View Full Version : GT240 card and 3 monitors?
bowmah
Jul 29th, 2012, 08:06 PM
I see there are 3 ports on the GT240 (HDMI, DVI and VGA). I have dual monitors setup now with DVI and VGA. Can I plug in an HDMI cable (more specifically, use HDMI to DVI adapter and run another DVI cable) to a 3rd monitor and get triple monitors from this card in Win 7?
Amourek
Jul 29th, 2012, 08:16 PM
Nope. Most GeForce video cards are limited to 2.
george__
Jul 29th, 2012, 08:59 PM
correct. Either buy a Matrox product like Triplehead2go or new gpu!
MkmBandit
Jul 29th, 2012, 09:34 PM
correct. Either buy a Matrox product like Triplehead2go or new gpu!
The TH2G will only split the output into 3 displays but won't add to the resolution throughput. The only way to use trip displays with that product is if all the displays are at 1280x720 or below, or some random resolution below full HD.
Only 3(?) nVidia cards before the 6xx series have been capable of full resolution triple display output. Either way, nV doesn't do 'surround' very well compared to AMD/ATi Eyefinity.
edit: @OP, if you have another PCIe slot you could just stick a $30 GPU in there and you're good to go. The extra GPU can be either ATI or nVidia, doesn't really matter.
george__
Jul 29th, 2012, 09:37 PM
Go get a low budget Nvidia GTX card that has three ports. Like DVI VGA and Displayport. Then you can use a converter that converts the Displayport to a DVI port.
http://www.ascendtech.us/mmASC/Images/NVIDIAGTX460io.jpg
Then the displayport adapter
http://www.acp.ca/images/DPDVI.jpg
This is my exact setup. Whenever I need a 3rd monitor for my GTX 460, I use that adapter so I can hook up a 3rd monitor. Otherwise, I use both of the DVI for my 2 monitors.
MkmBandit
Jul 29th, 2012, 09:46 PM
Then the displayport adapter
http://www.acp.ca/images/DPDVI.jpg
This is my exact setup. Whenever I need a 3rd monitor for my GTX 460, I use that adapter so I can hook up a 3rd monitor. Otherwise, I use both of the DVI for my 2 monitors.
Do you ever get flickering with those adapters? I used to have one, rarely, maybe once per day, the monitor would flicker while it recalibrates. But I've read that some people have no issues at all.. I ended up having to use one of these
http://jayveetechnologies.com.au/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/d/p/dp_dvi_dual.jpg
george__
Jul 29th, 2012, 09:52 PM
@MKM, no. But there is a flaw. The CABLE (DVI) is too heavy for the adapter, so adapter starts go down. I have to push my case very close to the wall so the DVI cable doesn't move. I'm also worried about breaking the port on my gpu. So I'm verry careful
this might've been the problem.
bowmah
Jul 30th, 2012, 01:36 AM
Just found an old 256MB nvidia card with dvi and VGA. What downsides are there if I add this for the 3rd monitor? I don't like the heat as the desktop already has 4 drives. What else?
george__
Jul 30th, 2012, 01:42 AM
Just found an old 256MB nvidia card with dvi and VGA. What downsides are there if I add this for the 3rd monitor? I don't like the heat as the desktop already has 4 drives. What else?
That won't help much. Still only two connectors. Depending on what graphic card you buy, there might be some space issues. A lot of the newer graphics cards are freaken long. As for heat, what case you running? The GPU might get pretty hot depending on what you're doing but if your airflow is decent, might not be huge issue
bowmah
Jul 30th, 2012, 02:59 AM
That won't help much. Still only two connectors. Depending on what graphic card you buy, there might be some space issues. A lot of the newer graphics cards are freaken long. As for heat, what case you running? The GPU might get pretty hot depending on what you're doing but if your airflow is decent, might not be huge issue
I was going to add the low end nvidia card on top of the GT 240. Any more feedback?
valinrace
Jul 30th, 2012, 09:05 AM
I had one question with the adapter, does it display the same on the 3rd monitor, what I min is the resolution and the pixels the same?
NewsyL
Jul 30th, 2012, 12:21 PM
And what about color accuracy? Does the card have an independent Look Up Table for each port so that three unique ICC profiles can be applied or is it a single LUT card sharing one ICC profile amongst the three monitor ports?
If the OP doesn't care about all three monitors looking identical colour wise, then it is not a concern.