Multiple graphics cards

[thirdchances]

Just want to understand this in my head. If I have more than one graphics card installed in a machine I can attach a monitor to each and use them for multiple applications but just cant use them as one big screen? I may be completely wrong but would appreciate being put right. Thanks in advance

 

[thirdchances]

I have not yet decided on the graphics card and im aware of multiple monitors per card. However if I have 3 cheap graphics cards, one monitor on each, could i have one playing video, one on the internet and one using spreadsheets? All different applications but can i move the mouse between all of them freely?

 

[thirdchances]

But for example could i do the same "extended desktop" with two monitors on one graphics card and two monitors on another graphics card. Or three on each. Thank you all for your help so far

 

[thirdchances]

Hi, thanks for all your help so far. I understand the concept of how it works on one graphics card but was more inquiring as to how it would work across two or three graphics cards and whether the same rules apply?

 

[thirdchances]

Ok so with multiple graphics cards I would not be able to move the mouse freely between all the screens is that correct? In my line of work I need to be able to see a lot of data all at once and multi task. My thought process was to have multiple medium graphics cards instead of one really expensive one because it would leave one graphics card take the stress of one application while one of the others would not be slowed down running different applications separately. For example if one screen was playing 1080p video I could have a different screen using video editing software without slowing down one card. The reason I would like to use multiple cards is because I am looking at having 6-8 screens and it is hard to find a graphics card with that many outputs and even if I did then I would worry about it running slowly because it is trying to support different content on so many monitors at once. Hope that helps clarify my question and I appreciate your help

 

[thirdchances]

Sorry to keep dragging on but just so I understand, how is the setup of multiple monitors on seperate graphics cards different to if they were on the same graphics card?

 

[thirdchances]

So if I had good performance from the other components i.e. 3ghz+ quad core ivybridge cpu and 16gb+ of 1600mhz+ RAM with solid state drives which graphics card combination would be best for a 6-8 monitor configuration? Thanks for the advice so far

 

[thirdchances]

Purely for work which comprises of spreadsheets, presentations, excel documents, remote desktop applications, multiple browser windows, outlook and video editing at the same time.