Building a new quad-screen pc, help appreciated.

[l0de]

I am building a new system for two purposes: audio work over several screens, and playing world of warcraft.

My primary concern is getting four screens working together. To that end I would like to use one of my current video cards (a 6800gt) in one slot of a two pcie16x motherboard, with a new 8800 gts in the primary slot. My question is: will this even work? Do I need any kind of specialized software to make it happen?

Please note that I am NOT GOING FOR SLI. I do know that you need the same kind of card for sli.

Here's a list of the hardware I'm putting in the machine, besides my existing 6800gt and a nice ocz power supply. Any suggestions, etc would be welcome.

1 GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3P LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
Model #: GA-P35-DS3P
Item #: N82E16813128047

Return Policy: Limited 30-Day Return Policy

In Stock
$159.99 -$10.00 Instant $149.99
1 Leadtek PX8800 GTS TDH 320MB Extreme GeForce 8800GTS 320MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Video Card - Retail
Model #: PX8800GTS TDH 320M E
Item #: N82E16814122022

Return Policy: Limited Non-Refundable 30-Day Return Policy

In Stock
$294.99 $294.99
1 Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80557E6600 - Retail
Model #: BX80557E6600
Item #: N82E16819115003

Return Policy: Processors (CPUs) Return Policy

In Stock
$222.90 $222.90
4 Kingston 1GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Desktop Memory Model KVR800D2N5/1G - Retail
Model #: KVR800D2N5/1G
Item #: N82E16820134114

Return Policy: Memory (Modules, USB) Return Policy

In Stock
$54.99 $219.96
1 Seagate Barracuda ES ST3500630NS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
Model #: ST3500630NS
Item #: N82E16822148151

Return Policy: Limited 30-Day Return Policy

In Stock
$149.99 $

 

[emp]

forget about the 6800GT and do a bit of research on the Matrox TripleHead2Go, it may be just what you need.

 

[skittle]

well im not sure if you were aware.. but the p35 chipset doesnt offically support 2 x16 pci-e slots. That motherboard has ONE pci-e with 16 lanes, and the other x16 slot only has 4 lanes. 4 lanes will proably be enough bandwidth for the 6800gt though.

yeah that should work, just make sure the 16lane slot is for the 8800gts.

also the triplehead2go is nice, but it just makes the image span the entire screen... forget about maximizing to just one monitor... this makes running multiple apps across screens very difficult.

 

[l0de]

4 lanes is fine for the GT, it's not doing any 3d at all (hopefully!) Hopefully this will work ok out of the box.

Would I see any significant performance increase upgrading to like kingston hyperx ram? I may or may not overclock

 

[Heyyou27]

The Geforce 8 series uses a unique set of drivers that is incompatible with older hardware. I honestly think you'd be better off investing in an 8500GT to go with your 8800GTS as the Matrox triplehead2go costs as much as an 8800GTS 320MB.