Triple Monitor Gaming with 2 x 480's

[Hayleywow]

HI guys

Can someone tell me how you set up 3 monitors for gaming with 2 x GTX 480 in SLI.

Do all monitors go into DVI ports etc (2 on one card & 1 on the other) is there any programs I will need to stretch things along 3 screens???

Thanks

Hay

 

[Hayleywow]

Bump!

 

[Skyrocket]

http://nvidia.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/nvidia.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=2667

its all there mate just use google.

 

[Duff-Man]

I did this recently. Just plug the screens into the DVI sockets, and run the setup wizard that's in the nvidia control panel. It will prompt you to check how the screens are arranged, then give you bezel management options.

Really straightforward as long as your screens are compatible... And on that note, make sure your screens have the same sync polarity! If they're all the same model screen you'll be fine but if not then check the sync polarity is the same.

 

[3t3P]

how you guys liking these types of setups for gaming? immersive? compatible with most titles?

 

[Antx777]

got two GTX's 480, and was wondering about this too, but with "TWO monitors" not three, can it be done? (Dell u2711 and samsung 26")

 

[Duff-Man]

got two GTX's 480, and was wondering about this too, but with "TWO monitors" not three, can it be done? (Dell u2711 and samsung 26")

Nope. You need three screens to enable nvidia surround. Does not work with two.



3t3P - having the extra screens is really quite nice... in fast-paced FPS games you don't really process so much from the side panels, but the peripheral vision effect does add quite a lot to the immersion of the game.

At 7680*1600 (or a little higher with bezel management) the amount of video RAM comes into play though. The requirements will vary game-to-game; some are fine with any settings, some will be fine as long as you have no AA enabled, and some will have problems running at native res even without AA. At 5760*1080 (three 1080p screens) I doubt you will have much trouble though.

Although video memory is a common limiting factor (which will completely kill performance when you run out), I'm surprised at the ability of the cards to handle such a high resolution and maintain good framerates in most games (read - not Metro 2033 )

 

[Rroff]

Does it not work with 2 any more? I had a play with 2 panels (2 GPUs - GTX260 SLI at the time) in an earlier 250 beta driver without any problems.

 

[Hayleywow]

Thanks for the advice guys, All the monitors are the same all three are Alienware.

Will the cards get even hotter with 3 monitors connected????

Thanks

Hay

 

[Duff-Man]

Thanks for the advice guys, All the monitors are the same all three are Alienware.

Will the cards get even hotter with 3 monitors connected????

Thanks

Hay

When the GPUs are working at 100%, the power draw (and hence the heat output) will be pretty much the same as a single screen at 100% load.

But, at idle the cards will use a little more power, since the base clock will be around 340Mhz (at stock), rather than dropping down to 50Mhz with a single screen.

 

[Duff-Man]

Does it not work with 2 any more? I had a play with 2 panels (2 GPUs - GTX260 SLI at the time) in an earlier 250 beta driver without any problems.

You can run two (or more) screens no problem in windows, and you can even run them in games if you want one screen to clone the other.

If you want the "surround" though (a full-sized desktop in windows, and an extended screen resolution in games), then you need three screens. Certainly that is the case now, but as far as I know it's always been this way...

 

[Rroff]

Yeah know about the windows side.

Played about with eve using 2 monitors with some early beta drivers, will have to swap connectors over later and test but I'm taking your word for it not working.

 

[Duff-Man]

Played about with eve using 2 monitors with some early beta drivers, will have to swap connectors over later and test but I'm taking your word for it not working.

Post back if you find anything, I'd be interested. Recently I had a setup with two screens that weren't compatible with a third, and there was no option to configure a surround setup without the third screen plugged in. I was only using fairly recent drivers though, so with old ones I suppose it could have been an option.

 

[Rroff]

Don't even see an option for it with 258.96 drivers it tells me all my displays can be used but no bezel management tab and no extra resolutions showing in games like before.