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I want to use multiple monitors for my PC, three in total.

I would like to know what graphics card would run:

  • 2 24" full-HD monitors
  • 1 21" HD-ready monitors

All monitors support 1920x1080 max resolution. My supported connections will be 1 HDMI, 1 HDMI over DVI and a VGA.

I should note that in the future I might upgrade the 21" monitor to a 24".

Adam
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Giwrgos Gkogkas
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  • What do you use the computer for? Most video cards with three output ports can "handle" the monitors. But, if you plan on doing intensive things (ie. gaming) you may have different needs than someone who is writing documents and browsing the internet. – Andy Sep 16 '15 at 12:57
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    @Andy Mostly coding and type. But I would like to have the ability to play some games without flickering or any other kind of problem. – Giwrgos Gkogkas Sep 16 '15 at 13:05
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    It'd be if you'd like to edit your question and specify what kind of games you'd like to play etc... Many old graphic cards will support this configuration in terms of programming but not in terms of gaming. – Pawel Gumiela Sep 16 '15 at 13:26
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    What is your price range, what card are you currently using. What power supply and motherboard are you using. These items can influence what card your system can support. :) – Gram Sep 16 '15 at 23:20
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    @GiwrgosGkogkas What kind of games do you hope to play? If you mean battlefield 4 and Arma 3, I would recommend a very different kind of gpu then if you mean solitaire and minesweeper. – DJMcMayhem Sep 17 '15 at 15:14
  • I am sorry, probably you don't like this type of answers, this is why I suggest it in comment: why don't you buy a common mainboard with an integrated graphic slot and extend it with an also common 2-headed video card? – peterh Sep 17 '15 at 20:37
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    There is not enough information to give a meaningful answer. Are you building a new PC? If not, you need to tell us what your motherboard supports. Are you only going to run a recent version of Windows, or does OS support matter? Are noise and heat a concern? How much are you prepared to pay? – Gilles 'SO- stop being evil' Sep 29 '15 at 00:12
  • Please edit your question to include your budget and specifically what you will be doing with the 3 monitors. If gaming, specify which games you will be playing and if those games support multiple monitor configurations. – rob Nov 07 '15 at 20:42

1 Answers1

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Unfortunately there are precious few GPUs that can actually do anything past 2 monitors without needing to use DisplayPort or Active Adapters/Splitters of some exotic description or other, and the cards that do this are somewhat rare and often expensive when you can find them. One card that I have routinely found to be relatively cheap (and still able to handle 3 FHD screens) is the Sapphire 100322FLEX Radeon HD 6450 Graphic Card 1GB Fanless card. This has Sapphire's proprietary third RAMDAC added (they call this FleX technology), which allows all three graphic outs to be utilized simultaneously. While it is true that it doesn't come with a VGA port per se, this is easily overcome by adding the included DVI-VGA adapter to the DVI-D port (the one with the four extra holes along the cross insert).

The other option (and often a better one for many individuals) is to use a GPU to drive some of your displays, but keep your motherboard/CPU graphics chip enabled so that you can use some of those video outs (and associated spare RAMDACs) to drive your third (and fourth) screen(s).

Adam Wykes
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