Multiple monitors make a huge difference in productivity and gaming. Two or three displays give you plenty of screen real estate to work with, but you need to know how to set up multiple monitors. In this guide, we’re going to show you how.
Before we get started, keep in mind that all displays are different, so you may need to do some individual troubleshooting. Setting up multiple monitors for PC gaming is usually a matter of plugging everything in, but before that you need to change a few important settings.
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check all your monitors
We’re not going to make a list Necessary monitor for this multiscreen project, but we’ll state the obvious: try to choose new monitors that are all the same model.
Making sure the monitors are the same model makes it much easier to measure and plan for them, as well as install and maintain them properly. Without the correct height adjustment, you may also have difficulty placing different monitors exactly parallel to each other. At a minimum, it is good that all monitors have the same ports. These days, that probably means all your monitors must have an HDMI or DisplayPort connection (yes, there’s also VGA, but that’s less likely).
You’ll also want all of your monitors to have support for the same features like graphic syncing. Your game may look seriously weird if your monitor has different display features and support options.
Finally, you’ll want to make sure that your graphics card has enough connections for your monitor. For example, if you’re using three 4K monitors, you’ll want to make sure your GPU has three HDMI ports for use.
You can mix and match ports if necessary – say, two HDMIs and one DisplayPort – but again, this is much easier if you have multiple models of the same monitor. If you don’t have a dedicated (not integrated) graphics card or don’t know anything about it, this should probably be your first step before setting up a set of monitors. A dedicated graphics card is basically a requirement for most multimonitor setups.
Comment: There are splitters you can use if you have a great GPU but only one or two compatible ports. This is not as optimal, but it is a common case.
NVIDIA
check your graphics card
Here’s the good news – today’s GPUs are generally designed with the understanding that some people will want multiple monitors, so if you’ve recently purchased a GPU, support is included out of the box. This makes things much easier than in the old days. However, if you are purchasing a graphics card specifically for this project, you may want to additionally ensure that it has the correct type and number of ports. You should also confirm special multiscreen features (see directly below):
amd: AMD’s graphics cards have supported multiple monitors for several generations and even started with multimonitor Eyefinity technology, which was introduced with support for up to three monitors simultaneously on a single GPU . Eyefinity ensures that the image is properly stretched across all connected screens and ensures that the bezels do not cover any important details. This is a very effective setting that is necessary for a quality gaming experience. Note that Eyefinity is compatible with DisplayPort connections, so your monitor has these ports to look at.
NVIDIA: Nvidia’s solution is called Surround, and your Nvidia GPU is required to have it. Like Eyefinity, Surround supports multiple monitors as well as 3D gaming. Surround works with all standard monitor connections. you don’t do that need However, it is possible to use multiple monitors with an Nvidia graphics card.
If you’re stuck with your current GPU and it’s not everything you expected, there are adapters for the technology like Eyefinity that can help you MacGyver yourself into a solution.
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Connect everything and turn it on
step 1: Plug everything in first, double-check your ports to make sure they’re correct, and then turn it on. You’ll only need to use one screen for setup, so don’t worry about what the other screens look like at this time.
step 2: At this point, you may encounter some problems, such as the second screen not connecting properly or having very obvious visual problems, making it impossible to use. He is alright! We suggest consulting our troubleshooting guide on multimonitor setup to check what’s going wrong and how to fix it again. Sometimes, it’s just a matter of finding the right cable or updating some drivers.
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Change settings as needed
The best place to start making changes to your gaming setup is your GPU control panel. Now is the time to take advantage of that powerful graphics processor, which means abandoning any operating system settings.
Most major manufacturers of graphic chipsets, including AMD and Nvidia, have custom control panels that will allow you to set multiple monitors as well as many other settings.
For AMD, here’s how to go into Settings and make sure Eyefinity is properly adjusted.
And here’s how to get started with Nvidia chips. If you experience low frame rates, aliasing, or any other anomalies during gameplay, go back to the GPU control panel and make further adjustments as necessary.
Important Note: Game Compatibility
Most modern games are suitable for multimonitor gameplay, but this is not the case with classic titles.
There are plenty of up-to-date lists of multimonitor games online that include every current popular game as well as a surprising number of titles that are a decade or more old. This is because game designers are still far ahead of graphics card manufacturers, so you can run many older games on your new multimonitor system. Playing your old games on a dual-screen setup may finally be more than a dream. Just remember that support isn’t universal, and it varies by title, especially for indie and some older games.
Online lists of games compatible with multi-monitor features are updated regularly. If you look at a list, you’ll see that it includes a mix of the most recent games and some from the last decade. In fact, games are probably making more progress in this capability than graphics cards have been in the past. So there is a good chance that you will get lucky and find your favorite game in the list of compatible titles. Just remember that not all indie or older games have full support for multimonitor play.
general question
- How many monitors can you use?
It depends on the graphics chip powering your PC. If you’re using onboard graphics with an Intel or AMD CPU, chances are you’ll be limited to only two monitors at a time. However, if you have a discrete Nvidia graphics card, you can drive four monitors at a time, and AMD graphics cards from the last decade have mostly been able to support six monitors at the same time.
If your GPU is not as powerful, you may not be able to run all of these monitors at native resolution and refresh rate, but for the top cards you can run multiple displays at the same time.
- Do you have to use a single monitor?
No, but it helps. You’re more likely to run into multi-monitor issues with two or more displays of different types, and you may have difficulty lining them up so there aren’t any big dips or gaps between your monitors. The different bezel shapes and sizes can also prove distracting during use – although you’ll get used to it over time.
That said, you can run on different monitors, at different resolutions and refresh rates, with completely different frames. The author of this article, John Martindale, still runs a 15-year-old Dell monitor next to his more modern gaming monitor, and they work great together to increase productivity.