I have two monitors with 2560x1440 res and two more with 1920x1080. I was using a Thinkpad X1 Carbon (i7-8550U processor) with this Plugable docking station:
https://www.amazon.com/Plugable-Char...2219425&sr=8-5

It was working fine except Ignition tables seem to take a ton of CPU power so it gets laggy when I have 9 or 10 tables up. So I bought this desktop from HP:
https://store.hp.com/us/en/pdp/hp-pa...ing-tp01-1155t

Only problem now is that I can't get that 2nd 2560x1440 monitor to work. I just learned about USB-C needing alt mode for the Plugable to work (I'm not tech savvy at all so I had no clue). Also, it seems like a pain in the ass adding a card to enable this. I've read up on getting a Sunix UPD2018 or Giabyte Titan Ridge but there seems to be a big shortage on these plus I have no idea if it's compatible with my motherboard.

Ok, so 2 main questions:
1. Is there an easier fix to this, perhaps a different docking station or daisy chaining which I don't know how to do? I'd rather not spend another $200 because I could have easily spent that to just get a better desktop that does have USB-C alt mode.

2. Should I just buy a new desktop since I'm running a solver all day? I could easily transfer the current one I have to a business I work with and get reimbursed for it. If I do get a new one, do I really need to spend $1500-$2000 like I'm seeing on other threads? I don't game or do video editing. I'm looking to spend $1k but I'm not opposed to spending more if you guys think it's really worth it. Oh, and is it not a good idea to be running sims all day with this desktop?

I should also mention I have no idea how to build a PC but maybe I can copy someone's build from another thread.

ok so the type C on that HP is nowhere near full featured, it's only there for data transfer. just wasn't made to power a monitor or offer display out or thunderbolt. there are various types of type c implementations, some are low, some are high bandwidth. you'l find full 20gbps type c on higher end laptops and those can even power an external gpu. 10gbps can do display out and power, standard can only do data like external drives and power smartphones, stuff like that .

If you simply must hook all 4 monitors to the desktop, there is one modern budget card that I can think of, it's made specifically for this purpose. might not find it in stock, I think it msrps for ~100$, so not expensive https://www.asus.com/us/Graphics-Car...10-4H-SL-2GD5/

now you have to see if it fits inside the HP, it might be too long. if not, look for a smaller footprint gpu that offers 4 digital outputs (so DisplayPort, HDMI or DVI-D). you might need a low profile card, idk, I think these HPs are kinda small.

I checked and there seems to be enough space inside for that Asus card I mentioned and it's not low profile only either
seems to be in stock in Europe and available below msrp, https://www.alzashop.com/asus-gt710-...5-d5833138.htm
there are some old Quadro cards that have 4 mini display ports and you can use adapters as needed but they seem to be going for more than that new Asus card
the whole gpu market is shot these days and will be for the next couple of months at least, gl finding one at a reasonable price

Yep, learned all about this after I bought the computer, sigh. You think it's worth just getting a new computer like I mentioned in the 2nd question since I need to run a solver all day?
Thanks a ton for your reply; this has been a headache trying to figure all this out on my own!

are you ok with building your own or do you want a pre built?
diy it's cheaper and you get the parts you need rather than w/e they bundle in for you on a pre-built with a powerful cpu, that's usually a powerful gpu that you won't use for anything poker related

what sort of solver are we talking about?
nlhe postflop (gto+,pio,simple)? the others (preflop, 3way, plo) will require more ram and generally a higher end cpu if you don't want to waste your time

if you're not too ambitious about the amount of work you need done on that system, i.e. you're ok with waiting longer for solves, you can even do with an older 3-400$ refurb HP/Dell/Acer/Lenovo

a brand new competent system you can prob get done ~1-1.2k$ range diy

you're in the US right?

I'd rather have a pre built since I'm a total noob when it comes to building my own though I'm willing to if necessary.

However, I only use GTO+ and not putting in too many bet sizes. Usually 2 on the flop for both IP and OOP and 1 bet size for turns and rivers. On top of that, most stack sizes are 40BB or less. Sounds like what I have should work then right (i7-10700, 16gb ram)? I'm not absolutely destroying my CPU running it all day?

And yeah, I'm in the US.

no, you won't destroy your cpu, but I would say if running large databases that take multiple days to complete, use the auto save feature on gto+, it has saved me multiple days of work more than once. you know how it works right? you make a new folder for temporary files, call it w/e you want, put it w/e you want. once you're done setting up the tree and everything, save the file and put it in the temp folder. you then go the blue folder looking icon on the top right, you can see it in any menu on the software. after that it's self explanatory, it will start the job for you but it saves itself after every flop it solves, so even if there's a system crash or the power goes down, you simply go back to the blue folder icon and hit process files again and it will resume from the last unsolved flop. as far as the wear on the cpu goes, absolutely don't worry about it, it'l be obsolete before it's in any realistic danger of dieing.

sounds like you already have a pc for solves and you just need another one for poker and day to day stuff.

you don't really need anything special honestly, but it's up to you what you want to spend. I'l tell you an 3rd/4th gen Intel i7 refurb system with enough ram and an ssd is 3-400$, usually close to 300. A refurb modern system is ~700$, a new one prob 1k$. these are prebuilts I'm talking about. how many monitors would you need to hook up to this pc? any of them 4k?

Didn't know about the autosave feature, that is super useful! So far, looks my solves take only about a day and a half or less.

Just to clarify, I'm using the same computer for both solving and playing poker (which I already bought). I guess I just need that dang card to hook up all the monitors, hope it works. So glad I don't have to buy a new desktop.

Thanks again for your help. You are freakin' awesome helping everyone else out too in this whole computer section!

happy to help
if you try your hand in the sh market, you might find something to suit you
look for quadro cards with 4 display outs
so smth like this https://www.ebay.com/itm/NVIDIA-Quad...wAAOSw~Z9gEujT
I'd rather have that new Asus card instead, but if you can't find it in the US or you don't want to import, Quadros are an option. they're over priced atm just like about all other gpus, it is what it is
honestly just about any sh card with 4 digital outputs (can be a combination of DP+HDMI+DVI-D) will do the job (preferably avoid the really big ones, the 3 fans cause those might not fit), new you won't find anything for sure anywhere close to msrp

Get a good VM For your solver.

VM? Does that mean a virtual machine? How would that help?

You'd rent a server and pay an unnecessary amount of money

Oh, ok. Yeah, I certainly don't need that.