Advise: graphic card for three monitors

Discussion in 'Hardware' started by freddel, Aug 25, 2013.

  1. freddel

    freddel

  2. 3-monitor video cards are not common, so it's likely that these are both dual-monitor... in spite of their having 3 ports.

    3-monitor rigs are often accomplished with 2, dual-port cards... using only 3 of the 4 ports. (Of course, if you have an "extra" port, you'll soon find a use for it.)

    Check out the AMD FirePro v4900. It also has 3 ports, but is stated to "support 3 monitors".
     
  3. Eyefinity
     
  4. freddel

    freddel

  5. I went with 2 EVGA 02G-P3-2639-KR GeForce GT 630 2GB 128-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card, from NewEgg.

    I figured if 1 card went out at least I could function on the other. I am running 3 - SamSung 27" monitors.

    Of course you need 2 PCI Express 2.00 x 16 slots on motherboard.
     
  6. I've had a couple of Nvidia Geforce card with three ports. Even though there are three ports, you can only use two of the three at one time. If you have two available PCI Express slots, you can buy two cards and run three or four monitors.

    If you want just one card to run three monitors for a low price you can get the Galaxy GeForce MDT GT 520. It is for sale refurbished for only $19.00. I just got one. When I mean I just got one, I mean I just installed it about an hour ago. It seems to be working great. I'm running three screens now. The card is a little unique because it runs up to four monitors out of two ports. It comes with two adapters that allow you to hook up two monitors to each of its ports.

    I had an issue with two of my screens being cloned when I set it up, but I called Galaxy's 24 hr tech support. Surprisingly, someone answered right away. They told me what to do and a few click of a mouse later, it worked just fine.

    So, I haven't been using this card for very long, but it seems to be working fine and it was a fantastic deal. When I bought it a couple days ago the seller had 1 refurbished card available. Right now, there are two. Just keep in mind that the stock of refurbished cards might be very limited. Or you could just buy one of the used or new ones. $74 for the new card is still good to be able to run three or four monitors.

    www.amazon.com/Galaxy-GeForce-Multi-display-Graphics-52GGF4AM5UXX/dp/B007YWMFKU
     
  7. Not really unique. At least several cards use this format. Those are not DVI ports on the card, they are DMS-59 ports... designed to run 2-monitors each... and often referred to as a "quad" port card. In the past, not sure about today, some el-cheapo mobos wouldn't run quads.

    However, most cards with 2, DMS-59s are more expensive.
     
  8. freddel

    freddel

    I've just bought the Palit GeForce GT 520 1024MB (1DVI,1HDMI and 1VGA).
    Could you tell me how did you manage to setup the third monitors?!
    When I go multiple monitors it says this CPU support two external displays...

    Thanks for your answer
     
  9. Simple solution.. add a 2nd video card of the same type. Just because a card has 3 ports doesn't necessarily mean it will support 3 monitors.

    Multi-monitor display (>2) is a Windows function.
     
    #10     Oct 4, 2013