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3 monitor setup. but..need quick help

Last response: in Graphics & Displays
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sup all.

ok so this is the thing, i want 3 monitors, i currently have 2.

i have this motherboard : Asus crosshair formula iv

but i have this main video card : EVGA GTX 470

problem is that i had this video card on my first gaming rig, i bought this mobo and completely didnt see that it doesnt support
um... whatever its called when you join 2 nvidia cards for joint power (crossfire or the other one ) lol, only supports the ATI cards linkage function (forget the name!)

so anyways,

both my monitors are plugged into the GTX 470.

as it stands, i dont want to game on all monitors, i just want to be able to extend my desktop to all three monitors without any special ACTIVE display adapter or anything like that.

my question is, if i buy a CHEAP nvidia card so i can plug in the 3rd monitor,
can i then use three monitors right out the gate? and share resources between all of them, or do i still need something else altogether?


thanks in advance

More about : monitor setup quick

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yep yep i just did it 2 days ago, took the chance lol.
im not doing it with a GTX470 and a GT430....plugged and play............

the only thing that i cant tell is, which is my system using as the main video card?

any idea?
Graphics card Master
Monitor Authority

By default, it'll consider the one in the slot closest to your CPU as the primary (unless you have something set differently in your BIOS or in Control Panel).

When you game, you should be able to still configure the secondary card to do your PhysX processing.
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so your saying by default, the GPU closes to CPU is always default?

cause if thats the case then my GTX470 is the primary and the gt 430 the secondary.


as far as this: " When you game, you should be able to still configure the secondary card to do your PhysX processing. "

what do you mean by that?
Graphics card Master
Monitor Authority

It also depends on whether you have any monitor plugged into the card.

PhysX - Look in Nvidia control panel under Set PhysX configuration under 3D settings. You can offload PhysX processing (for the few games that offer it - ie Batman AA) to the second card.

well what i mean is,

imean i see it, its set to " auto-select"

does this mean that it shared the load with the 2nd less powerful card or it makes it number one?
or whatever phys x does, itll give to the second allowing the 1st to still be number one card with more power to spend?

thanks.
Graphics card Master
Monitor Authority

It will probably set the secondary card using the auto-select process. It should say right underneath the drop-down. You can manually select the second card, but I don't think you'll have to.

It will continue to leave your 470 as the primary either way. With the 430 selected as the PhysX card, you offload PhysX processing to the 430 so the 470 can perform even better than if you just used the 470 alone with a PhysX-enabled game.
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