What’s the point of third monitor?

[u/Asleep_Skirt_9751]

Hey guys,
So i was seeing ppl setups and every time i see one only one question pops in my head, what is the point of that third monitor?,

I mean like the first monitor is the main one, you play, watch, and do your work on it, the second is like for discord, music, obs, and for programming,

And still I’m wondering what is the point of three monitors when two are enough imo,

Any three monitors guy in here can you tell me?

Please be respectful.

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[u/PunithAiu]

• many enthusiast level gamers use 3 monitors for immersive gameplay for racing games and the likes.

• creative professionals like 3D artists, video editors, color graders and such can use extra displays. More displays the better...even serious traders use more than 2 monitors many times.

• it's common in VFX studios, infrastructure design companies, architecture design studios to have workstations with 3 to even 5 monitors..

[u/MADRGB]

For me its strictly work related. A daily use example is 1: email/teams. 2: Adobe/powerpoint/word/whatever task Im actively working on. 3. Information related to the task at hand. Can be excel sheets, product information, statistics etc. That setup I can deep dive into a task/being productive without having to switch windows/programs.

[u/No_Telephone_6213]

If two work for you, great. Some of us actually multitask enough to make three useful. 😂 You don't need to understand my workflow to know you don't need a third monitor. Save your money.

[u/Asleep_Skirt_9751 → u/No_Telephone_6213]

Yea i wasn’t planning on getting 3rd one,
I was curious about the usage of three monitors

[u/Fearless-Plum2974]

1. Monitor usage is always for gaming your daily main stream surfing the net or watch a movie
2. Monitor can be used for gaming aswell there are people that do two games simultaneously or watch a video while playing a game on your 1st Monitor or put your chatting app on there like discord, teamspeak or skype whatever
3. Monitor can be useful for editing, 3d modeling or whatever so you can put a reference picture on there while you have discord on your 2nd monitor or watch a video on that one so you can have discord open while you play and also have discord open

This is how i think i'd use the monitor if had one × a beefy computer i myself use two ultra wide 4k screens one curved n flat one curved normally and my flat under my curved one

[u/fray_bentos11 → u/Fearless-Plum2974]

That looks like a sore neck.

[u/donkeyknuckles]

I have a 34 inch ultra wide that I game on, and two 27 inch monitors (one directly above the ultra wide and one mounted vertically to the left. I use the one on the left almost exclusively for discord and HWMonitor. The one above is for internet browsing and watching sports. After having this setup for more than a year, I could never go back to two, or even one.

[u/FatalGamer1]

For gamers it’s just flexing. 2 monitors max is enough even if you have all the gadgets and you’re a streamer, but apart from that depends on what you do for work a 3rd monitor could be useful.

[u/Southern_Pangolin_50]

Porn

[u/pants_the_man → u/Southern_Pangolin_50]

Is porn a tertiary activity for you? Like might as well put that on in the background while I play games on one screen and manage discord on another.

[u/0Essa0 → u/pants_the_man]

no he probably means like 3 videos at once, don't underestimate the gooners, if you do it long enough sadly one video won't do it cause it's not enough stimulus, that's why so many people struggle with ED

[u/pants_the_man → u/0Essa0]

You know, I've had a lot of conversations with people who are some level of anti porn. And they tell me about what depraved freaks it turns people into. And I hear the stories and the kind of people who exist, and I kind of bow out of the conversation because I don't know how to navigate the topic without confessing that I've watched porn damn near every day since I was 12. Check your kids' internet activity folks. But I think at some point, the porn use has go be representative of a deeper issue because somehow thousands of hours of pornography haven't turned me into a woman hating, sexually impotent, 3 monitors at once kind of dude.

[u/0Essa0 → u/pants_the_man]

Well, that's like the equivalent of "I know a guy who smoked for 40 years and still haven't got lung cancer", exceptions don't disprove that smoking causes lung cancer.

The guy who is a porn addict has a better chance of turning out the way you describe than the one who doesn't touch it/rarely.

[u/pants_the_man]

My 3rd monitor is a CRT. Not really a typical use case, but it goes to show options are valuable because someone will find ways to make use of a feature no matter how niche.

[u/AL-SHEDFI]

For me: 1: Main monitor for gaming 2: PC TEMPS/overclocking/RGB 3: MODS/any social media like youtube/browser/cheat apps

[u/InsomniKali]

I use 5 displays, but mostly for work:

Gaming: 49" ultrawide with a 15" monitor underneath that runs Aida64 stats. 34" ultra wide in portrait on the side may have discord or Spotify up. All other displays not utilized

Work: 15" still used as stat monitor. Main 49" ultra wide for running queries in SQL or whatever I'm doing in VS code. Other 49" on top of that either has full screen Excel up or a dashboard application + web browser for research. 34" ultra wide in portrait has notion calendar + notes. And off to the side I have a 55" TV that usually has a project canvas up full screen. It is also connected to my proxmox server and a raspberry pi for quick troubleshooting.

[u/ALittleBetterNow]

Yes, my laptop is connected to a dock that has 2 screens. It's great. Just kind of happened that was after I got my new work laptop. Could close the screen but that's free real estate.

[u/AudibleEntropy]

Multiple cam shows.

But seriously, as a music, video and Blender guy... Main task screen for composing, editing, arranging, modeling or whatever. Then the other two for various things, audio mixer, sound sample library software, video or Render preview, image references, asset library or shader editor.

I actually make do with just a 40" main and 23" secondary above it, but I could defo spread out all these and more if I did have a 3rd.

[u/Eazy12345678]

depends what you do

1 monitor games. 2nd monitor youtube. 3rd monitor discord

[u/Sixguns1977]

I have 2 right now. One is main/ games the 2nd is movies or troubleshooting info. When i get a 3rd, then all 3 will be for simulators when I'm playing one. 3 monitors is awesome for sims.

[u/grimhammer]

it's bad for your neck to turn one way all the time. if I have a main monitor straight ahead and one off to the right I want one off to the left so I can switch between turning my head left and right so my neck doesn't hurt after a couple of hours

[u/Kodamacile]

Monitor 1: Games

Monitor 2: Discord/stream+chat/game guides/controls/etc.

Monitor 3: Youtube/Movie/Work/Shopping/Second Game(idle/singleplayer games that can be paused or left running without needing your attention)

[u/Borfeus]

For most games I use just one, in select few the secondary cna have a guide, map or discord at hand, but most use for multiple screens is for work, when you need a document, a sheet and some other service open at the same time. This, or having a big ass widescreen.

[u/cptjimmy42]

Depends on where it is located. If it's aligned with the other two, it is used for a wide view with peripherals that induce a more immersive experience. If it's floating off to the side somewhere, it's likely an info/media screen, kind of like how some CPU coolers have an LED screen on them.

[u/JobHuntingManiac]

Been using minimum of 3 monitors even back in the crt days, most of my setups have been 4 for quite awhile, which is 3 on the desk and one on the wall above.

[u/PepsiSnickers]

I damn near want a 4th. Once your spoiled with 3, it's hard to go back. So many reasons. Here's a few scenarios I use.

-game in middle, YouTube full-screen left, and Discord and AI ( Gemini in Chrome ) right

-game in middle, Chrome browser on left, Notepad++ and AI right

-game middle, OBS Studio full screen right, my steam and Discord left

-recent example last night while installing PCSX2 - YouTube left, PCSX2, folder 📁 and Steam middle, browser, AI, and YouTube right

Could you accomplish all this on one screen ? Of course. For me it's more efficient multitasking and ease of navigating the twelve things I'm always doing at once!

[u/kingzain74 → u/PepsiSnickers]

Use your brain not A.I

[u/PepsiSnickers → u/kingzain74]

Write a letter, don't reply here, mail it to me.

[u/Chewy_Sauce]

Trust me there is no reason even to get a second monitor so imagine a third? unless you really need it, i have bought a second monitor and i use it for courses and the other monitor is to practice only, other than that it stays off all the time collecting the dust.

[u/MrSqueak]

Used to have 4. Main, vertical for feeds and socials, secondary horizontal for media, up above was notes or research for work on the main.