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Dual-Screen issues with a 7950GX2

wickedy

wickedy

wickedy

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Joined
5 Dec 2003
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403
Location
London taaan
As the title suggests, I am suffering from increased stress levels because of my new cards' inability to supply an image to two 19" Dell TFTs. The card in question is a EVGA e-GeForce 7950 GX2.

Purchased a fortnight ago, the card was installed into a brand-new machine that I built last week. Once we were up and running, and the new 91.47 nVidia drivers installed, we started trying to get the output spread across our two 19" TFTs. This process was hampered by the constant crashing of the nVidia Control Panel.

So, we un-installed the 91.47 driver and installed a comparable one from the manufacturers' site. Lo and behold, we actually got an output on to both monitors. Super.

Having re-started the machine, we are now back to square one. No dual-monitor. nVidia Control Panel crashes every time we try and access it.

Can anyone shed any light as to what the hell is going on?? Please, anyone, get back to me before I nail this blasted thing to a frizzbe and fling it over a rainbow....

Thank you. :)
 
Yeah you cant use dual screen while using SLI, and like Meatloaf said, a 7950GX2 is considered an sli card
 
Okay......

Why then, prey tell, does it have two outputs on it? And why did it work before we re-started it?

Puzzled...

[edit] Also, the manual says I can!!! :confused:
 
Last edited:
wickedy said:
Okay......

Why then, prey tell, does it have two outputs on it? And why did it work before we re-started it?

Puzzled...
Click to expand...

Do you have to enable SLI by ticking the box like i do with twin 7900s?

If you disable SLI then dual screen would probably work, but then its a waste having that card then really.

I thibk the 2 outputs are for larger monitors like the dell 30 inch which needs the two outputs ( i think )
 
Cause it should work ;) And im guessing nvidia put two outputs on there incase they do ever fix it with a driver release, but for now it just doesnt work properly, if at all in most situations
 
You could get the 2nd monitor working with a cheapy PCI gfx card, but that still wouldnt allow you to stretch a game over the two screens if thats what you want to do, but you could spread the desktop accross ( i think )
 
Firstly, the manual supplied with it says, and I quote, "Horizontal & Vertical Span modes - In these modes, the desktop area is spread across both displays and can be set for vertical or horizontal orientation".

Secondly, reviews have stated that it can output to two different screens.

Thirdly, we've had it working, it just won't stay like it.

Fourthly, there is no mention on the manufacturers or sales specification pages that this is an sli card.

Finally, the nVidia Control Panel (when it works) does enable this feature. But it doesn't always work. Other than that, it's not going to be used for gaming but for high-end mapping and planning purposes. So I wouldn't call it a waste of a card!

Cheers again.
 
i'm a little confused, u guys talking about SLI wouldnt work on dual-screens in GAMES or DESKTOP?

i'm big fan of dual-screen on desktop, and planning to get GX2 card soon to replace my oldie 6800GT 256mb with twin heads.

what's wrong with ultramon?

thanks

edit: i never used nvidia control panel for dual-screen, its rubbish
 
wickedy said:
Firstly, the manual supplied with it says, and I quote, "Horizontal & Vertical Span modes - In these modes, the desktop area is spread across both displays and can be set for vertical or horizontal orientation".

Secondly, reviews have stated that it can output to two different screens.

Thirdly, we've had it working, it just won't stay like it.

Fourthly, there is no mention on the manufacturers or sales specification pages that this is an sli card.

Finally, the nVidia Control Panel (when it works) does enable this feature. But it doesn't always work. Other than that, it's not going to be used for gaming but for high-end mapping and planning purposes. So I wouldn't call it a waste of a card!

Cheers again.
Click to expand...

Dude seriously, it is a well known issue

Search for "dual screen and 7950gx2" in Google

Its filled with forum threads, review sites mentioning it.

nVidia have even come out and acknowledged it doesnt work with SLI cards and the 7950GX2

It will be fixed with a driver release soon no doubt, although the issue has been around since SLI has been released

And the 7950 IS an SLI Card, as the drivers have to see it as one to use both GPU's on it
 
:) As far as i know if you have dual screens then one of them goes blank when SLI is enabled, in fact i get a message to that effect when i enable it.

We could do with some input from someone who actually has a GX2 to see if they have dual screens working.

What make card is it mate? I'll see what i can find out :)

EDIT : Searching as the guy above says confirms ehat he says.
 
Okay. Thanks for the above comments guys. It would appear I have been a muppet. :p

In light of the above, and the fact that I need this PC up and running ASAP, I have already made arrangements for this card to be returned and will hence be seeking an alternative card.

Seeing as I have failed to purchase a suitable graphics card through a mixture of lack of research and general muppetry, can someone suggest any suitable alternative??

I need a high-spec card that can output 1280 x 1024 @75Hz on to two TFTs, i.e. one desktop over two screens. At somepoint in the near future the two TFTs will be replaced by a huge widescreen TFT, so it should be able to cope with that too. The machine is to be used for high end mapping and planning applications. So, whilst I won't be running any games on it, I will be working on 3D maps of cities, towns and buildings. The card should be suitably hefty to do this 24/7 without breaking a sweat. The spec of the rest of the machine is below:

Gigabyte GA-965P-DQ6
Intel Core 2 Duo E6700 (2.66GHz etc) with Arctic Freezer 7 Pro
Corsair 2GB DDR2 XMS2-6400C5 TwinX
1x WD Raptor 150GB 10,000RPM SATA 16MB
2x WD Caviar 500GB SATA-II 16MB
Enermax Galaxy 850W PSU
..all in an Antec Solo Quiet Mini Tower Case

Cheers peeps. Please help dig me out of the hole I dug for myself. :)
 
The most powerful alternative to a 7950 would be ATi's flagship card the X1950XT

Although some would dispute its not worth the extra cash over an X1900XT yet, but it would appear drivers arent getting the most out of it too which means it could have a lot more power to unlock with a future driver release so its upto you
 
Definatley will, 100% guarentee, as long as you dont get a Crossfire master card it will (these only have 1 output and then the other output is replaced by the crossfire connection)
 
Steedie said:
Definatley will, 100% guarentee, as long as you dont get a Crossfire master card it will (these only have 1 output and then the other output is replaced by the crossfire connection)
Click to expand...
There is a connector on the dongle lead, so it still has two outputs.
 
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