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I just received my 3rd monitor and found out that one dedicated Nvidia card supports two monitors max. As I'm not interested in using all of the three together for gaming purposes (SLI, Eyefinity etc.), I'd just like to get one cheap card to expand my workspace.

The ASUS P8Z68-V is my mainboard and I'm running a Gainward 570 Phantom on it yet. So what would you suggest? Would I need an additional PCI-E card? How old should the graphics card be max? I'm running Win8 and want to plug a 24" 16:10 monitor on the second graphics card. I wondered that the cheapest PCI-E cards start at $50+. I thought there must be an option for about $25, I just don't know what to look for.

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Shopping recommendations are off topic as per the FAQ, so we can't tell you what to purchase. That said, considering the slots you have available, here are a large number of $30 PCI-E 1gb cards. I'm not recommending any one of them (although there is nothing wrong with any of them), I am simply pointing out that your assumption that there are no sub $50 options available is incorrect. I know.. I know. You said you were hoping there were some $25 options. Well, what about some $20 options?

At this point, if you get the urge to get picky and say that you don't like this particular chipset, or you don't like that partcular name brand... or you were hoping for more video memory, etc... resist that urge.

Now that you have multiple inexpensive options to you...

Would I need an additional PCI-E card?

You shouldn't, since your motherboard has an integrated video controller with Multi-VGA output support : HDMI/DVI/RGB ports. You would simply make sure that your integrated video was enabled in the BIOS, and that it was not set to be your primary. Then, Windows should detect both your video card, and the integrated video, and allow you to connect three monitors without an issue.

How old should the graphics card be max?

Old enough (or young enough) to have drivers available for the operating system you choose to use. Other than that, you can get one as old as you like within that parameter.

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  • Thank you for your thoughts. I have found a card for about 20 bucks, so I'm quite happy now. I was just not smart enough to understand the search engine :D I assume mixing Nvidia and AMD into one system might cause driver conflicts, so I thought I better go for a cheap Nvidia card, right?
    – user173371
    May 14, 2013 at 12:03
  • is there a reason why you don't want to save the $20 and use the integrated video on the motherboard you say you have?
    – Bon Gart
    May 14, 2013 at 12:55
  • Oh wow - surely I'd save them if possible. I oversaw some of your negations. As soon as I'm home I try to adjust my BIOS. I thought I'm not gonna be able to run three monitors with one dedicated graphics card. So far I have tried to plug in three at a time already, though the 3rd one - plugged into the Mainboard - just turns on if I disconnect one of the two monitors plugged into the card. I really hope that's just a BIOS tweak.
    – user173371
    May 14, 2013 at 14:39
  • Thanks for coming back to me man, you saved me 20 bucks! I could need a hand with this question, as well, to fully understand this stuff.
    – user173371
    May 14, 2013 at 17:25

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