# Ports = # Displays?

[Psyclone]

I used to build a lot of desktops (heck, I still have my old OC'd-by-50% Celeron 300A somewhere in the basement) but then had kids and haven't kept up on video card tech lately.

Years ago all cards either supported one or two displays. Some had three video outputs, but they still only supported two at a time. But now capabilities have increased, and no manufacturer or reseller seems to explicitly say how many displays a card supports (maybe because it's obvious; same as the number of ports?). So I'm turning to the experts at [H]: If a cheap card like a GeForce GT620 has three video ports, would you expect it to drive three displays at a time, or only two?

Thanks in advance for your help!

 

[Kty]

Get a 5450. A 2GB one on newegg right now is $34.99. Supports 4 if I'm correct, I don't do AMD.

 

[Tsumi]

Nope. It depends a lot on the GPU used, and also how the manufacturer decides to implement the design.

The vast majority of AMD cards can only put out two DVI/HDMI/VGA signals at a time. Additional displays require the use of displayport, although there are some cards that are the exception to the rule. If the card does not have displayport, it generally cannot support more than two outputs. Only specialized ones can, one I know off the top of my head is the Sapphire Flex.

Every nVidia card 5 series and lower can only support two video streams. There are only three exception to this: they are the specialized Galaxy MDT cards, GTX 590, and the GTX 295 dual-PCB with more than two outputs cards.

All GTX 6xx cards have the ability to support 4 monitors, and generally manufacturers put on enough ports to support that many streams. Don't know about the GTS cards, as they haven't made it to the market yet. The GT 640 is the lowest model that is based on Kepler of the 6 series, and the GT 620 is based on Fermi, which drives the 4 and 5 series cards for nVidia. Therefore, the GT 620 can only support two monitors.