7800GT SLi Questions

[Sweetloaf]

Before I bother to ask them all (sorry in a bit of a rush) Can 2 x 7800GT's in SLi support 2 x monitors? There used to be a problem with multimonitor support iirc.

Thanks.

 

[pastymuncher]

No. Sli cannot support 2x monitors. In fact the drivers tell you that when you enable Sli.

 

[man_from_uncle]

Let me clarify what he just said as I've just spent the last 8 hours learning exactly what you can and can't do with SLi as it relates to multiple monitors.

First of all you CAN run one monitor off each card, as long as you plug the monitors into one card each and disable SLi. You can also run 2 monitors off one card (assuming your 7800gts have 2 output sockets) with SLi disabled, which is what most if not all dual monitor games require. I've been playing Supreme Commander today and there is no choice but to run both monitors from 1 card without SLi enabled. It's a rough ride with only 1 7900gt.

In theory there is no reason you couldn't run up to 4 monitors from a pair of cards, you just wouldn't be able to use SLi. As soon as you do turn it on, you are forced to use 1 monitor.

 

[Sweetloaf]

Don't think I'll go SLi then I only have 2 monitors but I use them both and like to swap and change between gaming and surfing. Sounds like too much faff to be honest.

I'm not really bothered about gaming across both screens but I don't want to keep re-enabling SLi everytime I Alt Tab out of a game.

Thanks all!

 

[pastymuncher]

Let me clarify what he just said as I've just spent the last 8 hours learning exactly what you can and can't do with SLi as it relates to multiple monitors.

First of all you CAN run one monitor off each card, as long as you plug the monitors into one card each and disable SLi. You can also run 2 monitors off one card (assuming your 7800gts have 2 output sockets) with SLi disabled, which is what most if not all dual monitor games require. I've been playing Supreme Commander today and there is no choice but to run both monitors from 1 card without SLi enabled. It's a rough ride with only 1 7900gt.

In theory there is no reason you couldn't run up to 4 monitors from a pair of cards, you just wouldn't be able to use SLi. As soon as you do turn it on, you are forced to use 1 monitor.

He said IN Sli so the answer is still no.

 

[Sweetloaf]

Bit ridiculous if you ask me, the more cards you add, the less monitors you can use..hassle free

 

[pastymuncher]

That's the thing though, having multiple graphics cards is not hassle free. Believe me, i wish it was. Nothing i would like more than to have all my games running twice as fast. It just does'nt happen. In fact some games that don't support Sli/Crossfire actually run slower.