Question about three monitors and two video cards

edmunsta · 08-25-2008, 05:30 AM

Hi all,

I have a problem that probably has a number of solutions. My set up currently is two widescreen LCDs: a 19" and a 22". These are both connected to my 8800GT. I use the 22" as my gaming monitor.

This week I'm getting a 32" LCD tv for my room. I would like this to be connected to my PC as well. The last requirement is that, if I choose, I can play games on the 32" as well.

Now I know that I can easily hook the new TV up to the computer by just buying a cheap little video card and plugging it into that. My question though is about the gaming. See, I know that with the two LCD monitors plugged into the 8800GT I can just choose which one I want to game on. Now I'm not sure if this is possible, but if I have the two monitors connected to the good graphics card and the TV connected to the crap one... can I use the processing power from the 8800GT, but output to the display connected to the other card?

Summary: if I have a good graphics card and a bad graphics card in my system, can I output the good grahpics card's video to the display connected to the bad graphics card.

Regards

Eddie

ebackhus · 08-25-2008, 01:42 PM

Short answer: no. It's a neat idea, though!

**magnethead** · 08-25-2008, 03:01 PM

put your 22 and 32 on the 8800, put the 19 on a seperate card?

ebackhus · 08-25-2008, 03:38 PM

That solution would work. If you intend to just use the 3 monitor for basic 2D things you'll be fine with even a little PCI card.

edmunsta · 08-25-2008, 05:12 PM

Yea that's true. I'll just put the 19" on the spare card and run the big TV and big monitor off the 8800. As for a little PCI card ebackhus, they're more expensive than little PCI-X cards! The cheapest PCI-X is about $34 AUD, cheapest PCI i can find is $80.

**magnethead** · 08-25-2008, 08:57 PM

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...nd&Order=PRICE

**Aus_Karlos** · 08-26-2008, 09:21 AM

Power Supply. Make sure it can handle the two cards first. Otherwise you will notice a massive drop in fps when playing games one screen and having a TV Tuner card play TV through the other.

08-25-2008, 05:30 AM	#1 (permalink)
edmunsta Registered User Join Date: Nov 2007 Posts: 9 OS: XP SP2	Question about three monitors and two video cards Hi all, I have a problem that probably has a number of solutions. My set up currently is two widescreen LCDs: a 19" and a 22". These are both connected to my 8800GT. I use the 22" as my gaming monitor. This week I'm getting a 32" LCD tv for my room. I would like this to be connected to my PC as well. The last requirement is that, if I choose, I can play games on the 32" as well. Now I know that I can easily hook the new TV up to the computer by just buying a cheap little video card and plugging it into that. My question though is about the gaming. See, I know that with the two LCD monitors plugged into the 8800GT I can just choose which one I want to game on. Now I'm not sure if this is possible, but if I have the two monitors connected to the good graphics card and the TV connected to the crap one... can I use the processing power from the 8800GT, but output to the display connected to the other card? Summary: if I have a good graphics card and a bad graphics card in my system, can I output the good grahpics card's video to the display connected to the bad graphics card. Regards Eddie

08-25-2008, 01:42 PM	#2 (permalink)
ebackhus Manager, Design Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: SATX Posts: 14,312 OS: WinXP Pro SP3/Windows 7 RTM My System Blog Entries: 28	Re: Question about three monitors and two video cards Short answer: no. It's a neat idea, though! __________________ ----------------------------- There are no dumb questions, unless a customer is asking them. Help in the fight against cancer and other serious illnesses.

08-25-2008, 03:01 PM	#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: Question about three monitors and two video cards put your 22 and 32 on the 8800, put the 19 on a seperate card? __________________ 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

08-25-2008, 03:38 PM	#4 (permalink)
ebackhus Manager, Design Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: SATX Posts: 14,312 OS: WinXP Pro SP3/Windows 7 RTM My System Blog Entries: 28	Re: Question about three monitors and two video cards That solution would work. If you intend to just use the 3 monitor for basic 2D things you'll be fine with even a little PCI card. __________________ ----------------------------- There are no dumb questions, unless a customer is asking them. Help in the fight against cancer and other serious illnesses.

08-25-2008, 05:12 PM	#5 (permalink)
edmunsta Registered User Join Date: Nov 2007 Posts: 9 OS: XP SP2	Re: Question about three monitors and two video cards Yea that's true. I'll just put the 19" on the spare card and run the big TV and big monitor off the 8800. As for a little PCI card ebackhus, they're more expensive than little PCI-X cards! The cheapest PCI-X is about $34 AUD, cheapest PCI i can find is $80.

08-25-2008, 08:57 PM	#6 (permalink)
magnethead Registered User Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Texas, USA Posts: 3,570 OS: Vista ultimate 32bit My System Blog Entries: 3	Re: Question about three monitors and two video cards http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...nd&Order=PRICE __________________ 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

08-26-2008, 09:21 AM	#7 (permalink)
Aus_Karlos Moderator, Games Team Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Western Australia Posts: 3,461 OS: Vista Ultimate x64, Windows XP 32-bit/64-bit, Ubuntu x64, Windows 7 x64 Beta My System Blog Entries: 2	Re: Question about three monitors and two video cards Power Supply. Make sure it can handle the two cards first. Otherwise you will notice a massive drop in fps when playing games one screen and having a TV Tuner card play TV through the other. __________________ MemTest86 / Nvidia Drivers / ATI Drivers / DirectX 9.0c / Sys Requirements / Everest Folding@Home