Need a rather specific 3-way setup?

ThatAngryGnome · June 27, 2014

So this is what I need: A three way setup that is cheap and is productivity oriented. I don't need amazing colors or frame rate (60hz is fine), and I would be willing to get a TN panel. My budget is around 400+100 bucks for an arm+150 for a GPU (I'll talk about that later), but it is flexible. I will not be gaming or doing anything super professional that needs amazing monitors, so please keep that in mind! This is for a small business!

For my monitors, I would love to have a three way setup with one big monitor in the middle and two smaller one's on the side, kinda like this:

And not like this:

The reason is because I only have about 35 inches of headroom before my shelves get in the way. However, if you can get something that can work with that much amount of space, it'd be great! Now I own an AOC AOC e2752She, which is a 1080p 27in monitor, and its perfect for this use and its ultra cheap, so that's a good place to start. I would like the three way setup to look flush (not like one huge monitor and two small ones whose sizes don't match up). If that can't work out, three 25-27in monitors would be fine. I don't know how exactly you'd find out if the width of one monitor is the length of the other (is it aspect ratio, is it resolution?)

For my stand, I don't need anything stylish. Just make it flexible an durable, as it'll need to last a long time.

Now comes the noob question: Will I need a GPU for this? I have a super old ATI card (like before AMD bought it), and it doesn't have enough ports, as neither does my mobo. I won't be gaming, just some light tasks and a few non-intensive programs like CAD. What GPU would you recommend? Or could I just use a hub? I may add another monitor/TV down the line, but that's a bit complicated, as it won't be directly on my setup but somewhere else. Therefore, I may need 4 ports.

Can someone help me out here, I'm so confused right now. Many thanks!