Having multiple monitors is something that will make a huge difference for both those who are looking to increase their productivity as well as better their gaming experience.
Having two or three monitors really gives you a lot more display space for you to work with, so if you are looking to have a little more space available but don’t know how to set up more monitors then continue reading this article and by the end of it you should be able to do it yourself.
Before Getting Started
Before you start trying to attach cables and such to your monitors it’s usually a good idea to do some individual troubleshooting as all displays are different. When it comes to setting up some PC gaming monitors it’s usually just as easy as plugging everything in and running with it but there are a few specific settings that you will need to change before you do this.
Checking Your Monitors
There are some monitors that may not support your multiscreen project, however if you try to stick to newer monitors that are all the same model then you should be okay.
When you choose monitors that are the exact same model then not only will measuring be a little bit easier but the whole setting up and maintaining process also becomes easier. Another thing to think about is that you will usually want your monitors to be at the same height, and when you have different models you may need to make some height adjustments, which could be pretty tough if your monitors differ quite a lot from one another. If you really can’t find monitors that are the same monitor then you should at least try to have monitors that have the same ports, monitors nowadays will usually have either HDMI or DisplayPort connections, you may also come across DVI but those are a lot less common.
Another important thing that you’ll have to take into consideration before you go and purchase two monitors that you may think are great is to make sure that they have support for the same features, such as graphic syncing. This is a little more important for the gamers out there because if your monitors have different display features and support options your game may look very weird and look a little rough as well.
Lastly, you’ll also want to make sure that your graphics card has enough connection for your monitors, this means that if you are using three 4K monitors you’ll want to make sure that your GPU has three HDMI ports for your use.
You technically don’t have to have matching ports with your monitors, you could have two with HDMI ports and one with a DisplayPort but it’ll be a lot easier if they were all the same.
Checking Your Graphics Card
When it comes to the graphics cards of this generation it’s quite nice because they’re usually designed with the thought that people will want to use multiple monitors, so if you are someone who has recently made the purchase of a GPU, then support for it is usually always included straight out og the box.
However, you can also take it a step further and make sure that you’re buying a graphics card that will have a design that fits into your personal project perfectly by making sure that it has the right kind and number of ports.
Connecting Everything Together
Step 1:
The first thing that you’ll want to do when you have everything you need is to plug everything in, whilst double-checking that you’re using the correct ports before turning everything on. For the setup process you’ll only need to use one screen so don’t freak out if your other screens may not look so great straight out the gate.
Step 2:
Once you’ve managed to get past step 1 you may notice some problems, it could be that your other screens aren’t connecting properly or that you are having an obvious visual issue. You don’t have to stress at all because this is completely okay and you may just have to troubleshoot it, which you can read about in this article. Most of the time the problem is that you just don’t have the right cable or you just have to update some of the drivers.
Final Words
So there you have a full guide on how to set up multiple monitors to either help you with your productivity or to enhance your gaming experience. It is important, especially for gamers, to check and make sure that the games that you will be playing are multi-monitor compatible because there are some games out there, usually indie and older games, that aren’t.
