How many people own more than one monitor?

[magnetite]

I've never owned more than one monitor although I always thought it would be nice to have. How many people that you know have more than one monitor at home? Is this kind of setup really popular nowadays since LCDs are really cheap? Or do people still use one monitor?

I am a fan of flight simulation and up until recently I've always used one big monitor (27 inch LCD).

 

[paulpicks21]

I have seriously been considering a 3 monitor setup recently , I own 3 monitors but 2 are old and all different makes/sizes , I decided I would test it out to see what it was like , I have a HD 5850 graphics card which supports 3 monitors.

It has 2 DVI outputs , 1 HDMI and 1 Display port output.

After reading up on it I found that I needed to buy a display port to dvi connector as you can only use 1 of the actual DVI outputs. Sadly I didn't read up enough lol , I ordered 1 , it came and it didn't work , reason being it wasn't an "active" adapter , it was a passive. (Didn't realize there were different types)

Anyway gonna order the correct one next week or also a display port to vga will work.

Sorry for the long story , was a total pain it the ass lol.

Don't know how many screens you were thinking of or how easy it is with your card , check it out before you go any further tho based on my mishaps lol.

Anyway the plan is , if it looks good then I will get a couple of new monitors to match my newest LG LED.

I mainly play car games such as Dirt 2 and 3 , NFS Shift and also FPS games such as Battlefield bad company 2 etc

I understand 3 screens gives you certain advantages in FPS games seeing as you have a much wider field of view and can see the enemies before they see you.

Not sure how it would be in flight sims , perhaps do a search on youtube for flight sim 3 screen setup's or something?

Cheers

Paul.

 

[stormy13]

Don't forget or very own z3r010 (John),

Windows 7 Forums - z3r010's Album: My PC

Only have two here.

 

[mickey megabyte]

i've got four around the house, but rarely use more than one at the same time, unlike this user:

 

[essenbe]

i've got four around the house, but rarely use more than one at the same time, unlike this user:

View attachment 161324

I'd just like to see the inside of the computer thay are hooked up to.

I don't think this was the real question, but I have more than one, but they are hooked up to different computers. 1 each.

 

[toddincabo]

Two 22 inchers

I have had a dual setup with my ATI 5770 for about 8 months now and would hate to go back to single.

I use P2P to watch sports on one while doing my computing chores on the other (generally), and also as a full screen tutorial when learning new video editing techniques in various programs such as DVDLab Pro and others.

Also, my newest monitor is TV/Monitor Hi Def, so I have my satellite receiver hooked up to it as well. (Samsung Syncmaster T220HD). Very nice so far but if you get one, Google it to find out what caps you need to replace right off the bat, because they will go bad. Guaranteed. Mine were already bulging. So if you can get your hands on one not working for cheap, you can have a really nice TV/Monitor with a really easy fix.

Lovin' it.

 

[magnetite]

I have a GTX 570, which has two DVI ports, and one HDMI port, so I guess it would be capable of running three displays. However, when playing GPU intensive games (eg. Mass Effect 2 isn't state of the art, but it's from 2010), that I don't know how much of a performance hit I would take. I'm also not sure whether it's possible to daisy chain power bars, because my UPS is all used up, and my wall outlet only has one plug left. Don't know how much I can plug in without causing an overload.

 

[paulpicks21]

I have had a dual setup with my ATI 5770 for about 8 months now and would hate to go back to single.

I use P2P to watch sports on one while doing my computing chores on the other (generally), and also as a full screen tutorial when learning new video editing techniques in various programs such as DVDLab Pro and others.

Lovin' it.

I have run 2 screens for general purposes , and I have to agree with you its very good for general multi tasking , I used it as an extended desktop so I could monitor other things whilst playing games and it worked great , however I tried it out for gaming on both screens and oh man its a no go big time!

In racing games the middle of the track is where the 2 screens meet and it makes it a total nightmare , 3 screens is fine due to the fact you seen the main part of the track on the middle screen and the 2 other screens meet off the main field of view. I would imagine this problem to be the same with a flight sim like the OP want's to use it for.

 

[magnetite]

Well since my GTX 570 supports dual DVI plus one HDMI, then maybe I should get three monitors. Like I said before, the only issue I was concerned about was plugging in too many monitors which may cause an overload. I don't know much about electricity, so maybe it's not so bad.

 

[paulpicks21]

Well since my GTX 570 supports dual DVI plus one HDMI, then maybe I should get three monitors. Like I said before, the only issue I was concerned about was plugging in too many monitors which may cause an overload. I don't know much about electricity, so maybe it's not so bad.

Lol I can say with some extreme experience you will be fine with a few monitors plugged in.

I have my pc in a big log cabin in my garden , the cabin has 2 plug sockets inside , I run my pc , monitor , speakers , printer , modem , heater , lights and also run a 2nd pc side by side including another monitor all plugged into a multi plug adapter haha.

Been running 5 years and counting without a problem

Paul.

Edited to add - Worst case scenario a fuse will blow.

 

[stormy13]

Well since my GTX 570 supports dual DVI plus one HDMI, then maybe I should get three monitors.

Unless you have or are going to get another video card to plug the 3rd monitor into, don't bother buying a 3rd as no Nvidia card supports more than 2 monitors at a time (not counting any of the dual cards).

 

[paulpicks21]

Well since my GTX 570 supports dual DVI plus one HDMI, then maybe I should get three monitors.

Unless you have or are going to get another video card to plug the 3rd monitor into, don't bother buying a 3rd as no Nvidia card supports more than 2 monitors at a time (not counting any of the dual cards).

I am really out of touch with nvidia , Stormy! That really surprises me , I always had Nvidia up until I got my HD 5850 then I sort assumed that all new gpu's would support 3 screen especially within the last 12 months seeing as it really seems to be a growing trend.

I have been throwing round a few ideas about upgrading my graphics card lately , 1 option was to get another HD 5850 , 1 option was to sell mine and buy a couple of 6870s another option was 2 x GTX 560s but the last option and the option I was gonna go for was to sell mine and go for a single GTX 570 (Mainly due to being able to upgrade to 2 in the future)

You may have changed my plans a bit now seeing as I was thinking of a 3 screen set up fairly soon.

Like I say I am surprised indeed!

 

[Sardonicus]

I've never owned more than one monitor although I always thought it would be nice to have. How many people that you know have more than one monitor at home? Is this kind of setup really popular nowadays since LCDs are really cheap? Or do people still use one monitor?

I am a fan of flight simulation and up until recently I've always used one big monitor (27 inch LCD).

With my HTPC, I use two monitors.
One to watch TV, while doing other things with the second monitor.

 

[alphanumeric]

I'm running two 19 inch LCD's on a GT 220 here at home. If I was going to go back to just a single display it would have to be a BIG display.

 

[dsperber]

With my HTPC, I use two monitors.
One to watch TV, while doing other things with the second monitor.

Ditto, for the most part. I mostly watch TV/HDTV in a window rather than full-screen, to leave much of that 24" LCD also available for additional open program windows (even if they overlap the TV window somewhat, which is not a problem if it's talk/news programs, etc.).

ATI HD4850 video, and Ceton 4-tuner/cablecard TV card plus ATI TV Wonder 650 PCI 1-tuner/OTA-ATSC TV card, lots of everyday TV recorded by Windows Media Center to watch while I work. Eizo HD2441W 24" 16:10 LCD on the side for HDTV watching from the HTPC (and even sometimes through its external HDMI hardware input option), plus an old IBM P275 21" 4:3 CRT straight ahead. Sometimes, depending on my needs, I may swap things... pulling the TV/HDTV window over to the CRT monitor and working on the big 24" LCD, if that's more appropriate for what I'm doing at the moment. "Overlay" allows the TV window to be on either monitor.

Been using two monitors like this (one for TV watching, even when it was also a 4x3 CRT) for about 15 years now, going way way back when I had an old Hauppauge WinTV (ISA) card, upgrading TV and video cards along the way ever since. Been using dual-head video cards (e.g. from Matrox!) forever.

 

[GeneO]

A NEC 2490 WuXI 1920x1200 for photoshopping and a 1600x1200 DELL for gadgets, aux windows, movies, etc.

 

[LiquidSnak]

I've used two monitors as long as I can remember. It's just more convenient to have a place to do one thing and a place to do another.

 

[magnetite]

Well since my GTX 570 supports dual DVI plus one HDMI, then maybe I should get three monitors.

Unless you have or are going to get another video card to plug the 3rd monitor into, don't bother buying a 3rd as no Nvidia card supports more than 2 monitors at a time (not counting any of the dual cards).

That's got me wondering. I suppose the most economical solution would be to go dual monitor. If I went with three, then another GTX 570 might strain my 850W power supply, so that would also mean another power supply in addition to the monitors and the GTX 570 on top of that.

Maybe not span the display during FSX, but for regular use it's probably fine since like you said, the runway centerline might be blocked because the monitors are split. The second display could be used for things like the GPS or the FMC.

 

[jeepmann4x4]

I have a GTX 570, which has two DVI ports, and one HDMI port, so I guess it would be capable of running three displays. However, when playing GPU intensive games (eg. Mass Effect 2 isn't state of the art, but it's from 2010), that I don't know how much of a performance hit I would take. I'm also not sure whether it's possible to daisy chain power bars, because my UPS is all used up, and my wall outlet only has one plug left. Don't know how much I can plug in without causing an overload.

I have a GTX 570sc, you can only run up to 2 monitors off of it in any port configuration i.e. dvi/dvi or hdmi/dvi. The only nVidia cards that will let you have three are the 590's (dual cards). When I play games I only use 1 monitor @ 1920x1080 and I can play any game out there at max settings. I have never tried to play a game across both my monitors, I'm pretty sure that to do it with nVidia cards you must have 2 for "nVidia surround"

 

[stormy13]

3 monitors for Surround (2D) or 3D Vision Surround and two cards in SLI (or a single GTX 295/590),

System Requirements