3 Monitor Set Up

I am trying to find a thread in which a list of video cards was listed that will run 3 monitors, but I can't seem to find it.

I just bought a new 27" monitor and now have three, so I thought I would set up all three on one computer. I've seen a lot of video cards that have 3 outputs, but only run one digital (HDMI or DVI) and the serial. My monitors all take DVI, HDMI & VGA (serial ?) cables. The problem I've had in the past is that when I use an HDMI cable, it doesn't fill the monitor..

Any suggestions on a video card that will allow me to run three monitors?
Also, any suggestions on how to set up the HDMI output to fill the screen?

If you want to run three monitors on a single card you will have to go with an ATI/AMD Eyefinity compatible card. The downfall is, you will have to run one of the monitors off of a display port connection, which will require an adapter so you can use it with your DVI monitor. If you screens are running at around 1920x1200 or lower, than you can get away using a cheap display port to DVI adapter. However, if you are running like 2560x1440 which a lot of 27" monitors are these days and I'm guessing you are since HDMI doesn't work, you will need a much more expensive display port to dual link DVI adapter.

As for your HDMI troubles, it isn't working for you because it's running what is essentially a single link DVI signal, and so the cable physically can't support the bandwidth you need in order to run anything higher than 1920x1200.

Honestly, your best bet is going to be to check your computer to see if it has two PCI-E slots, and just run two video cards. (Once again which model is best will depend on what you do.). The cheapest option will be to find out what kind of card you have and just buy a low end third one (as long as you aren't gaming on all three monitors), to support the third monitor. So if you have a Nvidia card pick up something like a Geforce 210 or if you are running ATI/AMD something like a HD4350.

Sorry I can't give you something more specific. If you can provide some more specific details such as what you use the computer for, model numbers on the 27" monitors, and some basic PC specs, I can give you a more specific suggestion of "Buy this, or Buy that".

Thanks for your input. I had to go find boxes to remember what I have in my computer, it's one that I've built over time.

I have:
Processor: AMD Phenom II X4 955 3.2 ghz
Ram: 12gb DDR3 1600
Mobo: Biostar TA880G+
On Board Vid: ATI Radeon HD 4250 w/Shared Memory

I also have two older video cards that I could plug in, both PCI-e.
One is a GeForce 8400GS DDR 512mb w/ DVI, VGA & S-Video
Not sure what the other one is, it's out of a Dell XPS, but it has 2 DVI & 1 S-Video

If I install one of the video cards that I have I think the onboard video automatically disables, but I'm not sure. Do you know if it's possible to plug in both of the cards I have, 2 monitors on one and the 3rd on the unknown card?

I read somewhere that the ATI Radeon 6450 would run 3 monitors, it doesn't have a display port on it, so I'm not sure if it falls into what you were talking about. HERE'S a link to it on Amazon

I have the Nvidia Quadro NVS 420 installed in mine, it will support up to 4 monitors (up to 30" if I remember right) and is very customizable. It is a single card and the monitors conenct to the card by a Displayport or DVI dongle.

First off, what monitors are you running?

Depending on your setup you may actually be able to run the onboard video and run a dedicated video card. So it could be something you try, but I would stick with an AMD/ATI video card, there will be less chance of running into conflicts with your onboard if you try this. From looking at it, it should be able to run onboard while having a video card enabled at the same time as it supports AMD's hybrid crossfire. So your best option is just to find a cheap AMD video card that either had 2 dual link DVI or 1 dual link DVI and 1 display port.

Something like this would work, you would need to pick up a display port to dual link DVI adapter though.
http://www.newegg.com …aspx?Item=N82E1​6814121442

Honestly,running three high res monitors just isn't ideal on lower end video cards. Most people running setups like you have are running very high end video cards that have the processing power to run three monitors, like a HD6850. It may be your best option, it's a bit more expensive, but you can run all three video cards on that one card. (Once again you would need a display port adapter, unless one of your monitors has a display port input.)

http://www.newegg.com …aspx?Item=N82E1​6814121419

As for that HD6450 you linked, that one will not work. First off the VGA and HDMI ports will not support the resolutions you need, you would need a 6450 that has two DVI ports and a display port, it's just the way the AMD cards are designed, the display port is a requirement for more than 2 monitors. I don't know why the HD6450 claims to be able to support three monitors when none of the cards, at least the ones available at the moment, don't have the connector setup required.