Windows 7: Three Monitor Connections

Jerald7 · 20 Jul 2011

Hello,
I have an ASUS EAH6850 DC/2DIS/1GD5/V2 video card and an ASUS Motherboard M4A88T-V EVO/USB3. I currently have two ASUS monitors connected to the 6850 DVI ports, need to add a third monitor. Should I hook up the third monitor into this video card using an Active Displayport adapter (which I don't have), or can I hook it up to the on-board video on the motherboard?

MvdB · 20 Jul 2011

You should be able to connect to your mobo with the advantage of all three monitors working simultaneously.
In older systems we sometimes had to set BIOS to see the mobo graphics to be primary and separate videocard secondary. But you should be able to check that in you BIOS/documentation.

Jerald7 · 20 Jul 2011

So with two monitors connected to the 6850 and one connected to the mobo, they will work as an extended screen to display different documents on each?

MvdB · 20 Jul 2011

Quote: Originally Posted by Jerald7

So with two monitors connected to the 6850 and one connected to the mobo, they will work as an extended screen to display different documents on each?

yes... but easy to try as the same goes for two. Assuming you did not buy the 3rd monitor yet... try conecting one of your 2 to the mobo

stormy13 · 20 Jul 2011

Yes they will all work independently. When you're in the bios enabling the onboard video and make sure to enable the option called SurroundView as it is also required. Once up and running it works very well,

Three Monitor Connections-triplemonitor.jpg

That is with a 22" and a 19" Acer LCD connected to my 4830, and a 32" LCD TV connected to the onboard.

Jerald7 · 21 Jul 2011

Thanks everyone for your response. It does work very well - with the third monitor connected to mobo graphics card. Can anyone tell me, however, which will give me the best performance: (1) the third monitor connected to the Asus mobo graphics card (as I now have), or (2) purchase an Active Displayport adapter, so all three monitors will be connected to my ASUS EAH6850 video card? I'm not a gamer, but do use Photoshop CS5 doing photo work.

MvdB · 21 Jul 2011

That is not really a real comparison... to me a Display port setup is essentially different compared to this setup.

As far as performance on Photoshop goes... you have no issue with the combi of a card and your mobo. There is nothing you could do with a displayport adapter to improve on performance.

Looking at your setup the simplest performance influencer is the choice of monitor you buy... Make that a 2ms one and you shouldn't have any problems.

Zepher · 21 Jul 2011

Just leave it and use the onboard since you are not gaming across 3 screens in Eyefinity.

Jerald7 · 21 Jul 2011

Problem solved! Thank you to everyone for your response. Oh, I already had monitors, ASUS 27", ASUS 24" and HP 23" - but the HP 23" is a few years old, not as bright as the two new LED ASUS bought a few months ago. Have a great day!

Windows 7: Three Monitor Connections

Three Monitor Connections problems?