Multiple Monitors

maklabouhlel · 11 Apr 2015 at 14:51

I need some advice please. I'm looking for the cheapest amd/nvidia cards to support triple monitors. One monitor has display port, HDMI, DVI and VGA and the other two have HDMI, DVI and VGA.

Voicon · 11 Apr 2015 at 14:59

What resolution are the monitors and what games do you play, you can get a cheap card to do eyefinity or surround but on GTAV they would probably be useless?

Confused Stu · 11 Apr 2015 at 15:09

Does your motherboard gave any graphics outputs on it? Every GPU produced in the last 10 years can output to 2 monitors, but only newer/more expensive ones can do 3. Cheapest way therefore is to run two screens from one GPU and the third screen from the onboard.

Unless you're gaming, in which case you'll need a decent GPU to run games on 1 screen and output to 2 others, or a very beefy GPU to play a game across all 3.

maklabouhlel · 11 Apr 2015 at 16:18

I'm already doing two monitors with a 560Ti but need to add third. There will be no gaming on this pc just watching flash player videos on one monitor and simple work stuff on the others. One is 1920x1200 and the others are 1920x1080. Sorry, I don't have onboard gpu because the cpu is FX8350.

ALXAndy · 11 Apr 2015 at 17:00

Buy another TI?

smogsy · 11 Apr 2015 at 17:25

you could either buy another 560TI & sli them getting some fps improvements or get
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-021-PL&groupid=701&catid=1914&subcat=2304

& use it just for the third monitor i used to do something close to this

ALXAndy · 11 Apr 2015 at 17:38

You dont need to SLI them but yeah, may as well.

Voicon · 11 Apr 2015 at 18:32

A simple solution is https://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CB-053-SR I use one of these on a laptop for 4 screens in work and it works perfectly.

MeMeMeMe · 11 Apr 2015 at 20:04

If you're not planning to game, and its for general windows use, a basic AMD 5450 is all you need. You'll need an active mini-displayport to DVI adaptor, for another £20 or so, for one of the monitors.

If you have two graphic card slots in your PC, you could buy any two of the cheapest graphic cards (5450 is still a good choice) and connect 2 of your monitors to one of them and one to the other. That way you dont need a DP to DVI adaptor.

maklabouhlel · 12 Apr 2015 at 14:16

Voicon said:
A simple solution is https://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CB-053-SR I use one of these on a laptop for 4 screens in work and it works perfectly.

Would this configuration support an extended display?

maklabouhlel · 12 Apr 2015 at 14:17

MeMeMeMe said:
If you're not planning to game, and its for general windows use, a basic AMD 5450 is all you need. You'll need an active mini-displayport to DVI adaptor, for another £20 or so, for one of the monitors.

If you have two graphic card slots in your PC, you could buy any two of the cheapest graphic cards (5450 is still a good choice) and connect 2 of your monitors to one of them and one to the other. That way you dont need a DP to DVI adaptor.

I have that card lying around. Why would I need an mini-displayport to DVI adaptor? Could I not just connect with HDMI, DVI and VGA?

Voicon · 12 Apr 2015 at 14:54

maklabouhlel said:
Would this configuration support an extended display?

I have 4 monitors connected to the laptop including one through the USB adapter and they are all extended independant displays, no duplicates screens.

Confused Stu · 12 Apr 2015 at 16:37

MeMeMeMe said:
If you're not planning to game, and its for general windows use, a basic AMD 5450 is all you need. You'll need an active mini-displayport to DVI adaptor, for another £20 or so, for one of the monitors.

If you have two graphic card slots in your PC, you could buy any two of the cheapest graphic cards (5450 is still a good choice) and connect 2 of your monitors to one of them and one to the other. That way you dont need a DP to DVI adaptor.

maklabouhlel said:
I have that card lying around. Why would I need an mini-displayport to DVI adaptor? Could I not just connect with HDMI, DVI and VGA?

The AMD 5xxx and 6xxx series only supported two monitors on DVI/HDMI/VGA, any additional monitors needed to be on the DisplayPort output (although an Active adapter on the DP output works fine). The problem you would have is finding a 5450 with a DP output - I've only ever seen them with DVI/VGA/HDMI which means only two can be used at once.

The AMD 7xxx series and above can power three or more monitors on DVI/VGA/HDMI provided they're the same model of monitor (or are compatible enough for the card to use the same clock generator for all three, which pretty much means identical monitors), or you can use the DP output for the third/fourth monitors just like the earlier generations.

Nvidia can only power two screens on Fermi architecture, but can power three on Kepler and Maxwell. This means you could go for any 6xx, 7xx or 9xx card with the right outputs, provided the card isn't a Fermi rebrand (if going for a 6xx series card, check http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GeForce_600_series and avoid any GPUs with code names starting GF).

Alternatively, if your motherboard support two GPUs and you're not planning on running a game in Eyefinity/Surround, you can pop pretty much any two in run two screens from one and a third screen from the other, just don't run the cards in Crossfire/SLI. You can even mix and match an AMD card with an Nvidia one if you fancy! Or, if your motherboard/CPU supports it, run two screens from a GPU and the third from the onboard.

maklabouhlel · 12 Apr 2015 at 22:05

MeMeMeMe said:
If you're not planning to game, and its for general windows use, a basic AMD 5450 is all you need. You'll need an active mini-displayport to DVI adaptor, for another £20 or so, for one of the monitors.

If you have two graphic card slots in your PC, you could buy any two of the cheapest graphic cards (5450 is still a good choice) and connect 2 of your monitors to one of them and one to the other. That way you dont need a DP to DVI adaptor.

My monitor Dell U2410 has a normal displayport, not mini, so will I also have to get a mini-displayport to displayport adaptor?

MeMeMeMe · 13 Apr 2015 at 00:37

maklabouhlel said:
My monitor Dell U2410 has a normal displayport, not mini, so will I also have to get a mini-displayport to displayport adaptor?

Only if the card doesn't come with them. Some cards have normal sized displayports, some have mini-DPs and often have the adaptor included.

maklabouhlel · 13 Apr 2015 at 00:49

MeMeMeMe said:
Only if the card doesn't come with them. Some cards have normal sized displayports, some have mini-DPs and often have the adaptor included.

I'm getting confused now. I thought the active mini-displayport to DVI adapter connects to the DVI port of the card and displayport of monitor. Am I right?

maklabouhlel · 13 Apr 2015 at 09:33

maklabouhlel said:
I'm getting confused now. I thought the active mini-displayport to DVI adapter connects to the DVI port of the card and displayport of monitor. Am I right?

My HD5450 only has HDMI, DVI and VGA. Does that mean I can't do an extended triple monitor with that card?

Freakbro · 13 Apr 2015 at 10:09

maklabouhlel said:
I'm getting confused now. I thought the active mini-displayport to DVI adapter connects to the DVI port of the card and displayport of monitor. Am I right?

No it's the other way around. The mDP end goes into the card and connects to a DVI cable to the monitor.

Freakbro · 13 Apr 2015 at 10:14

maklabouhlel said:
My HD5450 only has HDMI, DVI and VGA. Does that mean I can't do an extended triple monitor with that card?

Strangely the specs on the amd site say its got a Display Port as well,

Integrated dual-link DVI output with HDCP11

Max resolution: 2560x160012

Integrated DisplayPort output

Max resolution: 2560x160012

HDMI® (With 3D, Deep Color and x.v.Color™)

Max resolution: 1920x120012

Integrated VGA output

Max resolution: 2048x153612

But I can't see it on the picture

http://www.amd.com/en-us/products/graphics/desktop/5000/5450#

Edit :

And this review says the HD5450 can do Eyefinity (which uses a DisplayPort)

Eyefinity is the marking name for a feature that will definitely appeal to many potential buyers, and the Radeon HD 5450 is perhaps most attractive to non-gamers with a practical need for a triple-monitor setup

While Eyefinity is a fantastic tool, and we're glad to see it up and down ATI's Radeon HD 5000-series, it does have a couple major drawbacks in a budget-oriented environment. The most significant restriction is mandatory DisplayPort use. In a triple-display setup, at least one monitor must use the card's DisplayPort output

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/radeon-hd-5450,review-31803-3.html

Orcvader · 13 Apr 2015 at 10:59

It's highly up to the vendor on what monitor ports the card has. I remember there being Eyfinity editions of a few low end AMD cards but they're very hard to come by now.

To OP, I would say jus insert the 5450 into a second PCIe slot in your PC, install the drivers, and connect it to the 3rd monitor in any way you like, it will run fine in extended mode.