Nvidia surround - why does it require sli?

[eyetrip]

Not talking 3d surround. Just gaming on 3 monitors. At first I thought it was because the cards did not have enough connectors, but everything I read seems to say you must have SLI, and just not sure why.

Couldn't a GTX 570 with 3+ connectors do it?

 

[Surveyor]

No a single Nvidia GPU won't do it.

I'm sure there's a technical reason for it but it only works with at least 2 cards in SLI or a dual GPU card.

 

[snaggster]

The reason is that nvidia "geforce" cards only have 2 separate monitor output devices, Nvidia Quadro cards used for professional use have multiple output devices, their higher end Quadro cards can display 4 or so screens.
ATI also have multiple outputs.
The reason nvidia have given for this is that "if you want to drive three monitors at reasonably high detail levels for gaming, you’ll need some serious horsepower and that’s exactly what a dual or triple card system gives you".

 

[d_brennen]

Nvidia want you to own two or more cards?

I don't know, there probably is some technical reason why one card can't do 3 outputs simultaneously. About time NV caught up in that regard

 

[Rroff]

End of the day it comes down to cost - properly implementing the hardware to reliably output more than 2 panels would push up the price of GeForce cards - something nVidia can't afford to do as they struggle to remain competitive on price as it is - whereas its something they can justify on quadro.

I don't see it as a problem tho myself, my pair of 470s in SLI just about cut it for 3x 1680x1050 panels and struggle a lot with 3x 1920x panels unless you turn quality down a fair bit so realistically triple screen gaming on a single card isn't really going to cut it.

 

[RiseAgainst]

Yeah largely the large increase in pixel count requires major performance. Single cards running three desktop displays is fine, amd one prove that. The single AMD cards would slow to a crawl gaming on three screens with any reasonable level of detail

 

[Gerard]

Yeah largely the large increase in pixel count requires major performance. Single cards running three desktop displays is fine, amd one prove that. The single AMD cards would slow to a crawl gaming on three screens with any reasonable level of detail

Depends on the game, some games are perfectly playable with a single card.

 

[d_brennen]

Detail and performance should be down to the user though

Single 5850, 955BE @ stock playing BFBC2

From the uploader's comment

Hey guys, I recorded something simliar to this on a crappy cam a while back so I wanted to give ya'll something in 1080p with much better footage. Hope you guys enjoy it.

I love the fact that I can sit down on this thing and enjoy the game @ medium settings with practically no slow down on a single 5850 @ stock clocks. Totally didnt think that was possible until I tried it out.

** medium settings / 1x AA / 1x AF / HBAO - OFF / vsync - OFF **

This was uploaded May last year, I'm sure there have been improvements in Eyefinity since too

 

[EVGA_Nick]

Current NV GPUs support 2 RAMDACs, hence only two Dual Link capable outputs at one time. The only way around this would be to actually split the signals, which some manufacturers have chosen to do, resulting in very limited resolutions when using 3 monitors.

 

[eyetrip]

Thanks for all the info guys. Definitely rules out nvidia surround as option, as will become way too costly.

Oh well, eyefinity, or samsung 950d for 3d....

 

[easyrider]

I can see loads of tearing in that video.

Unless you are playing at max settings I see no point in 3 monitors and crappy GFX settings

 

[d_brennen]

Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder though

 

[Final8y]

Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder though

Indeed! one of my friends has been using my 5850 for Eyefinity & everyone who sees it is blow away.