Triple display with Core i3's integrated graphics

[SwiftSilent]

Hi.
Continued from the "Double display with Core i3's integrated graphics" thread

I am hesitating between 2 systems now :

Gigabyte GA-MA785GM-US2H
+Athlon II X4 620 or 630
or
Gigabyte GA-H55M-UD2H
+Core i3 530

I will extend my desktop over 3 monitors.
I understand that if I use AMD/ATI Surroundview, I can combine one video card (perhaps an ATI 4350)
with the onboard video to display my desktop over 3 monitors.
On the other hand, because Intel's chipset doesn't seem to offer such feature, the second system would need 2 video cards.

I am not considering Eyefinity because of the added price of monitors equipped with a DisplayPort.

I am leaning towards the AMD-based system because
-I can reuse my DDR2 memory
-I don't want to pay for integrated graphics that I will not use
-The power consumption of a core i3 with 2 video cards may not be inferior to that of an Athlon X4 with 1 video card.

Am I missing something ? Some advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

[sjoukew]

Onboard video isn't meant for more than 1 monitor and I don't know if sharing a monitor setup between 2 different brand of vga cards (or onboard and separate) will be free of problems. I am afraid of driver issues in that scenario.
Therefore I would advice an motherboard with 2 pci-e 16x ports and 2 vga cards. Both vga cards passively cooled and with 2 dvi ports. I think that is the most trouble-free setup.
Then you can buy an core i? without graphics on-chip and enjoy a fast machine

[washu]

On Intel boards putting a video card into the PCIe x16 slot disables the onboard video. However, putting the card into the x4 slot may work. With a 4350 it probably won't affect performance that much.

As to drivers only Vista really has a problem with cards that use different drivers. 7 and XP don't care as long as the card is not disabled as above.

[SwiftSilent]

Thanks for your replies

[dhanson865]

crjklsdfdjklsdfa

I just spent a long time writing a huge post on this.


OK shorter version this time:

http://www.gigabyte.us/Products/Motherb ... uctID=3143

ATI Hybrid Graphics Technology support is present on the 785G chipset.

So long as the board doesn't disable the integrated graphics when a PCIe x8/x16 card is present you can do 4, 5, or 7 monitors with the addition of one video card.

4xxx will do 2 monitors
5xxx will do 3 or 6 monitors

You should be able to do 2 monitors on the integrated graphics.

I use a displayport to DVI cable that costs about $10 to use a non displayport monitor on the 785G displayport.

I use a HDMI to DVI cable that costs about $3 to use a non HDMI monitor on the 780G chipset.

On both the 780G and 785G I have setup two monitors successfully and there are more than 10 PCs in my office currently using integrated graphics in this way.

viewtopic.php?p=476296 shows the process over the years of dual monitoring our business.

http://support.amd.com/us/kbarticles/Pa ... ivity.aspx shows that you can do 3 VGA, 3 DVI etcetera if you buy the right cables or adapters.

[KayDat]

Yep, I have a 780G mobo and a 5870 running three monitors; I'm running two monitors off the mobo because I want my 5870 to underclock properly when not under load, also because I don't use Eyefinity. Theoretically, I could run a total of 5 monitors though, I suppose.

[SwiftSilent]

OK great. I don't have time to check the above links now but I'll sure do later.

I was about to order a 785G motherboard (ATX) -- with 2 PCIe slots to be on the safe side --, but I can see from the above posts that an mATX motherboard will be sufficient as long as it has the 780/785G chipset and a PCIe slot.
By the way I am currently running two monitors using only the onboard graphics of my 780G motherboard (mATX).

Thanks everyone for the tips.