Multiple Monitor Setup help (1 Viewer)

[Anthony Moore]

I am wanting to setup my Dell Dimension with 3 lcd monitors. I have another Dell setup with 2 LCDs, but thats really easy in the display properties setup, and using my Nvidia 6600GT video card. It has a DVI and VGA hookup (and a VGA to DVI adapter)

For 3 LCDs do I need 2 video cards? Do they need to be the same? Do I need a special program to set them up and run them?

Id like to the the option to be able to run my mouse over all 3 and be one big monitor, AND be able to run seperate programs on all 3 if I choose. The more flexibility the better. I would like them all to be DVI connections.

Anyone have any experience with more than 2 monitors on one computer who could point me in the right direction?

Thank you.

 

[Andrew Bunk]

I have heard of triple-head video cards, so that might be your easiest solution.

 

[RyanCC]

you will most likely have to buy a new card in order to run all three off you're one computer. i hear matrox makes cards that can do this, and i also hear that people have been doing this with sli in sli capable computers.

 

[Kimmo Jaskari]

Matrox Parhelia can handle three screens on one card. Not a top-notch gaming card and not altogether cheap either, but very good image quality for generic computing tasks and good support for triple screens. Might definitely be an option if two screens isn't enough.

There's also the Nvidia Quadro. Up to four screens, but again not a top-notch gaming solution. Probably quite good for generic computing tasks that aren't really 3d-heavy.

And of course, you can go with multiple graphics cards. If you have a newish PCIe motherboard you should be able to get four screens by using two two-monitor graphics cards. They should probably be the same to minimize the risk of problems. Never done this myself but can see no reason for it not to work... but I certainly can't offer hard data that it will.

And lastly, in the "Are we drooling yet?" department:

http://www.digitaltigers.com/zenview-powertriohd.shtml

http://www.9xmedia.com/pages-Build_a...gurations.html

 

[Tekara]

What it ultimately sounds like you are looking to do is to run three seperate computers linked by a program called synergy ( http://synergy2.sourceforge.net/ ) which allows one mouse and keyboard to by dragged from one computer's monitor to the others as though they were one big computer with a multi-monitor setup

But also along those lines, when I ran my three monitor setup, I used a dual head PCI card. My main 21" monitor was driven by the AGP card alone and the two smaller side moniters were driven by the pci card.

 

[Anthony Moore]

I really would like to game. I love my Age of Empires 3 on my 6600GT and Dell 24" LCD.

And I would really like to have the same quality graphics on this computer (at least on the middle of the 3 monitors)so my friends can come over and play AOE3 and such with me.

So my best bet for good quality would be 2 video cards like the 6600GT? Is it easy setup in my display properties or would I need a special program? I would like the option of it being like one big monitor and being able to move it between the screens like one big desktop, AND the option of running different programs on the 3.

PS: that Synergy program sounds cool but no t really what im looking for.

Thanks.

 

[Mark Giles]

i am doing exactly what your looking for. I have 3 19in sony lcd monitors. But I spent extra money and bought me a PCI express(pci-e) motherboard that supports 2 pci-e video cards. I bought 2 bfg 6800 overclocked video cards that have 2 dvi outputs each. I plug the three monitors into three of the four outputs and then the nvidia utility detects all monitors and allows me to use dual screen or the horizontal setting. Either one of these settings is what your looking for. This will be one large desktop that you can move your mouse and windows over.

Gaming is another issue. Amazingly there isnt a lot of games that support 3 monitors. Hardly any really. You can find ways to tweak the resolution the games starts in to make it spread over all three monitors. But most of the time, this requires the game to be in windowed mode (not full screen).

Without the "surround gaming", 3 monitors is still worth it to me. The only gripe I have is with my monitors. The resolution is limited on LCD monitors and I'm used to having a much much higher resolution on my old crt monitors. Certain programs I run have a fixed sized window and they just dont fit right when trying to run multiple instances of the program.

I made another post about this earlier too. I hope this helps!

 

[Len Cheong]

The problem is that none of these triple or quad head cards enable you to game at good frame rates at high resolution (1900x1200). The best video cards that can run the latest games only come with dual dvi. I assume you want to be more productive and are a multitasker. Why not buy another computer and run the 3rd and possibly 4th display from that. This way when a friend comes over, you can truly game against each other over the network. You can also game while doing other things on the other computer. Sounds excessive but maybe not if your a busybody.

 

[Kimmo Jaskari]

Well, the multiple-computer option has its advantages, but it would be far easier to get a dual-pci-e motherboard and another graphics card.

It should even be possible to get a far slower PCI card with dual DVI's and use those for the extra side displays and keep the full firepower of the dedicated PCIe card for gaming use.

 

[Parker Clack]

http://digitaltigers.com/zenview_us4...FRqXJAodnyI6Cg

Interesting list to say the least.

 

[Kimmo Jaskari]

Yeah, I like that five-screen version of their "zenview hd" setup that I linked to above - one gigantic 30-incher in the middle and two 20-inchers in portrait mode on both sides. Talk about screen real estate!

Of course the sale of real estate is what would be required to afford that $8000... namely the house.

 

[jedd999]

I am searching for a setup for multiple TVs in my home theater setup and came across this thread...

Funny how a few years later the solution is so simple... ATI Eyefinity (Can have 3 displays no problem)

... sorry to revive such an old thread