Dell Inspiron 660 3-4 monitors?

[Uppie1414]

I'm in need of a video card that supports 3 monitors for this machine.

I bought one (see below) and it can only support 2!! Please advise, thanks!

Here's my setup:

Intel® Core™ i5-3330 (3.0GHz, 6MB Cache)
8GB Memory (DDR3, 1600MHz)
1TB Hard Drive (7200RPM)
DVD+/-RW Drive
USB 3.0 and 8-in-1 Media Card Reader (HSSD, SD, MMC, MS, MS-PRO, xD, MMC Plus, SDHC)
Wireless-N
Windows® 8
1-Year Limited Hardware Warranty
PCI Express slot (empty)

Can I run one through onboard video and 2 through a new pci video?

 

[Krazy4Real]

If you're putting in a video card, the recent gen ati and nvidia cards can run three monitors by themselves. You don't need onboard video.

 

[Uppie1414]

I don't need anything fancy...cheaper the better. Any suggestions?

 

[Krazy4Real]

Do you already have the monitors? If so, do they have display port connections?

 

[DominionSeraph]

5450 for $10 after rebate:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...D=3938566&SID=

From what pcpartspicker can show, multiple DVI looks to be much more expensive.

If there's any interest in ever installing a game and the connectors work for you, this guy has a 7750 for $72:
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2296016
Has one HDMI, one Displayport, and one DVI

 

[Uppie1414]

That 5450 looks perfect--thanks! Just regular xvv58 lcd U2211H dell monitors

Power Supply OK for this one? Looks to be 350w, mine is 300w?

 

[DominionSeraph]

5450 uses basically no power.

 

[Uppie1414]

Purchased the card--thanks!

 

[Uppie1414]

Updated--this card didn't work. Any other suggestions??

 

[Essence_of_War]

Can you describe what didn't work?

My next guess would be to try the 6670. It absolutely should drive 3 displays, and it requires no extra power.

 

[Uppie1414]

The HDMI and one other port use the same display...so you have 3 inputs, but only 2 will work at the same time (the other 2 of 3 are shared)

 

[Essence_of_War]

Ah. Ok, well my reading is that any 6670 w/ displayport should work for this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102950
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814121442

 

[mfenn]

Updated--this card didn't work. Any other suggestions??

Why not use the card for two displays and the IGP for the remaining one?

 

[Uppie1414]

Why not use the card for two displays and the IGP for the remaining one?

I've tried a couple of combos, but nothing yet...looking into it as we speak!

 

[piasabird]

Depends on the chipset of the motherboard and the processor. Some motherboards with integrate HD Video on the CPU can handle triple monitors natively without a video card. Just not very well. With some chipsets the the integrated video is always on.

Dell has never been known for using versatile motherboards with lots of BIOS options for low-end consumer desktop computers. Of course if you had a large widescreen TV it would be like using 2 monitors.

 

[Uppie1414]

Yeah, I'm not having a ton of luck...what's the best videocard (cheapest) for 3 monitors?

 

[piasabird]

I think you need to do some more research about multi-monitor setups. For instance most people recommend i-7 CPU's.

They make thes 4 monitor video cards designed to run 4 DVI monitors, but you proabably will not get a high quality HDMI out of this.

The other problem is all the monitors should be the same model. These are designed with day traders in mind. Not really for high-end graphics. They are normally quite expensive compared to a 2 monitor type of solution.

I was looking at this site. What may be more important is using 3rd party software to control the monitors. They seem to use this software called Ultraview.

I think what they are doing is taking a setup that uses DVI monitors in pairs that span 2 monitors as one display and then they use 3rd party software to split the display into 2 separate monitors.

http://www.digitaltigers.com/stratosphere-studio-x4.asp
On this site they seem to use different video cards and higher end motherboard capable of 4k HD Video.

 

[Essence_of_War]

Yeah, I'm not having a ton of luck...what's the best videocard (cheapest) for 3 monitors?

I linked to the 6670 w/ DP above...those should take care of it by my reading.

 

[Uppie1414]

It's a little higher than I was hoping for, but I guess you pay to play. I wish I didn't go down this road the 1st time.

I have 3x dell monitors that I'm using--my last PC I just used 2 video cards. So there's no way to get 3 monitors working with the current setup and that video card? Hrmm, that's too bad!

As always, thanks for all the info/input!

 

[mfenn]

I think you need to do some more research about multi-monitor setups. For instance most people recommend i-7 CPU's.

What does that have to do with anything?

 

[mfenn]

I've tried a couple of combos, but nothing yet...looking into it as we speak!

All Sandy Bridge chipsets have the capability to run the IGP alongside a discrete card. Whether or not you can use it depends on if Dell put in the BIOS hook. I'm looking through the manual, but nothing's really jumping out at me

 

[Uppie1414]

Yeah, I'm not finding anything here either...seems odd!

 

[Gronnie]

I have a 6670 and it runs three monitors no problem as long as one is hooked up via DP.

 

[paperwastage]

They make thes 4 monitor video cards designed to run 4 DVI monitors, but you proabably will not get a high quality HDMI out of this.

???

unless you are looking at something extreme like 3D 1400p 60fps, DVI = HDMI without sound for any 1080p or lower displays...

so much bad info in this thread

Yeah, I'm not having a ton of luck...what's the best videocard (cheapest) for 3 monitors?

Choice 1

you should try to get your setup working
2 monitors plugged into video card
1 monitor plugged into mobo

(or 1 monitor in video card, 2 in mobo)

Choice 2
if your current setup doesn't work even with BIOS tweaking, you'll need to get a card that can drive 3 monitors independently...

for ATI, this usually means one of the ports on the card must be displayport(you need a displayport->DVI or displayport->VGA.... the 5540 you bought doesn't have displayport)

EDIT: actually, your U2211H have displayports, so any ATI card within the last few years with 3 ports (at least one of them must be Displayport) will work

Choice 2A
the 6670 linked above by Essence_of_War plus any ACTIVE displayport->DVI/HDMI adapter (~$20)... you need to get ACTIVE, not passive

benefits: single slot, but its $70 GPU + $20 adapter

Choice 2B
alternatively, some ATI cards have that adapter built in, so you can have 3xDVI/HDMI without any additional displayport adapters... sapphire flex is an example, though it'll probably be dual-slot unless it is 3xHDMI

benefits: $60 (cheaper), but dual slot though low profile.. dunno if yo ucan fit a dual slot

Choice 2C
I believe nvidia has 3+ monitor support per video card in their 660 series(or higher)... haven't kept up with their tech though

benefits: ???... 660 is expensive and power-needy

 

[Uppie1414]

Thanks guys!

Choice 1: I have come to the conclusion that this will not work....
Choice 2a: Yep, my monitors have display ports and I have a displayport to HDMI right now....checking to see if I can find a used card!
Choice 2b: Looking into it
Choice 2c: Probably not the best bet

Thanks so much for your help!