Noob at setting up quad monitor display

[DeadSeaSquirrels]

I am starting to setup a quad (24") monitor display. I don't really know what is required for this, but it seems like I need to get two PCI-E cards, with dual out. Most cards from what I can tell, that are half decent, have dual DVI out, and can support 1680x1050. It also sounds like I need to get a SLI/Crossfire enabled MB (SLI in my case). But what's confusing to me is that, as far as I understandit, SLI is used for combining the processing power of two cards into one display. But I'm really just trying to run mulitple monitors for one giant desktop configuration.

Do I need an SLI board just because it has 2 PCI-E slots? And when I do put those two cards in, do they have to be the same type of card, and do I have to disable the SLI feature (is that something that I do with software or in the BIOS)?

As you can tell I'm a noob at this, any advice, or pointing me in the right direction would be appreciated.

P.S. In addition do I need to get a video card that is SLI enabled? My guess is no.

 

[LOUISSSSS]

u need to DISABLE sli...

then you'll be running dual video cards separately allowing 2 monitors each, thats about as close as i can bring u to quad monitors, i've never done it before...


u dont need any SLI BOARD. u can use ANY MOTHERBOARD w/ dual pci express x16 slots

 

[dawza]

1920x1200 will be OK with single-link. I am with LOUISSSSS as far as SLI and mobos are concerned- you simply need two x16 PCIe slots; you could even go single x16 PCIe and look for a PCI or PCIe 1x card that supports dual-DVI, but they are rare and tend to be far overpriced compared to x16 dual-DVI cards.

If you happen to purchase two of the same card and have an SLI mobo, simply do not activate SLI.

Purchase both cards from the same manufacturer (ATI or NV, that is) to keep driver complications to a minimum.

Last piece of advice- once you get the monitors up and running,use UltraMon to manage your displays. The smart taskbar function alone is worth the $50.

 

[phaxmohdem]

I have a Quad monitor setup on my rig. I use an ASUS SLI motherboard with two video cards (an 8800GTX for my games, and a 6600GT to drive the other two monitors) As long as SLI mode is disabled you should not have a problem... If all the monitors are plugged into the video cards, and everything is hooked up right, Windows should recognize 4 monitors, and let you do whatever you want with them to customize your configuration.

I'm not sure if they make non SLI or Crossfire Dual x16 boards or not, but you can't go wrong as long as there are two slots for video cards.

BTW Quad monitors rawk so hard I only wish I was bangin 4- 24 inchers like you (2x 20's, 1x 17", and 1x 15" for me)

Pic of My Quad Setup

 

[LOUISSSSS]

Originally posted by: phaxmohdem
I have a Quad monitor setup on my rig. I use an ASUS SLI motherboard with two video cards (an 8800GTX for my games, and a 6600GT to drive the other two monitors) As long as SLI mode is disabled you should not have a problem... If all the monitors are plugged into the video cards, and everything is hooked up right, Windows should recognize 4 monitors, and let you do whatever you want with them to customize your configuration.

I'm not sure if they make non SLI or Crossfire Dual x16 boards or not, but you can't go wrong as long as there are two slots for video cards.

BTW Quad monitors rawk so hard I only wish I was bangin 4- 24 inchers like you (2x 20's, 1x 17", and 1x 15" for me)

Pic of My Quad Setup

where would u find the settings to control multiple monitors (3+) in the nvidia control panel? is it the same place where u would configure dual monitors?

 

[phaxmohdem]

yup, Display Properties > Settings tab will let you drag around the monitors, set primary displays, activate and deactivate displays, and just about anything else you'd need. I only every use nVidias control panel for tweaking color settings, or changing 3D quality settings.