Wrong marketing from MSI? Support up to 4 monitors....but Surround tech only works for 2

[Svyatogor]

Hi all,

This forum helped me a lot in the past, and usually I find my answers here....but after hours of searching I'm desperate. I hope someone would give me a straight answer and put my mind at ease.
I have the following setup:
- MSI GT70 laptop with NVIDIA GTX770M (hdmi and Mini DP port) and Intel HD Graphics 4000 (VGA port) --> according to the specs, this whole thing should support up to 4 monitors and 3 as a matrix display setup
- Recently I purchased 3 monitors and connected as following --> One to HDMI, One to Mini DP (so both to NVIDIA card) and one to VGA port (Intel HD card)

Now imagine my surprise when only nvidia connected monitors were combined into 2 screen (NVIDIA surround tech), while the one linked to VGA continued working as an extended desktop. I haven't been working with hardware for a while now, but when "up to 3 external monitors supported" is mentioned, I expect to be able to combine all of them into one (for gaming purposes). Why would I play a game with only 2 monitors, having this gap right in my main viewing area and the other monitor just burning up energy showing me my desktop?

Please advise if I am missing something and if it´s actually possible to combine my 3 monitors into one screen.
If not possible, what other options are out there?

Thank you in advance!

 

[getochkn]

Well does the main laptop display stay on while the 2, making the 3 extended that way?

 

[Svyatogor]

Well does the main laptop display stay on while the 2, making the 3 extended that way?

The main (laptop screen) is turned off, so I have one monitor (VGA) as extended desktop, and the other two setup as one huge desktop. I feel like I should be able to make all 3 of the as one big desktop.

 

[getochkn]

Did you turn off the main one though? Trying to get at, maybe their "3 monitor extended" means 2 externals and the laptop display. Technically that's 3. Consdering the VGA is on the Intel, I don't see it working.

 

[Svyatogor]

That what I was afraid off....so basically only two NVIDIA linked moitors can be combined into one. Do you know if it's a lot of work to replace a graphic card in a laptop? and specifically I mean GTX770M on MSI laptops.

 

[getochkn]

Replacing it's not going to give you more options or allow you to wire it through the VGA port. What could be possible would be using the displayport and daisy chaining or a displayport mst hub.

http/www.startech.com/ca/AV/Displayport-Converters/Mini-DisplayPort-Triple-Head-DisplayPort-Multi-Monitor-MST-Hub~MSTMDP123DP

I would try asking MSI though first and see if it's compatible, but that may solve it.

 

[Svyatogor]

Thank you very much for your help!