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What do I need for 3 monitors?

post #1 of 33
6/8/11 at 12:23am
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Hi everyone. I was wondering what I needed to run three monitors? My specs are below.

Do all three monitors have to be the same? because I have 1 main 23inch asus and two Dell 19inch monitors that are the same for the sides. I want to set them up for 3 monitor gaming and recording.

Am I able to run all three monitors off one card or do I need 2 AMD/ATI cards in crossfire.

Thank you
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post #2 of 33
6/8/11 at 12:36am
Money. You need money.

Yes you can mix different size monitors.

Yes one AMD card can run Eyefinity. I'd get something powerful like a MSI Lightning AMD 6970 2GB and over clock it.
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post #3 of 33
6/8/11 at 12:45am
I was under the impression that if you're using your nVidia card, they'd have to be essentially the same monitor. Heres a good link for surround on an nVidia card. As for ATI, all you'd need is 3 monitors of the same resolution. You can run Eyefinity off of one card if you want, you'd just get more performance out of crossfire. For multiple monitors, you want more vram for better performance.
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post #4 of 33
6/8/11 at 12:51am
Quote:
Originally Posted by bfeng91 View Post
I was under the impression that if you're using your nVidia card, they'd have to be essentially the same monitor. Heres a good link for surround on an nVidia card. As for ATI, all you'd need is 3 monitors of the same resolution. You can run Eyefinity off of one card if you want, you'd just get more performance out of crossfire. For multiple monitors, you want more vram for better performance.
you can do 2 displays off one nvidia card. you can run 3 off 2 cards.

on the amd 5 or 6 series cards at the least you can run 3 displays off one card with a active dp adapter and sometimes a passive depending on the situation.

if you go sapphire Flex edition you can run 3 dvi connections off one card out the box with no adapters. I just went from a xfx 5770 with a vga to dp passive adapter to the sapphire flex 6870 and im running 3 dvis with just the included hdmi to dvi connector
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post #5 of 33
6/8/11 at 10:17pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by ghettogeddy View Post
you can do 2 displays off one nvidia card. you can run 3 off 2 cards.

on the amd 5 or 6 series cards at the least you can run 3 displays off one card with a active dp adapter and sometimes a passive depending on the situation.

if you go sapphire Flex edition you can run 3 dvi connections off one card out the box with no adapters. I just went from a xfx 5770 with a vga to dp passive adapter to the sapphire flex 6870 and im running 3 dvis with just the included hdmi to dvi connector
Would I have to get that 6870? or is it just called the flex because it comes with thr hdmi to dvi adapter? I have been looking at the xfx 6870 for a little bit now and some 6950's.

If you can explain it a little more that would be awesome. Am I able to run two monitors on dvi and a third on hdmi or do all three have to be dvi? And if I got the xfx 6870 could I just buy a hdmi to dvi adapter and 3 monitors will work?

Thanks for all the help everyone
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post #6 of 33
6/8/11 at 10:34pm
If you're running 3 monitors, get a card that has 2GB of VRAM. You'll need it.

For AMD cards(apparently with an exception of the Flex) you need either:
1. 3 Monitors with at least 1 that supports DisplayPort natively
2. 3 Monitors with at least 1 DisplayPort to DVI/HDMI ACTIVE Adapter.

You don't need multiple monitors if you go AMD. You do if you go nVidia.

The monitors do not need to be the same, although it is much nicer in my opinion.

These are the most common combinations:
DVI, DVI, DisplayPort
DVI, DVI, DisplayPort to DVI/HDMI Active adapter
DVI, HDMI, DisplayPort
DVI, HDMI, DisplayPort to DVI/HDMI Active Adapter
HDMI, HDMI, DisplayPort
HDMI, HDMI, DisplayPort to DVI/HDMI Active Adapter


You need an active DisplayPort adapter if it is going from DisplayPort to DVI or HDMI. You can use Passive if it is going to VGA(I did this. Not recommended.)
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post #7 of 33
6/8/11 at 10:52pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by iRaiden View Post
If you're running 3 monitors, get a card that has 2GB of VRAM. You'll need it.

For AMD cards(apparently with an exception of the Flex) you need either:
1. 3 Monitors with at least 1 that supports DisplayPort natively
2. 3 Monitors with at least 1 DisplayPort to DVI/HDMI ACTIVE Adapter.

You don't need multiple monitors if you go AMD. You do if you go nVidia.

The monitors do not need to be the same, although it is much nicer in my opinion.

These are the most common combinations:
DVI, DVI, DisplayPort
DVI, DVI, DisplayPort to DVI/HDMI Active adapter
DVI, HDMI, DisplayPort
DVI, HDMI, DisplayPort to DVI/HDMI Active Adapter
HDMI, HDMI, DisplayPort
HDMI, HDMI, DisplayPort to DVI/HDMI Active Adapter


You need an active DisplayPort adapter if it is going from DisplayPort to DVI or HDMI. You can use Passive if it is going to VGA(I did this. Not recommended.)
unless you get a flex edition from sapphire

any of the 5 here
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...rder=BESTMATCH

Quote:
SAPPHIRE FLEX TECHNOLOGY - 3 DVI EYEFINITY OUT OF THE BOX
Targeting maximum flexibility with minimum outlay, Sapphire FleX Technology simplifies AMD’s multi-monitor Eyefinity solution by allowing 3x DVI monitors to be connected to the board ‘out of the box’ WITHOUT the requirement for expensive DisplayPort monitors or Active Adapters.
you can run 3 dvi(with supplyed hdmi to dvi) or 2 dvi and a hdmi so forth so on but unless you run off a dp port you do not need a dp adapter to run 3 .

but this is only on the sapphire flex edition cards no other company does this yet.

this is the one i currently have and it worked right out the box
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-924-_-Product
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post #8 of 33
6/9/11 at 2:39pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by ghettogeddy View Post
unless you get a flex edition from sapphire

any of the 5 here
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...rder=BESTMATCH



you can run 3 dvi(with supplyed hdmi to dvi) or 2 dvi and a hdmi so forth so on but unless you run off a dp port you do not need a dp adapter to run 3 .

but this is only on the sapphire flex edition cards no other company does this yet.

this is the one i currently have and it worked right out the box
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-924-_-Product
What are your fram rates on whatever settings you use? I would get the 6950 for the 2gb of ram but its .25inches too big for my storm scout (the sapphire flex version). But some were saying that a 6870 with 1gb ram wont be enough for three monitor gaming. Whats your take on that (and considering that I have a PhenII 955/might upgrade to 2500k).
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post #9 of 33
6/9/11 at 2:42pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kyleswitch View Post
Hi everyone. I was wondering what I needed to run three monitors? My specs are below.

Do all three monitors have to be the same? because I have 1 main 23inch asus and two Dell 19inch monitors that are the same for the sides. I want to set them up for 3 monitor gaming and recording.

Am I able to run all three monitors off one card or do I need 2 AMD/ATI cards in crossfire.

Thank you
What you propose will not work as you'd like it to for 3 monitor gaming.

ALL 3 panels together will run at the lowest common resolution. Meaning your 23" monitor will look like crap. If you don't want to Eyefinity, and just have 3 separate monitors and only game on the largest this can work. Otherwise I would *strongly* advise against this.
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post #10 of 33
6/9/11 at 4:32pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Skripka View Post
What you propose will not work as you'd like it to for 3 monitor gaming.

ALL 3 panels together will run at the lowest common resolution. Meaning your 23" monitor will look like crap. If you don't want to Eyefinity, and just have 3 separate monitors and only game on the largest this can work. Otherwise I would *strongly* advise against this.
Sounds like that makes sense. But, wouldnt I be able to select a certain resolution to make it like widescreen. For example, if I dont want it to look like crap I can select a smaller resolution (black bars on top and bottom) to make it look like a widescreen movie, this way there is no difference in each screen?
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