6870 and 4650 to expand monitors?

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filthysanchez

2[H]4U
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Jul 19, 2006
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I have a 6870 right now driving two 1080p acer monitors, and a spare 4650. I'm wondering how I need to install the drivers and set it up to expand my desktop to another monitor or two with the 4650, is it even possible? Or should i just look into a cheap 6 series card
 
Your 6870 will run 3 monitors all by itself, no need for 2 cards unless you need a 4th monitor.
 
I was considering adding a 3rd monitor and a projector, thus the need for another card. And I couldn't figure out how to run 3 except through eyefinity which is no good for different resolutions
 
AFAIK, you can't run two different video card drivers from the same manufacturer at the same time. Here's the deal: AMD dropped support for the HD 4xxx series awhile back. So if you want to use the HD 6870 and HD 4650 at the same time, you will have to use older drivers. If you use newer drivers, the HD 4650 won't be detected or used.

That's been my experience with Windows 7, a HD 6850, and the onboard HD 4290 GPU of my motherboard.
 
Your 6870 should be able to drive 4 monitors, at least three for sure. Just plug them in and go into AMD's control panel and enable and extend to them.
 
AFAIK, the HD 6870 only supports three monitors max. And that 3rd monitor has to be connected via Displayport or a displayport to HDMI/DVI adapter.
 
The 6870 can actually drive 6 displays through the displayports, but you have to have two of the non-existant (AFAIK) MST hubs. But there's a few hits on google about how to get 4 displays going, you have to use both displayports, the HDMI port, and one of the DVI ports (one DVI port is apparently disabled when using HDMI).
 
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Do I need an active displayport adapter to convert it to DVI for a third monitor, or can I use 2 DVI and one HDMI?
 
filthysanchez said:
Do I need an active displayport adapter to convert it to DVI for a third monitor, or can I use 2 DVI and one HDMI?
Click to expand...
You need an adapter as the HDMI port shares the same pathways as one of the DVI ports. So if you use both DVI, the HDMI can't be used and if you use the HDMI, only one of the DVI ports can be used.
 
Ok, I think I got it. A second 6 series is only like 20 bucks more than the active adapter so I may lean that way so I have the option to bump it up to 4
 
The 4k series drivers were just updated to 13.1. I'd use them and see if they work on both cards.
 
I'm about ready to order another card, but I just remembered my motherboard has onboard video with DVI, can you use the onboard video of a p8z68 v-lx in combination with the 6870?
 
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