Using multiple monitors- questions about video cards and how I should set it up...?

I have HP Pavilion a4327c pre-bundled PC that I got from Costco. I bought it for use with school and work projects and I am wanting to add 2 more monitors (to total 3) so that I can expand my desktop and have a lot more windows open at once. I do not use my computer for gaming so I don't need anything very powerful, but I don't know what I can add that wont cause issues booting and will be compatible.



I already inquired with HP and the genius I spoke to told me to splitter the line and have 3 clones--- not quite what I need, and a rather useless suggestion. :/ He didn't even use the opportunity to try to sell me something, so I don't think he understood quite what my needs were but I didn't want to stay on the phone.



Can I just put an additional graphics card with 2 heads in my computer and use those and the 1 already included to run 3 monitors? If so do I need to get a specific brand/type/model/specs to prevent booting issues?



If not, what can I do? I am willing to completely replace the graphics card, but if I do, is there anything specific I need to look for if the one I'm replacing is an integrated graphics card?



Specs on my computer:



Microprocessor: AMD Athlon II x2 240 processor

4 GB RAM

current graphics: NVIDIA GeForce 6150SE nForce 430

Harddrive: Hitachi HDS721032CLA SCSI Disk Device 300 GB





Thanks!|||If you want to drive three monitors independently (be able to show different things on each monitor), you need a video card that can support three monitors.



Currently, the only consumer-grade (i.e. non-workstation) video cards that can drive three monitors independently are versions of the ATI Radeon HD5000-series that are equipped with DisplayPort, like this one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as…



That card I linked to supports triple monitors. It is equipped with 2 DVI and 1 DisplayPort jack. You need to connect two DVI monitors to the DVI jacks and one DisplayPort-equipped monitor to the DisplayPort jack. It is a PCIExpress 16x video card that should drop right into the PCIExpress 16x slot on your HP's 6150SE motherboard.



Just keep in mind that to use the HD5000-series to drive three monitors, THE THIRD MONITOR MUST HAVE A DISPLAYPORT JACK. Dell carries a full line of DisplayPort-equipped monitors, such as the 3008WFP, the U2410, the P2010H, and the U2211H.



YOU DO NOT NEED MULTIPLE VIDEO CARDS TO DRIVE THREE MONITORS. Just one DisplayPort-equipped ATI HD5000 series card can do the job.



EDITED TO ADD: Considering that an active DP-to-DVI dongle is not exactly cheap, it's more economical to just buy a third monitor that is DisplayPort-equipped.|||the integrated graphics card will be disabled when you add a pci express graphics card automatically and there is no way you can enable it. I used to work for hp, i know how these work.



your best bet for 3 monitors is to use 2 video cards or get a usb graphic interface adapter, these do exist. i assume that computer has just a single pci express x16 slot so depending on whether it has any other pci express slots or if it just has pci, you would need to plan accordingly for the 2nd video card. there are pci espress x1 video cards and they will fit in a x8 or x4 slot as well. newegg has a few of these.



edit- your integrated one will stay there, it cannot be removed, thats why its called integrated graphics, its built right into the motherboard. It will simply not function if you add a graphics card. you can do as has been suggested with the 3 head card, or you can go with 2 cards, a pci express card in your x16 slot and an old pci card in the pci slot. windows won't have trouble with either configuration. everything should play nice with each other. and actually, with 2 cards, you can potentially have 4 monitors if you so desired.|||You are right, you simply need to purchase a graphics card which has two connectors; two DVI connectors, one DVI and one VGA, one DVI and one HDMI, et cetera. I have no idea what makes you believe that you could experience issues with booting, as that is never the case if you install the latest drivers for your graphics card. Make sure to purchase a graphics card which is based on the same brand as the graphics card which you already have, that will work the most easy. For example, if you currently have a nVidia based graphics card, purchase another graphics card which is also nVidia based. The same goes for ATI. If you currently have an Intel graphics chipset, that is fine to combine with either nVidia or ATI.|||aviatingamateur is right except for one thing. You DO NOT need a DisplaPort monitor. You can get an active DP2DVI adapter if you'd like to use 3 DVI monitors. Dell makes one.



http://1298q.tk



Make sure to uninstall your nvidia drivers before installing the card.



EDIT: also, Fordry is right about the integrated graphics being disabled. And you can get a cheaper card, too, if you're ok with using 1 D-Sub output. HD 5450:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as…



EDIT: $100 for the dongle is equal to the difference in price for the monitors I've seen with DP...and those have may worse quality than the monitor you might connect the dongle to...