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Thread ID: 147692 2019-03-10 22:49:00 Using three monitors with one desktop Misty (368) Press F1
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1458899 2019-03-10 22:49:00 For a few years now I have been using two monitors for my photographic post-production (a keen amateur). However, now I am also doing some volunteer tutoring. To do this three monitors would
be ideal. One for the program, one for the image and the third for Word. How do I do this as the usual setup seems to be for two? Can I 'twin' two of them?
Misty (368)
1458900 2019-03-10 23:07:00 depends if your graphics card and driver can support it. Do you physically have that many connections? psycik (12851)
1458901 2019-03-10 23:42:00 Nothing special needed outside of physical connections - Windows already handles this the same way it would handle two. pcuser42 (130)
1458902 2019-03-11 00:09:00 My graphics card is an ATI Radeon RX 550 Series - seems that it does not support three monitors. From a bit of research it seems that most (or all) Radeon cards that start with HD support this. Likewise Radeon (Up to 3 displays) include
ATI FirePro™ V7800AMD FirePro™ V5900ATI FirePro™ V5800ATI FirePro™ V4800. Does not seem hopeful!
Misty (368)
1458903 2019-03-11 00:24:00 so many variables :)

is this a laptop or a PC ?
To keep it the answer simple ,

for a 3rd monitor you need either a USB to monitor adapter
thats probably the only option if a laptop
or another video card if its a PC (or a USB to monitor adaptor)

www.pbtech.co.nz
These can be finnicky when Windows Updates installs a new driver that doesnt actually work :-)
Some are trouble free, some are no end of issues

Complex answers
daisy chained native display port
docking station that has built in multimonitor support
signal splitter if you want that 3rd monitor to show the same as one of the other 2
1101 (13337)
1458904 2019-03-11 00:26:00 Another option if it's a desktop and has onboard graphics is to enable that to drive the 3rd screen.
I have done that in the past and it works fine. The option in the BIOS is not always easy to find though.

Edit: Oh and if there's space you don't need to replace the existing graphics card to add one as 1101 suggests, you can have 2 graphics cards in a system if there's room and enough power available.
dugimodo (138)
1458905 2019-03-11 00:29:00 My graphics card is an ATI Radeon RX 550 Series - seems that it does not support three monitors. From a bit of research it seems that most (or all) Radeon cards that start with HD support this. Likewise Radeon (Up to 3 displays) include
ATI FirePro™ V7800AMD FirePro™ V5900ATI FirePro™ V5800ATI FirePro™ V4800. Does not seem hopeful!

be carefull with that claimed 3,4 monitor support.
It may be only supporting 3 monitors if all three are Display Port (100% display port, not just display port to DVI)
Ive been caught out with that , claimed 4 monitor support, turns out they had to be display port (so was only 2 actual if DVI input monitors )

The USB adaptor may be the easiest
Im pretty sure vid cards are availble that support 2x DVI & 1 vga . You'd need to hunt around to get the right one
Not all PC's support 2 vid cards .

However, if you have onboard graphics as well as your existing vid card, that may give you 3 right there (not allways)
too many variables , was trying to keep it simple .
1101 (13337)
1458906 2019-03-12 23:53:00 Many thanks 1101 and dugimodo. Am going to have to take this all on board and I will also enlist a friend of mine who is much more knowledgeable than I about hardware, graphics cards etc. I was hoping just to
buy a good smallish second hand monitor and plug it in, however not as easy as that. Regardless, now you have given me the pointers we will be much more able to progress. Thanks again!
Misty (368)
1458907 2019-03-13 03:53:00 My old HD7970 supported 4 monitors no issues - with active DP adapters it would do 6. Any half decent mainboard/cpu combo will do 3 screens without any GPU now - I'd be very surprised if a RX550 wouldn't do 3. You just may need a DP to something adapter depending on what inputs your screens have.

Maybe post a picture of the back of your PC where the current screens plug in.
wratterus (105)
1458908 2019-03-13 20:01:00 - I'd be very surprised if a RX550 wouldn't do 3. You just may need a DP to something adapter depending on what inputs your screens have.
.

I googled & it does . Not sure if that 3rd port has to be native DisplayPort though

So its really just a matter of plugging in a 3rd monitor & seeing what happens
1101 (13337)
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