Does Adding a Third Display Decrease Gaming Performance?

[tom59593]

Hey all,

Relatively quick question, but I haven't seen someone trying my specific setup yet. I currently have a GTX 770 2GB that drives two 24" 1080p displays that I bought at the same time so that they match. The computer is used (mostly) for multimedia production and gaming, but I only ever play games on one monitor at a time (1920x1080).

A friend who bought his single 24" display the same time I did is getting rid of it so I have an opportunity to purchase his for very cheap (it's the same model as mine). Now, I by no means need the extra real estate, and even with three displays would still only play games on the one monitor.

The question is: can I hook up the third display to the third output on my card without hindering performance too much? Since the third screen is just a luxury option I won't purchase it if it decreases performance. Conversely, could I hook up the third display to my on-board graphics to improve performance? The third monitor will basically just hold my web browser.

Thanks for your help!

 

[socialassassin]

I also have a triple monitor setup and game on only one monitor. I actually tested this out a few months ago. Ran a benchmarking program on the main monitor with the other 2 hooked up, and then again with both not connected. There was only a small difference in performance (maybe 2-4 FPS) between the two. So it really doesn't affect performance much.

 

[tom59593]

Hey socialassassin,

Good news! Out of curiosity, did you have all three displays on the GTX780 or did you have one of them on-board?

THANKS!!

 

[socialassassin]

They were all off the 780. I'm not sure you can even have displays running off both at the same time...

 

[tom59593]

I've seen videos of the setup on YouTube but they were far from intuitive setups. Having them all off the dedicated GPU allows you to use the nVidia control panel for multiple monitors as well, so it's a lot more convenient that way.

Thanks again for your help!