3 Monitor SLI

[w0lfattack]

I've done a decent amount of research and still cannot come up with a definitive answer. Currently I have two monitors plugged into an EVGA 9800GTX+. What I am planning on is buying a third monitor and another 9800GTX+ to run in SLI.

Is it possible to run these cards in SLI AND plug in a 3rd monitor?

I want to do this because I really like to multitask and I also would like the extra power of SLI for gaming (L4D2, CODMW2, BBC2, etc).


Home Built PC:

Windows 7 Pro (64-bit)
Intel Core i7 - 860 Lynnfield Processor @ 2.8GHz
Asus P7P55 WS SuperComputer ATX Motherboard
EVGA 9800 GTX+ Graphics Card
G.SKILL RipJaw 4GB Triple Channel DDR3 1600 RAM
Corsair 850W Power Supply
Cooler Master HAF 932 Steel ATX Full Tower Case

 

[cygone]

no, u would need a Matrox Triple Head to Go Digital at about £250 / $350

 

[w0lfattack]

What would you propose then, sir?

 

[w0lfattack]

because I do want 3 monitors.

Perhaps I should get a faster graphics card and NOT run the cards in SLI. Then I actually would have the capacity for 4 monitors, correct?

 

[Mousemonkey]

If you got another 9800GTX+ or a GTS250 you should be able to run four monitors but in SLi mode I think only one monitor will have a picture and the other three would go blank.

 

[w0lfattack]

I ~should~ be able to? That's what I'm trying to find out. If you are saying that the other monitors are disabled IN-game - that is acceptable. Does anybody have this configuration? Thanks

 

[sabot00]

If you don't SLI you can have 4 monitors, if you do SLI you can only have one.
If you want 3 monitors the easiliest way is to use SLI'd 9800GTX's to display to one and get a GT220/9400GT to display the other 2.

 

[w0lfattack]

Best answer selected by w0lfATTACK.

 

[w0lfattack]

Thanks to everyone who replied

 

[Mousemonkey]

If you don't SLI you can have 4 monitors, if you do SLI you can only have one.
If you want 3 monitors the easiliest way is to use SLI'd 9800GTX's to display to one and get a GT220/9400GT to display the other 2.

Wrong, you can run two monitors in SLi and four with a third GPU.

http://www.slizone.com/object/sli_multi_monitor.html#confoptions

 

[sabot00]

Ahh, sorry, didn't know when that update to SLi happened.

 

[Mousemonkey]

Ahh, sorry, didn't know when that update to SLi happened.

It was quite a while ago actually.

 

[Mousemonkey]

Best answer selected by mousemonkey.

 

[w0lfattack]

Interesting...

So does it matter what kind of 3rd graphics card I would use?

For instance, I can add on another 9800gtx+ to my current in SLI and get a cheap $30 graphics card to run the third monitor? It just has to be nVidia, correct?

Although.... I'm thinking it might be easier just to get an EVGA GTX 460 (fermi) and keeping my 9800GTX+ for additional monitors.

The 9800gtx+ REALLY is satisfactory for all the games I play except for BFBC2. What I really want more is the desktop real estate. I've become extremely spoiled with two monitors to the point I'm starting to feel cramped on them, lol.

Any suggestions, ideas, or comments are greatly appreciated.

 

[Mousemonkey]

If you are running XP or W7 then you could add a second card from either Nvidia or ATi, it's only Vista that won't allow two different VGA drivers to be run at the same time.

 

[w0lfattack]

Oh cool, thanks. I have Windows 7.

Decisions.. decisions..