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I'm thinking about a new PC, paperless office, four monitors would be my choice (I've already got three). For some reasons I'll buy an Intel CPU, which come all (ok, except for server cpus) with an integrated GPU. Can I enable both, the internal GPU and the discrete graphics card and connect each to two screens?

This question has been asked three and a half year ago (how time goes by...) here: How can I enable onboard graphics AND dedicated card simultaneously?

But three and a half year are a long time and maybe things have changed and it is not necessary to buy two graphic cards.


Edit:

Obviously a difficult question. I don't hunt for performance, it's just my office PC, where I work for a living.

I guess, I could buy two low budget graphics cards, put them on the mainboard and connect the four screens. But why buy two graphics cards if I already have one on the mainboard and don't need three? -- Except if the graphics card on the board always is switched off at the very moment a discrete card gets connected the mainboard.

And this is the question.

One answer by https://superuser.com/users/381441/mike-diglio , thank you very much, maybe there are more answers.

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  • This sounds like a hardware recommendation. It's not clear the reason you want to mix an Intel GPU with an AMD/Nvidia GPU seems counter productive from a performance perspective
    – Ramhound
    Oct 21, 2014 at 21:13
  • @Ramhound It's an office PC and there is no need for hunting performance. I just need four screens and don't like the thought of having three graphics cards for them.
    – Keks Dose
    Oct 22, 2014 at 20:08
  • Even better: With newer dedicated graphics card being able to support up to 3 or even 4 displays, you can have as many as 6 displays with a (relatively) cheap dedicated card and integrated graphics.
    – Daniel B
    Oct 24, 2014 at 11:52

3 Answers 3

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With newer model Motherboards, such as the Z77-G45 Gaming board, you can enable a setting called IGD Multi-Monitor. This allows you to use your Motherboards specific display driver as an active display, alongside your Graphics Card.

If you pin through your Motherboard BIOS settings, and search for this option, you should be able to accomplish this task. The setting is usually nested under other video settings inside the BIOS - Integrated Graphics Configuration is usually the "Top" menu where you can find this option under.

If you have yet to purchase the MotherBoard, I would do some research on the specific board you are looking for to make sure this option is available.

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  • This is also possible on my Asrock Z68 Extreme4 and probably just about any board with Intel integrated GPU support. If in doubt, download the manual. :)
    – Daniel B
    Oct 25, 2014 at 21:26
  • This was a really helpful answer, because if you know that something can work, you'll find the answers in the specs of the mainboards.
    – Keks Dose
    Jun 25, 2016 at 10:06
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Do you already have a graphics card? If not I would suggest simply getting one that supports 4 monitors. It doesn't have to be expensive, you could for example get a GeForce GTX 750 for just about 140 US Dollars and that would support 4 monitors and simplify your problem. I personally have good experience using 4 monitors on an AMD 7770 which you can now pickup for under $100. I wouldn't suggest enabling the integrated graphics and a dedicated card at the same time (although it may be possible) and not only for performance but also compatibility reasons. -Cheers

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  • Surprisingly the description of various GeForce GTX 750 cards says, it supports up to four monitors, but e.g. the graphics card "ZOTAC GeForce GTX 750 Ti" only has three ports: dvi-i, dvi-d, hdmi. How to connect four monitors with three ports?
    – Keks Dose
    Oct 25, 2014 at 19:42
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    With display port adapters. I have connected six monitors to a card that only had 4 ports in the past and it works great. Oct 25, 2014 at 20:01
  • I googled "display port adapters", but this seem to be adapters "dvi2hdmi" and the like. Can you provide a link to such an adapter?
    – Keks Dose
    Oct 25, 2014 at 20:34
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    To specify nvidia says that only the Ti version of the GTX 750 supports 4 screens. So assuming your screens all support DVI and HDMI you could plug one directly into the hdmi port, one into one of the DVI ports, and this link adapter into the other DVI port. The last two monitors would then be attached with DVI to the adapter. If none of your screens support HDMI you can get a HDMI to DVI adapter to solve that problem. Oct 25, 2014 at 22:24
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    This is just an example of a mini HDMI to DVI adapter link . It would work for your situation if you need it. Oct 25, 2014 at 22:26
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Eventually I bought a new computer (Win 8.1), some intel chip with integrated GPU, Asus mainboard, Nvidia gtx 950. The bios of the luxury mainboard allows to run both GPU. To the nvidia I connected a 4k screen (displayport 1.2) and a HD-screen, to the integrated GPU two HD screens. Makes one huge desktop. Threw with RAM (32 GB) on issues with performance.

The 4k screen flickered: randomly it shut off for a second (went black), then on again. Yesterday I set the (samsung) screen to displayport 1.1 (lower resolution) and back to 1.2 and since then no more flickering until the next day. Now, I drew the cables out of the GPU, uninstalled the driver, rebooted, installed the driver again, shut down, displayport and dvi in again, boot, and now the flickering seems to be gone...

Superuser reminded me to answer my own question: it got more than 2.500 clicks, which is, for a question with a rating of -1 at the moment, quite funny.

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