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3 Screen Advice

virdee2

virdee2

virdee2

Associate
Joined
10 Jan 2008
Posts
388
Location
Kent, UK
Hey everyone!

As the title suggests I need some help with my attempt at a triple screen setup.

I have been given (yes, given he he) two VGA 19/20" Samsung led screens to go with my 21" one already setup.

I have a 6850 so I can currently use only 2 screens which doesn't help for games really but I want to make use of all 3.

So basically I was thinking of getting another 6850 but would I be better off investing in two new cards and scrap the 6850?

Could I crossfire my current 6850 with a 7850 for example perhaps?

Any ideas are appreciated :)
 
you can run 3 monitors off a single 7850, i would have thought a 6850 would have been able to do it too, but looking around for 5 minutes it seems people have problems.

You need at least 1 screen to be using displayport, or an active displayport to dvi converter to get them running.
You'll have to check on each specific card, but my 6950 ran 4 monitors, so a 7850 should be able to do 3.
 
A second 6850 will let you use all 3 screens (2 attached to card 1, 1 attached to card 2) but you won't be able to use Crossfire or Eyefinity so you'll still be gaming on 1 or 2 screens utilising only the power of 1 graphics card - it'd be cheaper to just add a 6450 or similar to do this.

You can run 3 screens from your existing 1 card, but only 2 can use DVI/HDMI/VGA ports - 3rd card needs to use the Displayport output. If your monitors don't Displayports (none of mine do), you'll need Active adapters - Passive won't work for a 3rd screen. Seeing as you've got VGA monitors, I'd suggest Startech's DP2VGA or MDP2VGA adapters, depending if your 6850 has full size or mini displayports - both adapters are active and I've used the mini one myself before.

This should enable you to get all 3 screens running, and you'll be able to setup Eyefinity and run your games across all 3. If the performance isn't as good as you'd like, then sell the card and upgrade - you won't have list anything as you'll need that displayport adapter anyway on your new card.

Remember, in Eyefinity all screens need to run the same resolution, and lowest common denominator wins, so if you're rocking 2 x 1920x1080 monitors and add a third of 1366x768, you'll be limited on gaming to running 1366x768 on each - although at desktop in Extended mode you'll be able to run each screen at their correct resolutions.

Get that 3rd screen up, get some games played, and get some pictures of your desk on the forum when it's all up and running! :)
 
wow thanks guys! i have just traced a cheap second hand 6850 the same as mine and am going out today to hunt for the displayport adaptor mentioned :)

once its all set up i will defo add some pics lol getting excited now thanks to the advice you've all given lol its gonna be great!
 
one more question; would i have to have a displayport to VGA adaptor to run off this one card or could i find a HDMI to VGA adaptor that would work instead?

Displayport seems harder to find...
 
AMD cards (except FLEX models) have only 2 clock generators. DVI, VGA and HDMI all require a clock signal, Displayport doesn't. Active adapters produce their own clock signal, passive adapters don't and force the GPU to produce the clock signal. This means your card can power 2 screens on DVI, VGA, HDMI or passive adapters. After that, and other screens need to be on Displayport or active adapters.

That's a long way of saying no, you can't use an HDMI to VGA adapter to run the third screen. What outputs does your 6850 have and I'll list the options you have available?

Don't forget to run Crossfire, only the ports on the primary card are active. You can only use the outputs on the second card if you're happy running two cards running independent screens.
 
First of all I appreciate the help massively!

I currently have the Asus 6850 and am awaiting a second card of the same in the post.

At the moment I have 2 screens connected. I have one connected via dvi which is my original screen.

The second is a vga screen connected to the dvi port in the card via a dvi to vga adaptor.

The third monitor I have is a vga one and I was hoping to connect it to the card via the only ports left: one hdmi or one display port.

The card has one dvi , one dvi, one hdmi and one display port.

Is that what you meant?
 
Perfect, so your screens on the DVI ports can stay there, and you'll need to use an Active Displayport to VGA adapter for the 3rd screen, you can't use the HDMI port unless you unplug one of your DVIs. These adapters don't tend to be carried by High Street shops, but if you Google for "DP2VGA", or search for this on Amazon or eBay you should find them to order (OcUK don't do them, sadly).

As you're going to be using the second card for crossfire, it's ports will be disabled, so utilising the Displayport of card 1 is the only option you have to run the third card.
 
You're a legend thank you!

I found a place to get the adapter from, I noticed OcUK did a mini port one but not standard size one... Maybe next time i need one they'll stock them ;)

Thanks a bunch stu!
 
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