Need cheap display port adapter for Nvidia GeForce GTX 680

I purchased an Nvidia GeForce GTX 680 yesterday for gaming and I am going to use it in my PC which is connected to four monitors. Out of the four monitors, I use only three for gaming for creating a 3D surround effect using SLI technology. The graphic card which I have mentioned above provides connection for three monitors by default, but it also has a vacant port for having a fourth connection to the monitor. Now as I mentioned I have four monitors and use three for gaming, I want to use the fourth one just for managing my documents, music playlist, surfing internet and other simple tasks. So basically, the tasks that I perform on the fourth monitor don’t require much GPU. So is it good if use a cheap display port adapter to create a connection between fourth monitor and graphic card?

Nvidia GeForce GTX 680 has 2 DVI ports, 1 display port and 1 HDMI port. The port which you are saying is vacant is HDMI port. Its main purpose is just to provide a basic display without any other feature. The other 3 ports mentioned have a full support of graphic card; they provide every function that a graphic card provides. You can use the HDMI port for connecting the graphic card to the spare monitor in your PC. As you will be using the spare monitor for tasks that don’t need many resources, this connection will prove to be useful. You can buy a HDMI display adapter for this purpose.

Using HDMI port for giving display to a spare monitor will take a great effort in setting up the system. When you activate the graphic card, it will detect the spare monitor as a part of whole system. It will try to include it in the 3D surround system. You will need to disable the 3D surround for the specific monitor. This spare monitor will have to work on normal display mode. If the resolution of the spare monitor is different from other three monitors, then setting different resolution for the spare monitor will again become a difficult task. It is possible to do it, but very difficult process.

Many times many games that use the SLI technology to utilize all the available display units won’t detect the different settings set for the spare monitor. It will use it as a part of one whole unit. Since the monitor is supported by HDMI connection, game won’t be able to generate detailed graphics o that monitor resulting I crash of graphic drivers. So whenever you are about to play any game using the multiple monitors, look to it that the game’s settings are set to ignore the spare monitor.

I use a Samsung S27A750D monitor at my home and it has a frequency of 120 Hz. I used the Nvidia GeForce GTX 680 to get display on it. I am getting proper display if connected using HDMI port, but if I connect it using DVI port or display port, then nothing except black screen is displayed. As we know HDMI display doesn’t utilize all the resources and functions of a graphic card.

This is a known issue in Nvidia GeForce GTX 680. It is caused due to improper detection of port version of the graphic card by the BIOS. The display port of this graphic card is of version v301.10. But BIOS sometimes fails to recognize it or even if it is detected, the version shows as incompatible. This error is mostly found in PCs with Windows OS installed in it.

I suggest that you don’t use a cheap display adapter port, many cheap display adapter ports are available in market but they are not as reliable as the official ports available from Nvidia market. Though they are only needed for displaying simple graphics they can cause large complications in working of graphic card. They might create the issue of compatibility or inconsistent framerate in the monitor.