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HiVolt
Premium Member
join:2000-12-28
Toronto, ON

HiVolt

Premium Member

nVIDIA SLI & Multimonitor setup.

I'm thinking about going for a GTX680 SLI setup. However I have a question about multi-monitor setup, particularly how it pertains to windows desktop...

I had two 7900GTX in SLI many years ago, and I remember there was a limitation in SLI mode it would not allow even windows desktop to display on two other side monitors. My main display is a 30" display, and i have two smaller side monitors.

The other question is, how do I hook up the 3 monitors, can it handle three monitors hooked up to one card ( i know it has 4 outputs) or would I have to hook up one to the second card?

All 3 monitors I have use DVI, with the 30" being Dual-Link DVI.

norwegian
Premium Member
join:2005-02-15
Outback

norwegian

Premium Member

SLI - you will have to work with it as 1 x GPU, so find a card that can run 3 monitors, but remember HDMI takes out a DVI plug etc, so you maybe restricted to 1 x HDMI, 1 x DVI, 1 x VGA, as you can't run 2 x HDMI and a DVI without and active DVI adapter or similar.

Do some research on your cards before spending the cash.

Of course 2 x cards not in SLI will run 3 without a problem.

MacGyver

join:2001-10-14
Vancouver, BC

MacGyver to HiVolt

to HiVolt
If you have on board graphics you can enable that video output and use that for a monitor for non-gaming uses.
Thordrune
Premium Member
join:2005-08-03
Lakeport, CA

Thordrune to HiVolt

Premium Member

to HiVolt
From what I can find on the GTX 680, a single card can do four monitors, with three of them for surround gaming (fourth is an "accessory display", probably 2D-only). It appears that it has more than the usual two TMDS transmitters, which means you won't have to go crazy with active DisplayPort adapters to get all of the monitors hooked up via DVI.

As for SLI, there seems to be several configurations for hooking up the monitors, all of them involving hooking the third or fourth monitor up to the second card. There's a nifty picture detailing the various configurations here.

HiVolt
Premium Member
join:2000-12-28
Toronto, ON

HiVolt

Premium Member

Interesting... I'm not actually interested in gaming on the side monitors... Just the main one, but I'd like the windows desktop to spread on all three without changing configurations and stuff when going into gaming...

MacGyver

join:2001-10-14
Vancouver, BC

MacGyver

I run games in Windowed mode on the center display. None of my displays get affected when running games. Full screen on the other hand, is a different story.

HiVolt
Premium Member
join:2000-12-28
Toronto, ON

HiVolt

Premium Member

said by MacGyver:

I run games in Windowed mode on the center display. None of my displays get affected when running games. Full screen on the other hand, is a different story.

So full screen games, the side monitors go blank? Thats what used to happen on my old SLI setup back in the day

MacGyver

join:2001-10-14
Vancouver, BC

MacGyver

It depends on the game. Generally I prefer windowed mode so I can switch between displays without having the game window disappear as it does in full screen.

norwegian
Premium Member
join:2005-02-15
Outback

norwegian to HiVolt

Premium Member

to HiVolt
said by HiVolt:

So full screen games, the side monitors go blank? Thats what used to happen on my old SLI setup back in the day

I think it depends on monitors.

If you get three the same size you can extend the display, if you get 2 x 21" and a 30", it will set the 30" as the display.

It's not about just what the card can do; it's the sum of the equipment and drivers. Most card specs will tell you the limitations for setups....or select your hardware and link to the specs you have, someone will give a definitive answer.