quad mon system?

**magnethead** · 03-10-2008, 10:36 PM

Is it my understanding that if I were to buy an SLI motherboard and another 7800GT, that I could run 4 monitors total, 2 off each card, with one card at x16 and the other at x1 speeds?

I have a 7800GT and MX4000 and they did not get along the least bit because the 4 and 7 series have dramatically different drivers. And a quadro card is out of the question.

The 78 and my trident blade card were working together for a tri-monitor hookup till i tried the 4K, now i need to find my XP disk and set everything back straight- hard-headed me forgot to make a restore point

because i thought it was on the task scheduler...and it's not. Course then i'll probably have to remember how to reset my vista theme..oh well.

So now i'm looking at a number of options, the cheapest being to stay at 3 monitors and put the 4K in my side computer /slash/ server.

But is my SLI understanding correct? Because I may go down that road at some point to have 4 screens on 1 computer.

game + email + xfire messenger
word/office + email + internet
word/office + email + video
CAD (span 2 displays) + email + internet

Not so much that i need 4 displays, i'm living pretty well on 3, i just want to have the space there if needed. Plus if I get another 19" monitor, to put next to this one. Or even 2 new ones and have this as a third.

right now I have a 20" TV, 19" LCD, 17" CRT, 15" CRT, and 14" CRT.

ebackhus · 03-11-2008, 01:51 PM

For what you're doing you can get by on just 2 cards of almost any type. As long as you don't run SLI/CrossFire you'll get the most from them.

**magnethead** · 03-12-2008, 11:12 AM

That's what i thought. But windoze screamed at me when i tried to run the 4 and 7 series together because they use completely different drivers, and it went into a stop error and rebooted. Did I miss something?

03-10-2008, 10:36 PM	#1 (permalink)
magnethead Registered User Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Texas, USA Posts: 3,570 OS: Vista ultimate 32bit My System Blog Entries: 3	quad mon system? Is it my understanding that if I were to buy an SLI motherboard and another 7800GT, that I could run 4 monitors total, 2 off each card, with one card at x16 and the other at x1 speeds? I have a 7800GT and MX4000 and they did not get along the least bit because the 4 and 7 series have dramatically different drivers. And a quadro card is out of the question. The 78 and my trident blade card were working together for a tri-monitor hookup till i tried the 4K, now i need to find my XP disk and set everything back straight- hard-headed me forgot to make a restore point because i thought it was on the task scheduler...and it's not. Course then i'll probably have to remember how to reset my vista theme..oh well. So now i'm looking at a number of options, the cheapest being to stay at 3 monitors and put the 4K in my side computer /slash/ server. But is my SLI understanding correct? Because I may go down that road at some point to have 4 screens on 1 computer. game + email + xfire messenger word/office + email + internet word/office + email + video CAD (span 2 displays) + email + internet Not so much that i need 4 displays, i'm living pretty well on 3, i just want to have the space there if needed. Plus if I get another 19" monitor, to put next to this one. Or even 2 new ones and have this as a third. right now I have a 20" TV, 19" LCD, 17" CRT, 15" CRT, and 14" CRT. __________________ For proper support: what are you running? graphics, cpu, m/board, ram, PSU brand wattage PCI-E requires 26 amps at 12 volts. That's a 650W PSU. Power Supply Info and Selection . Info on thermal compounds & application . TEST PSU USING MULTI-METER . Bench Testing Your System

03-11-2008, 01:51 PM	#2 (permalink)
ebackhus Manager, Design Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: SATX Posts: 14,249 OS: WinXP Pro SP3/Windows 7 RTM My System Blog Entries: 28	Re: quad mon system? For what you're doing you can get by on just 2 cards of almost any type. As long as you don't run SLI/CrossFire you'll get the most from them. __________________ ----------------------------- There are no dumb questions, unless a customer is asking them. Help in the fight against cancer and other serious illnesses.

03-12-2008, 11:12 AM	#3 (permalink)
magnethead Registered User Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Texas, USA Posts: 3,570 OS: Vista ultimate 32bit My System Blog Entries: 3	Re: quad mon system? That's what i thought. But windoze screamed at me when i tried to run the 4 and 7 series together because they use completely different drivers, and it went into a stop error and rebooted. Did I miss something? __________________ For proper support: what are you running? graphics, cpu, m/board, ram, PSU brand wattage PCI-E requires 26 amps at 12 volts. That's a 650W PSU. Power Supply Info and Selection . Info on thermal compounds & application . TEST PSU USING MULTI-METER . Bench Testing Your System