Triple Monitor Preparation help

DeanV255 · 3 Oct 2012 at 21:05

Hey guys Dean here, wondering if you can help me moving into the triple monitor league.

Well im wanting to move away from my Panasonic 42" Plasma TV, its a very big, power hungry, massive heat producing TV, amazing visual quality though. Great for jumping on consoles and games, not so amazing for day to day uses, minor screen burn and so on, nothing too bad its actually the heat it produces is amazing. Im also running a second monitor at a lower resolution as its an older monitor, due to this its auto-overclocks my GPU as it has to run two different resolutions, now i've been told three screens at the same res and eyefinity etc will not auto-overclock my card allowing me to keep the fan speeds lower so i dont have to combat heat, if thats true or not i guess i will find out.

Okay back to the point, i'm not entirely sure what i need besides a graphics card, and three monitors and a few cables. I have no idea what i need in terms of creating the connection, I've wondered if a HDMI spliter going from the HDMI port and two HDMI cables from that to two of the screens and a final HDMI to DVI cable i have to the last screen would work? As my GPU's layout is a HDMI and two DVI ports and i think a mini-display port, but i know more about a mini-display port as i do with types of cat breeds.

The monitors im thinking about are "Acer G6 Series G246HLB" as they have just about everything im looking for. Under 5ms response time, HDMI and DVI inputs, 1920 x 1080 and 60Hz and a nice 24" screen size. Think design and fairly cheap. They also have amazing picture quality as i was able to test one on a shop floor i was in whilst looking with an impressive Contrast Ratio: 100,000,000:1. So any input would be nice, also suggestion of screens are welcome though my needs on a monitor maybe slightly uptight.

Surveyor · 3 Oct 2012 at 22:07

For three monitors you have to run one from the DisplayPort connection with the HD 6970.

The monitor you referred to has a DVI connection so you could connect two monitors with a DVI-D to DVI-D cable but for the third you'd need an active miniDP or DP to DVI adapter costing around £20-25 and then a DVI-D to DVI-D cable.

If the monitor doesn't come with one then DVI cables such as this: OcUK Value 2m DVI Male - Male Monitor Cable £4.99

Active DP adapter: HIS Active DisplayPort to Single Link-DVI Eyefinity Adapter £19.99

Active miniDP adapter: HIS Active Mini DisplayPort to Single Link-DVI Eyefinity Adapter £23.99

What do you intend to use three monitors for?

For desktop use the HD 6970 will be fine.

For gaming you're going to struggle with a single HD 6970 in a lot of games.

I think the downclocking thing is wrong.

If you have more than one monitor connected (the same resolution or not) the clock speeds are increased.

I don't know anything about the monitor you've selected so someone may have a better choice if you state your total budget.

DeanV255 · 3 Oct 2012 at 23:57

Cheers for the reply.

When gaming i will use only one screen, plus im thinking of upgrading when the new HD8000 and GTX700 series GPU's come out, im looking for something with about double the power of the 6970 that the 7970 and 680 is very close to doing so im hoping the 8970 is around double the speed or and same for the 780 and if so i will pick up one of them, still tri-monitor gaming i will dabble in but not much, not hardcore at least.

My main use's are multi-tasking applications as im a Game Engine and Animation student as well as in full time work i often have many applications such as Maya, 3DS MAX, Photoshop, Word, Excell, internet tabs/browsers and the list goes on and on open at multiple times and sometimes more.

So for multiple monitors i need:

- To use the mini-display port on my graphics card (Not sure the monitor has one so i'll have to use that display port to DVI adapter
- 3 DVI-D cables

Cheers for the help, £24 is pretty steep for an adapter but i can't say i didn't expect it.
My budget is around £370, not including cables though for cables from what i've learnt the overall budget for £410 i believe, so i can get some gold high quality cables and the mini-display port to DVI. I'm unable to find a price for these montiors on OCuK but they are about £122.99 each so that takes me to the £370 montior budget. From what i've read they are really good monitors though so i dont mind spending extra for a larger screen like 24"

DeanV255 · 4 Oct 2012 at 00:10

Here are the monitors specs of the one im looking at if anyone wants to use them as a sample to work of and or better.

"Display
Screen Size 24 in
Screen technology LED
Aspect Ratio 16:9
HD Support Yes
Resolution (Native) 1920 x 1080 Pixels
Resolution Type (Native) Full HD
Brightness 250 cd/m2
Contrast Ratio - Dynamic 100,000,000:1
Response time 2 ms
Resolution
1920 x 1080 Graphic Mode 60 Hz
Warranty
Warranty 2 Years Bring-in
Interfaces/Ports
Digital In 1 x DVI (with HDCP)
HDMI Ports 1 x HDMI
Physical
Form Factor LED Monitor
Case Colour Black"

Axeia · 4 Oct 2012 at 12:05

display port to DVI adapter

ACTIVE adapter.
If you don't get an active adapter you'll still be limited to using two displays tops, this is also why these are relatively pricey for a simple adapter, they're not that simple

.

The Acer side from the colour temperature being set too high (image is too 'warm') is a good monitor and if you've already seen it and liked it I'd say stick to it.

skyripper · 4 Oct 2012 at 12:08

This may seem obvious but you also need the physical desk space for them, or a suitable monitor arm capable of holding all 3 monitors.

DeanV255 · 4 Oct 2012 at 19:12

Ah yes sorry i knew active was important i just forgot to include it, i'd be lieing if i full knew what that meant but i know, or i believe it has something to do with the adaptation or alteration of the signal from the cables that may also include the bandwidth needed.

I don't want to sound like im defending this monitor like its a god of monitors but i like warm images, this is why i like the Plasma screen, it has really high, vibrant and warm colors then really stand out compared to my smaller screen i have next it. I've tested the screen in stores as with monitors you can't go 100% of specs and i was really impressed with it, i tried out some 120Hz monitors and felt minor benefit so im happy with 60Hz.

As desk size goes, im confident to say i should have enough, im trying to get some solid measurements as i like to be sure but this desk has a 42" thick plasma on it and a 19" Samsung SyncMaster 920NW that fit on nicely, i will take some measurements as soon as i find out the size of a 24" monitor, though i may just have to grab another 24" monitor size and work from that as i dont seem to be able to find the measurements online for that specific screen. Logically im going to say around 61cm though from what i have read.