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General discussion

Triple Monitor Support

Dec 9, 2009 1:31AM PST

I'm going to be getting a new computer soon, and the idea is to have one high end computer replace two mid-level systems, since one of them was just a HTPC/backup system.

So, what I'd like to do here is have two monitors that function as your normal desktop monitors, and then have my HDTV function as a third monitor which will perpetually have XBMC running on it, and just be turned on and off as I want to use it to watch a movie or something.

This would be done by a PCI-E video card probably driving the two desktop displays, and then a cheap PCI card to drive the third. No gaming, but there will be some 1080p video playback. I have no preference towards either nVidia or ATI cards, but the system will be coming with an nVidia card as the primary.

I've been doing a little Googling, and it looks like some people are having issues with getting more than 2 monitors working with Win7. Some of these seem to refer back to the old beta and RC releases, and I can't really seem to find much that relates to the final retail build.

So has anyone managed to do this, or should I be looking at building some small HTPC?

Discussion is locked

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I cheated.
Dec 9, 2009 1:46AM PST

For the third display I found a sub 500 buck laptop with HDMI and I was done without any of the headaches others had.

So I cheated.
Bob

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So are you saying
Dec 9, 2009 2:57AM PST

So are you saying you tried and failed at setting up 3+ monitors on Win7?

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Just sharing.
Dec 9, 2009 4:13AM PST

I can do the triple display but didn't like it. So the next time I went with the easy fix. If the price was better I would have used an Apple TV but the laptop is the real thing without limits.

Why work hard?
Bob

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Right now
Dec 9, 2009 8:58AM PST

Right now, I'm mostly interested in whether or not this can be done. It may very well be that at some point I go back to a two system setup, but it's about a $50 investment in a PCI video card which could come in handy for diagnostic purposes down the road.

So, have you, or anyone you know, ever set up 3+ monitors on Win7? And anyone's free to answer here.

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Yes.
Dec 9, 2009 9:52AM PST

And I was not happy. No reason to write at length but here's the deal. MANY want it to play some video full screen AKA some DVD type player would do but I found it too finicky so the next time I cheated. That's the short story.

So it works but too quirky for my taste.
Bob

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Interesting
Dec 10, 2009 2:05AM PST

Interesting, and I would be interested in hearing a bit more while I'm still waiting on the system.

Like I said, my basic goal is just to have the third display be my TV, which is dedicated to displaying XBMC. And XBMC does have the ability to specify which display you want it to be on. I don't plan on using that for anything else besides XBMC.

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Does Windows 7 Support Triple Monitors?
Jun 4, 2011 7:12AM PDT

It sounds like your asking if Windows 7 supports triple monitors.

Is that right?