How do I hook up three monitors with two video cards?

[Quitoman]

I currently have two 8800GT's in SLI. I want to hook up triple monitors. Is this possible using 2 DVI ports from one card and a third from the other card? If it is, what software will I have to use to get three monitors working correctly?

 

[rabidbunny]

You should be able to use the nvidia control panel to set up everything. Look around and google my friend! I have not setup more than one monitor before, but usually it's plug and play. Usually the comp recognizes the extra monitors and helps you configure them. I know mine does every time i disconnect and reconnect my 1 monitor.

I don't see any reason why those cards wouldn't run three monitors..

 

[hesskia]

You cant run SLI and multimonitors---it doesn't work that way. Youll need to take off your SLI bridge and run them separately to get them to work the way you have described.

 

[teh_boxzor]

You cant run SLI and multimonitors---it doesn't work that way. Youll need to take off your SLI bridge and run them separately to get them to work the way you have described.

wow dont throw out random crap when you haven't got the right answer.

the simplest way is to just disable sli in nvidia control panel. it should recognize all three right away.

 

[Daterminator]

hey try this software out for 3 monitors on two video cards its go to UitraMon.com

 

[chef7734]

You cant run SLI and multimonitors---it doesn't work that way. Youll need to take off your SLI bridge and run them separately to get them to work the way you have described.

You can run 2 monitors off a sli'd system however you can not run 3. you just have to disable sli in the Nvidia control panel and it will recognise all 3 monitors.

 

[Expensive Brick]

You're all half right. Generally, you cannot run triple display in SLi, but technology is so great these days. You can pretty much buy anything to modify anything else. Such as with the Matrox TripleHead2Go device, which allows you to run three (3) displays in SLi or Crossfire. The device either allows you to work with three independent monitors, but why do this when you can disable SLi, or integrates the three displays into one gigantic desktop. The SLi is important because, depending upon the size of your screens, you will have an insane display resolution of 4080 x 768 (if your display is: 3 x 1360 x 768) which will need a lot of GPU muscle to run games at high settings. So, if this seems like an option for you: READ the device specs to make sure your native resolutions are supported.

It's a pretty sweet device that comes in three flavors: analog (VGA); digital (DVI); and a third that throws in some unnecessary features. The only hitch to this plan, other than your monthly electric bills is the up front cost of $300. But, if you're using three displays already, you're probably not going to break the bank to add this feature...

And, because I think it's a terrific item, I would add the triple monitor stand from Ergotron. This allows for great cable management and display orientation. This particular model allows you to rotate your displays 90 degrees for portrait views (in the case you're a photoshop guru or hate scrolling). This, of course, is only useful when your displays are independent of one another...