# Good video card for these monitors **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 18, 2013, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-video-card-for-these-monitors/653253 "2013-03-18T13:34:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dauerbach](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c2a13f/32.png) [@dauerbach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dauerbach)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2013, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-video-card-for-these-monitors/653253/1 "2013-03-18T13:34:19Z")
I want to set up two of these for images: [http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/cdrh\_docs/pdf4/K043430.pdf](http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/cdrh_docs/pdf4/K043430.pdf) with a third smaller monitor data. What kind of video card with I need to drive these? ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2013, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-video-card-for-these-monitors/653253/2 "2013-03-18T13:53:20Z")
It looks like the [Nvidia Quadro NVS 420](http://www.nvidia.com/object/product_quadro_nvs_420_us.html) would work (“capable of driving up to four 30’’ displays at 2560x1600 resolution”). Presumably there are others. ---
**Author:** ![dauerbach](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c2a13f/32.png) [@dauerbach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dauerbach)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2013, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-video-card-for-these-monitors/653253/3 "2013-03-18T15:25:58Z")
So I just checked with what someone else has used on a similar but not exactly the same configuration. The small data monitor is controlled by a Quadro NVS 295. The two large hi def monitors are controlled by a Quadro Fx 380. Both of these seemed less expensive than I would have guessed. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2013, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-video-card-for-these-monitors/653253/4 "2013-03-18T16:28:51Z")
[moderating] Thread moved from General Questions to In My Humble Opinion. [/moderating] ---
**Author:** ![jacobsta811](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jacobsta811/32/2893_2.png) [@jacobsta811](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jacobsta811)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2013, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-video-card-for-these-monitors/653253/5 "2013-03-18T17:03:58Z")
So you basically need a video card with two dual-link DVI ports and a third port of undetermined type for a third monitor ? If you aren’t doing anything too taxing the NVS 420 mentioned above looks perfect. If you are doing something like CAD work or something very graphically challenging that card won’t be enough, but for displaying medical images I believe it would be fine. The cards are suprisingly cheap because they are really not very powerful cards - but it doesn’t take much power at all to drive 2D rendering, at any resolution. The only thing you really need to watch for is that the monitor resolution is too high for single link DVI - so you must make sure that you are getting a card with dual link DVI ports. ---
**Author:** ![Enigma42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/87869e/32.png) [@Enigma42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enigma42)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2013, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-video-card-for-these-monitors/653253/6 "2013-03-18T17:37:16Z")
> [@dauerbach](#): > > I want to set up two of these for images: [http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/cdrh\_docs/pdf4/K043430.pdf](http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/cdrh_docs/pdf4/K043430.pdf) with a third smaller monitor data. What kind of video card with I need to drive these? The cards already mentioned would work well, if you are using 2D applications. It sounds like you have the option of using two video cards to drive the three displays, and that opens the options up considerably. Many, if not most, ‘consumer’ video cards can only drive two displays at a time, even if they have more connectors. However, if you have the expansion slots available, it’s trivial to use two cards. But a lot depends on your system configuration and your exact usage profile. Can you tell us what kind of system will be used with these monitors and what applications you need to run? I’m sure we can recommend some specific cards that will meet the needs without needless cost. ---
**Author:** ![Kinthalis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kinthalis/32/16084_2.png) [@Kinthalis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kinthalis)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2013, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-video-card-for-these-monitors/653253/7 "2013-03-18T17:40:40Z")
Quadros are meant for workstations. They are pretty pricey. Are you sure you can’t make do with a standard ‘consumer’ GPU for what you need? something like say: [http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb\_sb\_noss\_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=hd+6750&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Ahd+6750](http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=hd+6750&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Ahd+6750)