Adding 3rd monitor / Slackware / Zotac

linuxbird · 02-18-2012, 03:42 PM

My Slackware 13.37 system has a Zotac 440 card, and I have configured two rotated monitors to run using that card, without much drama. All is fine and delightful, EXCEPT that I decided I don't like a seam in the middle of my view, so I would like to go to three monitors.

I've ordered a matching monitor, before it is superceded by a newer model, and now I am trying to figure out how I can get a card to drive the third monitor. The low cost card I am using, which for two screens is working great, is a ZT-40704-1L. My motherboard will only has one full blown PCI express slot, so I don't think I can put a second in.

For my application speed is not a big concern, Zotac card gives great performance.

So my question is: how do I determine what options I have for adding a card for a third monitor?

Any guidance would be appreciated. Thanks.

cascade9 · 02-19-2012, 05:04 AM

No way to run triplehead from a GT440, or any (single) nVidia geforce card. They only support 2 monitors.

You might be able to install another nVidia card in a PCIe slot for 3 monitors. Your other choices are an ATI/AMD eyefinity-capable 5XXX/6XXX card (they do support triplehead) or one of the nVidia quadro cards (not all support triple head, and quadro cards are overly expensive so its not a good option IMO).

linuxbird · 02-19-2012, 05:12 AM

I can look for PCIe cards.

Can I readily mix and match different cards under X, or does it cause problems?

Also, for the third monitor, can I use the Intel-based video on the motherboard? In bringing up the 440 board, the most expeditious approach appears to have disabled the on-the-motherboard video.

Thanks for your comments, and thanks in advance for any pointers to sources of information.

cascade9 · 02-19-2012, 07:52 AM

If you've only got 1 full sized PCIe slot, but have a few 1x PCIe slots getting a 2nd PCIe is possible..but not for the faint hearted.

http://www.invisiblerobot.com/pcie_x1/

You can also cut down the end of the PCIe x1 slot so that a x16 card will fit, but that isnt much better than modding the card.

I dont know for sure if mixing PCIe/PCI and different types of video card will work. I believe it does, provided that you dont have cards that use different driver versions (eg a GF6XXX+ using 180.XX+ drivers and a GF FX using 173.XX drivers).

In most cases, installing a video card disables the onboard video. What motherboard do you have?

BTW, this is worth a look, and will probably create more questions, LOL-

http://superuser.com/questions/13229...setup-in-linux