects the second screen and makes the changes in Display Properties and then I run Ultramon to have a toolbar on both screens.

As for THREE screens you can either use a 2nd video card or possibly make use of the video out plug like in the middle of mine.

 

[illusion]

When I go buy the computer, can I ask the guys at the counter? They will know won't they?

*hopes so*

 

[Sleepy-uk]

Use 3 graphics cards for best performance.

 

[Bryce W]

3 Graphics cards arent really doable for most people, the main reason being price. But few PC's have mutiple PCI-E or AGP ports to plug them into. Having 2 cards is still a good choice, put the main gaming workhorse in the PCI-E/AGP port, Use a crappy PCI video card for the 3rd screen and switch it off using something like Ultramon when you are gaming (you'll have to switch off 2 for games anyway).

 

[TheUnknownOne]

When I go buy the computer, can I ask the guys at the counter? They will know won't they?

*hopes so*

hahaha Doubt it. Basically to run 3 monitors you are gonna need 2 video cards, Unless you use that S-Video port. I have a 7900GTX and it just supports duals, even though I don't use 2, I just use a 20" Widescreen

 

[linkpwns]

I use an ATI All-In-Wonder 800xl. It is amazing. 256mb of video ram. To put this in lamenst terms, u can project what is going on on your screen to your tv and vice versa(good for recording!). If you are playing games and such, it is also just as good...that is the only one card i have, and it runs very well...(You can just buy the 800xl if you dont want the tvtuner[the part about projecting your tv and stuff]

 

[techbyte]

As mentioned, an extra PCI card or two would be one option - they can be picked up pretty cheaply these days. Another thing to consider is that if you don't happen to have two extra displays sitting in a corner somewhere (and you surely don't want three CRTs on your desk!) then for the cost of two additional standard screens, you could look at a larger screen with a higher resolution. E.g., the 21" Viewsonic VP2130b (1600x1200) or one of the excellent 24" 1920x1200 (1080p) screens lke the Samsung SyncMaster SM244T or the Dell Ultrasharp 2407WFP.

You could also look in to the highly-commended Matrox DualHead2Go and TripleHead2Go which trick your existing (single-head) graphics card in to thinking there's a huge monitor attached. You then connect 2 or 3 screens and get massive desktop real estate! (Matrox also do an extensive range of dual-, triple- and quad-head cards.)

Finally, if you for the multiple-monitor option, you might want something both stylish and practical on which to sit them - in comes Ergotron!

Hope this helps

 

[skatingrox]

The TripleHead2Go is a good choice. Don't see why you would need 3 monitors though.
You could also use a PCI-e card with dual DVI outputs and then put in a pci video card, for a total of 3.

http://www.tomshardware.com/2006/05/04/can_matroxs_triplehead2go_span_fun_across_three_displays/

 

[Goob]

Once you get your 3 monitor set up working, I highly suggest getting a program called Ultramon, which will give you the ability to have 3 different desktop wallpapers, and also gives you a taskbar on each screen. I use it on my 2 screen set-up and I swear by it

 

[Bryce W]

I love Ultramon and swear by it too. However, I dont think Ultramon will be of any use with this Triplehead setup. It says that triplehead tricks the computer into seeing a single large screen rather than 3 seperate screens. If it is doing that Ultramon would be unable to know where one physical screen ends and another one starts because its being detected as a single screen.

"last month we reviewed Matrox's DualHead2Go, which allows users to transform one graphics output into a double-wide monitor spanning two displays. The technology tells the graphics card that it is actually using a single 2048x768 or 2560x1024 display instead of a pair of 1024x768 or 1280x1024 monitors. This month Matrox has upped the ante further, by introducing the TripleHead2Go. As you can likely guess from the name, it gives users a maximum resolution of 3840x1024 spanning three monitors."

 

[mcronix]

Hi. I also want a 3 screen setup and have already bought the parts. However I am starting to think this will not work with the components I have...
I have an M2NSLI Motherboard which has a 16x and an 8x pci express slot. I have an 8600GTS and a 7600GT and wish to run these together (not in SLI of course). Is it possible to run these together, as when I put anything in the 8x slot, none of the screens receive any signal.
Thanks

 

[Companion Cube]

question

hey....look bryce ...i just registerd a random account on here just to ask you something cause i really want 3 monitors(and just mind that im running a Geforce 9800 gt)...as you said in your post....that you can use the s-video output aswell as the 2 DVI ports....well...in your case the vga and the dvi....but in my case i got 2 dvi outports using both adapters and a s-video...so..i took an old tv i got....and it has a svid input on it right?...but when i go into this program i got its called nTune....and it can do multiple displays ect....and...when i go into the multiple display wizard...it onley allows 2 monitors...so if u know any program or something to rig these 3 up...that would be verry cool dude...thanks!

 

[Rider]

Once you get your 3 monitor set up working, I highly suggest getting a program called Ultramon, which will give you the ability to have 3 different desktop wallpapers, and also gives you a taskbar on each screen. I use it on my 2 screen set-up and I swear by it

I use Ultramon as well and I agree it works great. However, I do have one issue with it. I'm running two monitors and I would like to set Ultramon to run a seperate instance of My Picture Slideshow on each monitor as a screensaver. It seems Ultramon doesn't like to do that with...here it comes...Vista.