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Best possible cheap 3 monitor graphics card?


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#21 silentD11

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Posted 21 June 2012 - 01:06 PM

View Postcipher, on 21 June 2012 - 12:57 PM, said:


Yup. And I ran three 1280x1024 monitors for triple screen gaming (3840x1024) on at first two 8800 GTX cards then a GTX 285, and later a GTX 295. That was back when widescreen was a new concept, lol. It's all relevant to the final resolution.


The problem with what you said is that 8800gtx cards do not support tripple monitors, the GTX 285 and 295 don't support it either, and short of a gtx 680 or 590 no single nvidia card supports tripple monitor gaming at all. So either you were using some other hardware to do this like a matrox or you're making things up.

#22 Vulpesveritas

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Posted 21 June 2012 - 01:28 PM

View PostsilentD11, on 21 June 2012 - 01:06 PM, said:


The problem with what you said is that 8800gtx cards do not support tripple monitors, the GTX 285 and 295 don't support it either, and short of a gtx 680 or 590 no single nvidia card supports tripple monitor gaming at all. So either you were using some other hardware to do this like a matrox or you're making things up.

He is using SLI lol. Running two monitors off of one card and the third off of the second card.

#23 silentD11

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Posted 21 June 2012 - 01:36 PM

View PostVulpesveritas, on 21 June 2012 - 01:28 PM, said:

He is using SLI lol. Running two monitors off of one card and the third off of the second card.


That doesn't work in game though... even with SLI. Tripple monitor nvidia didn't start until the GTX480 hit, and single card didn't hit until the 680.

So unless he was using a matrox (which sucks *** and is riddled with problems and screws SLI up) he's making up gaming off three monitors.

#24 Alfred VonGunn

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Posted 21 June 2012 - 01:51 PM

I paid 179+tax for my ATI 7770 at Frys.. 1 DVI,1 HD and 2 Mini's

#25 cipher

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Posted 21 June 2012 - 02:49 PM

View PostsilentD11, on 21 June 2012 - 01:06 PM, said:


The problem with what you said is that 8800gtx cards do not support tripple monitors, the GTX 285 and 295 don't support it either, and short of a gtx 680 or 590 no single nvidia card supports tripple monitor gaming at all. So either you were using some other hardware to do this like a matrox or you're making things up.


Why so antagonistic?

I used a Matrox TripleHead2Go device. Still have it, just don't run that sort of set up anymore. Two 8800 GTX cards ran games just fine at 3840x1024 (three 1280x1024 monitors) years ago. If you go DVI for the input on the TripleHead device, you need to have a dual-channel DVI connection (or just run VGA analog), which the 8800 GTX cards had.

2009 with the GTX 295, right before I swapped it all out and redid my gaming area with a Dell 30" 2560x1600 and two side monitors on Ergotron arms with a recliner. In this photo the Matrox is mounted on the wall, right behind the left monitor of the three. You can see the input DVI cable just barely above that monitor...
Posted Image

Newer now, but still not completely up to date...
Posted Image


View PostVulpesveritas, on 21 June 2012 - 01:28 PM, said:

He is using SLI lol. Running two monitors off of one card and the third off of the second card.


I actually had triple monitors before my Matrox device too. Ran them with SoftTH (I think that's the name), but performance was lousy until I was able to run SLI with the Matrox.

Edited by cipher, 21 June 2012 - 03:11 PM.


#26 sumdumfu

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Posted 21 June 2012 - 11:21 PM

cipher, bro, i will go to sleep tonight and dream of your setup XD

#27 CynicalCyanide

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Posted 24 June 2012 - 03:20 AM

Sorry for the late reply OP, real life exams called B)

Anyway, i can't be bothered checking if someone else has answered your question, so here's my suggestion:

If you're gaming at 3x 1080p you're going to need a 680 / 7970 minimum. That would allow you (Assuming you have the PSU / mobo as well) to buy a 2nd one of those cards and extend the life of your system down the line.

Otherwise, and personally, i would suggest an SLI build with 2x560ti. (pref the 448 core) That should give you enough grunt to do what you need, and still be cheap enough to do what you need.

if you're gaming at 720p it doesnt matter as much, but a 670 would still be a nice card to make it work, and maybe let you turn up some other settings too.

Good luck and happy gaming!

#28 Natasha Kerensky

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Posted 28 June 2012 - 11:07 AM

View Postiron wolf, on 21 June 2012 - 06:53 AM, said:

Just so you know, a $200 card isn't going to hack it for 3 monitor gaming.

Just won't happen. Not for modern games, at least, unless you dial the reso(s) back till you're looking at something one monitor might have anyway.

Edit: Be aware that many models of card don't support 3 monitor gaming out of the box. For example, no Nvidia cards apart from the 6xx series can support 3 monitors off 1 card. Many (If not almost all) AMD cards will also need a displayport adapter (about what, at least $20 i think) for 3 to work for gaming.


Exactly. $200-$300 video card is not going to do 3 monitor gaming. I guess if you have 3 17" monitors running 1024x768 on each. Even 1280x1024 each monitor is 3840x1024 and that card will be stressed at that rez.

#29 Catamount

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Posted 28 June 2012 - 11:18 AM

Cipher's been in here for a little bit, and the last thing I'd ever call him is a bullshitter. He just doesn't do that.

However, if we want to be nitpicky...

View PostsilentD11, on 21 June 2012 - 11:05 AM, said:

You're not going to push a game over three monitors with a single 6950 at good frame rates and without micro stutter, it won't happen.


You don't get microstutter on single cards. That's an SLI/Crossfire issue. So yes, one can game on a single 6950 without microstutter, regardless of what other problems one might have.



Of course with that said, Natasha Kerensky is correct. Even running three 1280x1024 screens, it's going to be a stretch. It could be done, and the gaming would be passable, but I think a single 24', 1080P monitor would be a better way to go.

Edited by Catamount, 28 June 2012 - 11:23 AM.


#30 Diagnosis

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Posted 28 June 2012 - 11:35 AM

View PostsilentD11, on 21 June 2012 - 01:36 PM, said:


That doesn't work in game though... even with SLI. Tripple monitor nvidia didn't start until the GTX480 hit, and single card didn't hit until the 680.

So unless he was using a matrox (which sucks *** and is riddled with problems and screws SLI up) he's making up gaming off three monitors.


Correct...he most likely was playing a game on one screen and just had an extended desk top. 3 screen on one game is an entire different ball of wax.

#31 cipher

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Posted 28 June 2012 - 12:00 PM

View PostDiagnosis, on 28 June 2012 - 11:35 AM, said:


Correct...he most likely was playing a game on one screen and just had an extended desk top. 3 screen on one game is an entire different ball of wax.


Scroll up to see my reply. :)

Triple monitor gaming with SoftTH for a short period of time, then with a Matrox TripleHead2Go (digital) later.

#32 Caballo

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Posted 13 March 2013 - 03:51 PM

View PostsilentD11, on 21 June 2012 - 01:06 PM, said:


The problem with what you said is that 8800gtx cards do not support tripple monitors, the GTX 285 and 295 don't support it either, and short of a gtx 680 or 590 no single nvidia card supports tripple monitor gaming at all. So either you were using some other hardware to do this like a matrox or you're making things up.

View PostsilentD11, on 21 June 2012 - 01:36 PM, said:


That doesn't work in game though... even with SLI. Tripple monitor nvidia didn't start until the GTX480 hit, and single card didn't hit until the 680.

So unless he was using a matrox (which sucks *** and is riddled with problems and screws SLI up) he's making up gaming off three monitors.


You're kidding ¿Right? the triple display with Nvidia SLI was possible with two 7300 GT back in 2005


BTW, to the opener: I'm running a mid budget thing, and i'm really satisfied with its performance:

Posted Image

Metro 2033 3840X1280 on GTX 460 SLI. The MoBo is a Gigabyte X58A, an I7 950, and 6 GB of ram,

Posted Image.


might add they're a bit OC (750 Mhz from 675 stock) until i go water, but hey, they work.

Edited by Caballo, 15 March 2013 - 03:25 AM.






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