hi all, just wandering if anyone has tried this and how well it works, well basically i am thinking of going from sli 480's to sli 670's, now i have some spare 19" monitors, and was thinking of keeping one of my 480's to run a second monitor separately so i can run games etc etc at full speed on my sli, while still running the second smaller monitor off a different gpu, ok so if im say playing a game and need to access something on the second monitor how do get to the second monitor do i have a key to press to swap monitors, is it as simple as that, or is it a pain in the ass to setup, any thoughts recommendation's would be appreciated.
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utility screen on spare gpu
- Thread starter nalla
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Soldato
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Can't you just run a second screen from your 670s? The impact on FPS during gaming is so small you wont notice. Using the second monitor while gaming would be the same irrespective of running from a separate GPU.
Because SLi only allows one screen, or 3 in a surround setup.
Just set the extra monitor in extended mode and it should work fine, most games will lock the mouse to the game so you will need to either play in windowed mode (which disables SLi) or tap the window button to hop out of the game if you want to do something on the second monitor.
Why not just sell the 480s and get a much cheaper card to do the job? What's your full system specs?
Just set the extra monitor in extended mode and it should work fine, most games will lock the mouse to the game so you will need to either play in windowed mode (which disables SLi) or tap the window button to hop out of the game if you want to do something on the second monitor.
Why not just sell the 480s and get a much cheaper card to do the job? What's your full system specs?
Soldato
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CrossFire disables when you leave fullscreen too, it comes back on when you return to fullscreen, but forget about windowed gaming in regards to SLi/CrossFire.
If you still require the second screen then as Orcvader said, get a cheap gpu as at the very least you want the coolest gpu you can get so that your 670's don't heat up more than they have too.
If you still require the second screen then as Orcvader said, get a cheap gpu as at the very least you want the coolest gpu you can get so that your 670's don't heat up more than they have too.
No. Works on SLI too (main monitor and additional monitor in extended desktop mode).
At least I think it does... Not sure if I checked properly when I was running two monitors like this when I wasn't running Surround...
With any multi card setup, they only work with one screen, or one group (multiple monitors merged to a single screen). OP wants the second monitor to be an utility screen, which requires it to be in extended mode. This will not work with Surround/Eyefinity, since it treats the multiple screens as one space and hence will stretch the game across both of them.
Soldato
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I must have misread the OP's post...but he's not running Surround, just one monitor. I've got 4 screens running off my CF7970s 2 in extended and one in duplicate. I even had a fourth screen when i had eyefinity...i'm just slightly lost.
Soldato
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Hmm... I have no idea then. Last time I checked, when running a game in fullscreen it disables any other monitors when you have SLi/Crossfire. But that time was a long time ago.
Not for me, i use the side monitors for skype, steam and for monitoring temps.
My brother plays fullscreen Football Manger2012 whilst watching TV on his other monitor (also in extended) He's only just upgraded from a CF to a single card, and works identically.
.I know that but he isn't running Surround/Eyefinity is he?
Soldato
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If you put the 480 in as well as your 670, I'd think it'd affect the performance of you other cards, say dropping one from x16 to x8/x4. I'd think you'd be able to use the integrated graphics of your cpu/mb for the second screen without affecting your sli setup.
hi well i tried extended before but that for some reason drops the res on my main monitor ( dell 30" 2560 x 1600 ) to what ever the 19" monitor res is, i simply want a spare monitor to use other progs on the spare monitor whilst playing games etc etc, but the spare monitor needs to run at a different res to main monitor
my full spec is
gigabyte x79 ud3 r
intel 3930 @ 4.5
16 gig samsung green 32nm ram
2 x gtx 480's sli
1x 80 gig intel ssd
1x 180 gig intel ssd
antec 1200 case
antec 100 watt psu
my full spec is
gigabyte x79 ud3 r
intel 3930 @ 4.5
16 gig samsung green 32nm ram
2 x gtx 480's sli
1x 80 gig intel ssd
1x 180 gig intel ssd
antec 1200 case
antec 100 watt psu