Are Four Monitors Worth it for Sim Racing?

Today, I will be giving my thoughts on a quad-monitor setup and whether I think it’s worth it for sim-racing.

After being on triples for a few months, my growing addiction with monitors got the best of me once again and the leap was made to purchase yet another monitor. The fourth monitor is set to only display my telemetry data whilst in-game and it is surprisingly helpful. Apart from making my setup look that much cooler, and further making it harder for me to find a girlfriend, the fourth monitor runs a program known as SimHub which connects to nearly every sim-racing title. Whilst on track, It lets me know what gear I'm in, the track map, the lap times, and the temperature of my tires among other things. So let me run you through my thought process and why I think it was worth it… for me at least.

As I said, this fourth monitor makes my setup look very cool, and to be honest, that was the main driving factor in my decision. But after playing on it for about a month, I have found it surprisingly helpful. It allows me to clear my main display of nearly everything except for the game. If I ever need to know any information, I can quickly glance up and in a mere few seconds, have all the information I need. This doesn't make me faster but it certainly adds to the immersion and helps me out when on track.

There are some important things to keep in mind if you are interested in making the jump, however. The first consideration is whether your PC can handle it. If you're running triples like me, then your PC is already under significant strain and yet another display won’t be helpful. To make this happen, I set my frame rate limit to 80 and I've had no problem. Keep in mind, all my displays are 60hz and 1080p. If you are running a lower-end pc, then this is something you should consider. The other main factor is how you're going to mount it. I don’t think I've ever seen a quad monitor sim racing cockpit stand but I'm sure they're out somewhere for some ridiculous price. I bought a super inexpensive extended monitor arm which costs like $12 from amazon and it just barely reaches the optimal spot for me. Mounting is different for everyone so make sure to figure out how you are going to do so before getting too excited.

Cost is a big factor for me as it is for many others so I’ll touch upon this quickly. For my fourth monitor, I went with a 22-inch display I believe. I bought it dirt cheap on Walmart for about 60 dollars and it more than does the job. It's a 1920x1080p display, 60hz, and there's not much to it. In total, adding a fourth monitor, considering all the variables, ended up costing me only about $80 which was not too bad. However, this will vary for everyone.

In essence, there's not much to be said regarding quad monitors for sim racing. Is it necessary? Of course not. Will it make you faster? No. But it will make your setup look cooler and help remove clutter from your main display. So whilst it was worth it for me, others might disagree.

As always, let me know what you think in the comments. Would you consider a fourth monitor and do you think it's worth it?