Getting an old monitor to work as a 3rd display.

[Darimancan]

Hi guys,

My specs

GTX 680
i7 2600K
Win 7 64 bit pro

Monitor I am trying to connect is COMPAQ FP 5315

I currently have my PC set up on a monitor and HDTV. The HDTV is just a way for my partner and I to watch BBC iPlayer or Netflix e.c.t so its not in a position to be used as an effective 2nd screen for what I want to do below.

Basically I have an old monitor that I wanted to use as a third screen, however I believe the connection is going into the CPU/Motherboard rather than the graphics card. So I am assuming the monitor is actually hooked up to my integrated graphics card. Essentially I just wanted to keep the display set up I have, but have a 3rd monitor as a way to view webpages or documents. For example I am a streamer so it would be good to read the twitch comments and keep an eye on my video.

Anyway I can do this? I don't know to much about this so any detailed instructions will help. Any further information required please don't hesitate to ask.

 

[Phillip Corcoran]

You can't use the motherboard's monitor output and the graphics card's output at the same time because the motherboard one is automatically disabled when a graphics card is installed, this is necessary to prevent driver and device resource conflicts.

Therefore you need a graphics card which supports more than two monitors, and you already have that since the GTX 680 supports up to four of them, it's just a case of having the correct inputs on each monitor to match the available output ports on the card, or buy an adapter for the Compaq monitor's D-Sub connector if necessary so it can be plugged into the card.

 

[geofelt]

Some motherboards do disable the integrated adapter when you attach a discrete graphics card.
But modern motherboards do allow multiple graphics adapters and you select which the bios is to use in the bios setup menu.
Look in the bios to see if there is any sort of option for both.
My guess is there is.

Or, you could try to attach the third monitor to the GTX680.
At one time such cards did have 3 or 4 outputs, but only two could be used at any one time.
Modern implementations allow all connectable outputs to be used at the same time.
I can't recall if a GTX680 is limited to two.
Try it. You might need a vga adapter or cable such as a hdmi to vga adapter.