How to use displayport to dvi adapter for triple monitors

[DaMaN]

I have a double monitor setup currently for work in my home office on my laptop (Lenovo T430)


i5 3320M@2.60GHz
4GB Ram
64 Bit Windows 7 Enterprise
Intel HD4000 Graphics



with a The ThinkPad Mini Dock Series 3 (433710U) (90W)

The dock has a VGA port for analog monitor supporting 1920 x 1200 resolution,

One Single-Link DVI-D digital monitor supporting 1920 x 1200 resolution
(Single-Link DVI-D port does not support attachment of a DVI-to-VGA monitor adapter.)

and a

One DisplayPort monitor supporting 2560 x 1600 resoltion
Supports attachment (compatibility varies by ThinkPad system) of DisplayPort monitor cables; Using DisplayPort monitor cables reduces resolution to 1920 x 1200.

I am currently using the VGA & DVI-D happily along with Display Fusion on two Asus 22" monitors. I do allot of analysis and spreadsheet manipulation daily and although I appreciate the ability to use them because it save me alot of time. I think I could benefit from the use of 3 monitors and am unsure if I could support it with my setup.

I did read this article and am gun shy before getting a third monitor and or the displayport to DVI-D adapter.

http://blogs.technet.com/b/keithcombs/archive/2012/11/15/multiple-monitors-multimon-with-the-lenovo-thinkpad-t430s.aspx

Anybody with any experience with this?

I guess I can get a StarTech mini DisplayPort -> VGA adapter but prefer using the displayport on the back of the dock.

http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=startech+mini+displayport&tag=googhydr-20&index=aps&hvadid=6835385768&hvpos=1t1&hvexid=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=7587659776545676857&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=b&hvdev=c&ref=pd_sl_lnw63tpbl_b

Correction, my setup does not have a mini displayport, just a regular one on the dock.

Thanks,

DM

[GuardianAsher]

DaMan,

Doing some research, it looks like the Intel HD 4000 in your laptop will support 3 displays, but only if they are in a very specific configuration:

View information for the Intel® HD Graphics 4000/2500 of 3rd Generation Intel® Core™ Processors, Intel HD Graphics of Intel® Pentium® Processors 2000/G2000/G2100 series, and Intel® HD Graphics of Intel® Celeron® Processors 1000/G1000 series
In most cases, three independent displays are supported in the following configurations:

If two of the displays are DisplayPort* monitors
If one of the displays is an Intel® Wireless Display (Intel® WiDi)
If the built-in display is an Embedded DisplayPort1 (eDP).

So basically, you would have to have 2 DP monitors, instead of one DVI, one VGA, and one DP. Doesn't look like DVI + VGA + DP is a supported configuration.

You can find more info at these links:

https://communities.intel.com/thread/43939

http://www.intel.com/support/graphics/sb/CS-033714.htm

[DaMaN]

Thanks GuardianAsher, do you think that adding a third display via USB could work?

http://youtu.be/pYUdAWOGJ_Y

[GuardianAsher]

USB video card would be seen in Windows as a totally new display adapter, so it should work fine as long as you get a good one! Windows 7 natively supports 3 displays, just the Intel chip would be your limitation. Should work just fine for you.

[FlyingPenguin]

I have a couple of clients that use a USB to VGA for a 2nd monitor and it works fine.

[Drexul]

If I read your specs correctly you can try one of these devices to spit the existing Display Port into 2 monitors, but each monitor would be half the resolution each.

http://www.startech.com/AV/Splitters/Di ... SP122DP2HD

This should work if assuming you don't have older monitors that don't have HDMI already. In that case you just get two HDMI to DVI-D cables to attach to this device then to your Monitors that have DVI and VGA ports.

--
Drex

[DaMaN]

Thanks everyone, I ended up ordering a USB 3.0 to DVI-D adapter. I will let you know when it arrives and how it worked for me.

this is the one I ordered:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00A2E1MQA/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[DaMaN]

Just an update that I ordered the above linked USB 3.0 to DVI-D adapter and after installing the drivers and a quick reboot worked like a charm. Thanks to everyone for your help.