[bigtruck_]

Hey everyone.

So I now have the bug. I hooked up a 2nd monitor to my computer and love it. A friend is going to give me another 20" LCD and I would like to have a 3 monitor setup for FSX. 23" in the middle and matching 20" on the left and right...

From what I have found doing a quick Google search it looks like I will need a 2nd video card to handle the 3rd monitor. Is this correct? If so, I just need to install the 2nd card and not SLI it right?

Right now I have a nVidia GeForce 8800GT.

If I will need a 2nd monitor, what would you recommend?

Thanks!

[ModelSkinny]

SLI is not needed

I don't know what specific card to recommend to you, but I would suggest you keep the same brand Nvidia so you don't have to have different types of drivers, quite frankly I would try to get a hold of the same type of card 8800.

Make sure your power supply can handle it and that you have the expansion slots on your Mobo.

If you want to get creative, you could get a Dualhead 2 go and have the primary display span both 20 inch monitors and leave the the 23 inch for panels etc. Then you wouldn't even need another card.

[bigtruck_]

Thanks!

It is really tough to find the exact card as I have in my machine as it is a Dell special. It is actually a Nvidia productoin card, not a PNY or EVGA or anything like that. I found one on eBay but it was like $150 and in Europe...

What I was thinking of doing was getting a 9800GT and making it my primary card and then making my 8800GT the one for the 3rd monitor. Would something like that work?

The 9800GT are not too bad on newegg.

I have a 750W power supply so I should be good on the power end...

Going to have to google the Dualhead 2 go thing, don't know what it is. I had read somewhere that you don't want to strech a window between 2 monitors in FSX...?

[bigtruck_]

Wow, the Dual Head 2 Go stuff is expensive!!

$210 on Amazon!!

http://www.amazon.co...65068674&sr=8-1

An EVGA 1GB GeForce 9800GT is only $139 on newegg.

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814130440

Which would work better?

[bigtruck_]

Just found someone selling my exact card on my630i.com for $75 shipped... Just curious if it will fit in my rig. I have a Dell XPS 630i with the stock NVIDIA nForce 650i SLI chipset.

[ModelSkinny]

bigtruck_, on 01 February 2010 - 07:39 PM, said:

Just found someone selling my exact card on my630i.com for $75 shipped... Just curious if it will fit in my rig. I have a Dell XPS 630i with the stock NVIDIA nForce 650i SLI chipset.

[ModelSkinny]

Check out this site, they probably know more than anyone else...me included

http://www.my630i.com/

good luck

[bigtruck_]

Thanks Model! I found the site in my research and not only found the info I needed (Yes the card will fit in my computer) but I also found the exact video card from my computer (8800GT) for $75 shipped! It is ordered and paid for! Three monitors here I come!!!

[bigtruck_]

Okay, so here are some more questions...

Should I SLI the cards together because I have two?

That being said, would I notice anything with FSX?

That being said, would the SLI setup run 3 monitors?

Haha, so many questions!

[ModelSkinny]

FSX does not benefit from SLI unless you have a huuge desktop, and even then maybe not.

I would just put in both cards and attach monitors as usual.

Then in your FSX settings, you'll notice a drop down menu on the first settings page(where you pick your resolution), that menu is for each separate display.

without a triplehead or dual head then each display with be separate meaning you'll have to be in Windowed mode to strech them across two monitors, or you can simply open more views in the other monitors in windowed or fulllscreen mode.

If you want to go deep down the rabbit hole, you could try softTH and see how that does for your, that's a software version of triplehead to go that will trick windows into seeing two monitors as one.(that one may cause a performance drop tho')

[bigtruck_]

Yeah, that's kind of what I have been reading. Found this:

http://www.tomshardw...Simulator-X-SP2,785.html

From what this says SLi will not do anything but drop the PFS. I have a GeForce 8800GT 512 MB card.

Am I reading this right?

Looks like I am going to have 2 GeForce 8800GT cards and 3 Dell monitors. Fun stuff. Going to have to play around with the settings as I take a FPS hit with 2 monitors!

Thank you for the input! I am new to the whole video card SLi thing...

[bigtruck_]

So the 2nd video card is installed and I am updating the drivers as it reverted back to old drivers for some reason. Looks like I can have 4 monitors now! I also got a message that I can enable SLi if I wanted to but I hear that will not do for 3 monitors. Thanks for all the input on this project!