Two monitors and a TV

J

jimmyjango

New Member
Hey guys.

I'm getting a new monitor (22inch) to go with my current one (17inch). I've now decided i want to connect my TV aswell (42inch) so i dont have to do it through xbox when watching films, save some power and all that.

Just wondering if 3 is possible? I'd want my two monitors on at the same time, but my tv would be on alone. (Gonna get a cheap keyboard with touchpad on too.)

I have two 8500gt 1gb cards atm (sli'd guessing you turn that off). However im looking at upgrading to a gtx460, will i have to take them both out to put that in? If so will this be possible without having to change wires all the time?

Could i leave one 8500gt in just for my tv?

I know i'm abit clueless! Appreciated, thanks!
 
jimmyjango said:
Hey guys.

I'm getting a new monitor (22inch) to go with my current one (17inch). I've now decided i want to connect my TV aswell (42inch) so i dont have to do it through xbox when watching films, save some power and all that.

Just wondering if 3 is possible? I'd want my two monitors on at the same time, but my tv would be on alone. (Gonna get a cheap keyboard with touchpad on too.)

I have two 8500gt 1gb cards atm (sli'd guessing you turn that off). However im looking at upgrading to a gtx460, will i have to take them both out to put that in? If so will this be possible without having to change wires all the time?

Could i leave one 8500gt in just for my tv?

I know i'm abit clueless! Appreciated, thanks!
Click to expand...

You can connect three monitors the same way you do two: just plug it in and enable it in Windows. As long as your card has 3 output plugs, you can get the right adapters and cords and then run 3 monitors. Also, if you want to keep 1 or 2 of your monitors on the 8500 GT, it will work fine alongside a GTX 460 as long as you have a enough card slots. If I were you, I would plug the main monitor (the one you use for gaming/other graphics-intensive tasks) into the GTX 460, and then plug the two extra monitors into the 8500 GT. I run dual monitors on my OC'ing rig, and it's actually quite fun dragging a hi-def video from my Geforce 8400 screen over to my Radeon 7000 screen, and watching it just stop playing. :D
 
Haha brilliant! Thanks for the quick reply!

ATM HD videos run fine on my 17inch... Guessing it will take more on a 42inch. Will prob connect my gaming monitor the 22 inch to the GTX 460 along with my 42inch and just switch between the two as needed, they wont be used as the same time (If not too much hassle, thinking two cables and switch with computer). Guessing the GTX 460 will improve picture quality on a 42inch for films, over the 8500gt.

Any suggestions for a keyboard with touchpad? Thinking http://www.ebuyer.com/product/135103?utm_source=google&utm_medium=products atm. Will use to replace my current keyboard from the dawn of time. Would like touchpad for when im on the 42inch as i will be sat back from desk.

Gaming wise i mainly play abit of WoW, sometimes the odd RTS, FPS. I find it hard to believe how much better a gaming keyboard (like a g19) can improve gameplay (thinking of WoW), i have trouble with getting the function keybindings. 1,2,3,4,5,q,w,e,` keys are pretty much all i can do without hitting all the keys around it (while keeping eyes on screen that is.). Tbh i do have a keyboard which, i think is from my first computer. I don't remember when but it was on windows 98 i believe... So i guess around 1998 >.<. If that's right i'm actually amazed it still works fine, and fully!! Sorry got abit off topic there.

Thanks!!
 
jimmyjango said:
Haha brilliant! Thanks for the quick reply!

ATM HD videos run fine on my 17inch... Guessing it will take more on a 42inch. Will prob connect my gaming monitor the 22 inch to the GTX 460 along with my 42inch and just switch between the two as needed, they wont be used as the same time (If not too much hassle, thinking two cables and switch with computer). Guessing the GTX 460 will improve picture quality on a 42inch for films, over the 8500gt.

Any suggestions for a keyboard with touchpad? Thinking http://www.ebuyer.com/product/135103?utm_source=google&utm_medium=products atm. Will use to replace my current keyboard from the dawn of time. Would like touchpad for when im on the 42inch as i will be sat back from desk.

Gaming wise i mainly play abit of WoW, sometimes the odd RTS, FPS. I find it hard to believe how much better a gaming keyboard (like a g19) can improve gameplay (thinking of WoW), i have trouble with getting the function keybindings. 1,2,3,4,5,q,w,e,` keys are pretty much all i can do without hitting all the keys around it (while keeping eyes on screen that is.). Tbh i do have a keyboard which, i think is from my first computer. I don't remember when but it was on windows 98 i believe... So i guess around 1998 >.<. If that's right i'm actually amazed it still works fine, and fully!! Sorry got abit off topic there.

Thanks!!
Click to expand...

I don't know much about keyboards, but that keyboard looks pretty cool. ;)

In terms of how much the GPU is stressed between screens, it only matters what the resolution is. For example, I run one of my rigs off of a 47in. TV, and I only usually have it running in 720p (vs. 1280*1024 on a normal monitor) so it's less GPU-intensive than my rig with a normal HP 19in. monitor. If you're running fine on your current 17in. monitor (1280*1024, right?) then it will probably only be a bit more intensive on your TV while running at 1920*1080. When it comes to running HD video, 2 8500 GTs will pwn. I can run HD video on my much lesser Geforce 9300, but of course I have a Core 2 Quad. What CPU do you have? You might want to try out your rig with just your 8500 GTs, and then if it's not sufficient you can upgrade to a GTX 460. Either way, happy building! Media-centers rule! :)
 
ah thanks alot you've put my mind at ease.

My cpu is an Intel Core 2 Quad, 2.4GHZ but overclocked to 2.646ghz. I also recently overclocked my 8500gt's from 459mhz to 600mhz and the memory on them to 440mhz from 350.

I think the graphics card will be my last purchase tbh. Will see how everything goes first.

Oh and my 42inch tv is a few year old so its not full HD, it's 720p or 1080i... saying that i've always wondered which is better, I usually run my xbox at 1080i and it looks perfectly fine tbh. (Not with a HDMI, tv only has one :( my humax pvr has that currently, will prob move that to scart though.)

One last think the screen i'm getting (BenQ G2222HDL) only has inputs for DVI-D and VGA, in your opinion would paying extra for one that has HDMI be worth it. I don't see an HDMI output in my current 8500gt's but im sure the 460 will.
 
No. At that size the difference isn't worth the extra money. dvi is good quality and at higher resolutions It'll look no different than hdmi. Another reason to stay away from hdmi (if your like me) is that you can't auto adjust the screen on a lot of tv's and monitors, where as you can on vga/dvi. It bugs the crap out of me if the screen is un even or there is access border.
 
Thanks for that! I will stick with DVI for my monitors. However with my tv the i'm limited with the inputs. It has (this is what it says in the menu) tv, dtv, two scarts (ETX-1 and 2), FAV (not sure what that is), S-VIDEO (can't see this), HDMI and YPbPr.

ATM i have my xbox in the YPbPr (only just got an elite, so didnt have HDMI), and i have my humax pvr in the HDMI.

Not sure of the best way to get this connected, im thinking of moving the PVR to a scart (buy a better quality lead), keeping the xbox in the YPbPr and then pc to HDMI with a DVI to HDMI lead(?).

Can't think of another way to do it. I just hope I don't loose out on too much quality with not having xbox and pvr in an HDMI, and my PC to a DVI(?) input.
 
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