Triple Display Question

[ExcaliburMM]

Hey guys,
This should be a straightforward issue but unfortunately I'm reading a lot of confusing and conflicting information around the net and I figure this is always the best place to ask. I need to run 3 monitors, all off VGA or DVI, from a low profile, single slot card where the heatsink does not extend past the edge of the card.

This is for a workstation rather than gaming, and if it were 2 monitors it would be completely straight forward. However once you add the third monitor into the mix no one seems to be able to give a straight answer on what works, what doesn't and why.

I see the cards with the triple DVI adapters going to the back of the card but they're usually 120$ or above for what should be a simple 40-60$ low powered card. I've used HDMI to DVI cables before so theoretically if I can find one that has triple monitor capability and it has the standard 1 VGA / 1 DVI / 1 HDMI that should still work out. Why its so hard to find a card like this that isn't insanely priced I'll never know.

So guys, point me in the right direction please?

 

[KaRLiToS]

Hey guys,
This should be a straightforward issue but unfortunately I'm reading a lot of confusing and conflicting information around the net and I figure this is always the best place to ask. I need to run 3 monitors, all off VGA or DVI, from a low profile, single slot card where the heatsink does not extend past the edge of the card.

This is for a workstation rather than gaming, and if it were 2 monitors it would be completely straight forward. However once you add the third monitor into the mix no one seems to be able to give a straight answer on what works, what doesn't and why.

I see the cards with the triple DVI adapters going to the back of the card but they're usually 120$ or above for what should be a simple 40-60$ low powered card. I've used HDMI to DVI cables before so theoretically if I can find one that has triple monitor capability and it has the standard 1 VGA / 1 DVI / 1 HDMI that should still work out. Why its so hard to find a card like this that isn't insanely priced I'll never know.

So guys, point me in the right direction please?

What are the monitors, and what is your actual card?

Also, what is your budget?

 

[ExcaliburMM]

I'd like to spend under 100$. Monitors are generic dell 1280x1024s with VGA and DVI inputs. I don't have an exact model on the monitors for you unfortunately.

 

[KaRLiToS]

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...33-310308934-2 OR http://www.amazon.com/Sapphire-Rade...8&qid=1403687229&sr=8-1&keywords=11215-05-20G

88$

Sapphire Radeon R7 250 Eyefinity Video Card - 1GB GDDR5, PCI-Express 3.0 (x16), AMD CrossFireX - 11215-05-20G - (FREE Game up to $27 value after purchase, limited offer)

 

[KaRLiToS]

Or something like that on Nvidia side

99$

http://www.ncixus.com/products/?sku=98790&vpn=GV-N740D5OC-1GI&manufacture=Gigabyte

Gigabyte GeForce GT 740 OC 1071MHZ 1GB 5.0GHZ GDDR5 2xDVI HDMI VGA PCI-E Video Card -

 

[ExcaliburMM]

........

Did you miss the part that said

I need to run 3 monitors, all off VGA or DVI, from a low profile, single slot card where the heatsink does not extend past the edge of the card.

?

Those are both full height dual slot cards....

 

[KaRLiToS]

I tried, sorry.

 

[Sequences]

Maybe try looking around workstation video cards since they are usually single slot? The workstation types typically have 2 monitor support, though. Finding one that comes with 3 out of the box under your budget might be difficult.

Just to get you started, this one has 3 ports.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814195109

 

[blastingcap]

Hey guys,
This should be a straightforward issue but unfortunately I'm reading a lot of confusing and conflicting information around the net and I figure this is always the best place to ask. I need to run 3 monitors, all off VGA or DVI, from a low profile, single slot card where the heatsink does not extend past the edge of the card.

This is for a workstation rather than gaming, and if it were 2 monitors it would be completely straight forward. However once you add the third monitor into the mix no one seems to be able to give a straight answer on what works, what doesn't and why.

I see the cards with the triple DVI adapters going to the back of the card but they're usually 120$ or above for what should be a simple 40-60$ low powered card. I've used HDMI to DVI cables before so theoretically if I can find one that has triple monitor capability and it has the standard 1 VGA / 1 DVI / 1 HDMI that should still work out. Why its so hard to find a card like this that isn't insanely priced I'll never know.

So guys, point me in the right direction please?

If you do NOT need to merge all three displays into one massive resolution, then the cheapest thing to do is to run one display off your mobo and two off your video card. Any cheapo video card should be up to the task. But you will only be able to run this three monitor setup in Extended mode, so the computer sees them as 3 separate resolutions of 1280x1024 and not as a 3840x1024 monitor.

NVIDIA:

NVidia's GTX 6xx or 7xx series cards allegedly can run your setup without dongles. Not entirely sure though. Someone else can speak to this better than I can.

AMD:

R9 290/R290x and certain lesser cards that specifically say they can (like Sapphire's FLEX series) can run three displays if they are 1920x1200 or less, without any adapters.

Else you need an active single-link displayport to dvi (or vga) adapter. Don't bother with dual-link since your resolution is 1920x1200 or less.

Buy something like one of these:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16815129011

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16812400320