I've installed a new Zotac 580 GTX. I've 2 24" monitor. My first question is shall i keep the 285 for the second monitor and for Nvidia Physics or would I get better fps keeping only the 580 and attach both monitor to them? I use FSX only in windowed mode on the main display and use the extended desktop on the second monitor for other apps. The second question: is true that in any case with a dual monitor setup I should set the external limiter to 60 fps instead of 30 to get rid of the stutters?

The 285 would best be used for the monitor not running FSX, the 580 for FSX. Don't SLI them.

Thanks for reply NGX. But you don't think that the 285 will degrade the 580? I've read somewhere that the fastest card will slow down to the frequency of the slower installed card. Is that true?

Only if connecting through SLI, which basically merges 2 cards into 1. If they're not connected in SLI, they run as independent cards.

Also true with PhysX, the faster card will slow down to the frequency of the slower card.....

It's not possible to SLI two different types of GPU, the chips need to be the same, so don't worry about that. Also with physx, the 280 will not slow down the 580 so long as you have the 280 set as the default physx processor, so no problem there either. Personally I'd just leave the 280 out all together. The 580 is more than capable of running two monitors without any issues, if all you're running on monitor 2 is some apps/desktop. Even with other games and the 280 running physx, the performance difference is extremely marginal, and even non existent in some physx games (have tested a 580+280 myself on this). The extra heat and power consumption of having the 280 installed far outweighs any benefits imo. The 580 really is an extremely capable card at the moment, all on its own.

It's not possible to SLI two different types of GPU, the chips need to be the same, so don't worry about that. Also with physx, the 280 will not slow down the 580 so long as you have the 280 set as the default physx processor, so no problem there either. Personally I'd just leave the 280 out all together. The 580 is more than capable of running two monitors without any issues, if all you're running on monitor 2 is some apps/desktop. Even with other games and the 280 running physx, the performance difference is extremely marginal, and even non existent in some physx games (have tested a 580+280 myself on this). The extra heat and power consumption of having the 280 installed far outweighs any benefits imo. The 580 really is an extremely capable card at the moment, all on its own.

What's your point? The 9600 is a much slower card than a 280/285. The latter cards do not bottleneck the 580.

It's not possible to SLI two different types of GPU, the chips need to be the same, so don't worry about that. Also with physx, the 280 will not slow down the 580 so long as you have the 280 set as the default physx processor, so no problem there either. Personally I'd just leave the 280 out all together. The 580 is more than capable of running two monitors without any issues, if all you're running on monitor 2 is some apps/desktop. Even with other games and the 280 running physx, the performance difference is extremely marginal, and even non existent in some physx games (have tested a 580+280 myself on this). The extra heat and power consumption of having the 280 installed far outweighs any benefits imo. The 580 really is an extremely capable card at the moment, all on its own.

that's wrong. You can SLI 2 different cards together, but the faster card will get slowed to match the slower card.

Where did you hear that? You can SLI two different models of the same GPU, but not two different series of cards.

I never said anything about SLI'ing the 580 and the 285? Where did you read that? All I said was when SLIing different cards, the faster card gets slowed to match the slower card. I never mentioned SLIing the 285 and the 580

@NGX, is sounds like you are saying that here: "285 would best be used for the monitor not running FSX, the 580 for FSX. Don't SLI them" @Clum could you tell me what voltage setting you are using to get your 580 to 950 mhz?

@NGX, is sounds like you are saying that here: "285 would best be used for the monitor not running FSX, the 580 for FSX. Don't SLI them"

I said don't SLI them? How does that relate to me saying that you can SLI cards of different GPU's?

I said don't SLI them? How does that relate to me saying that you can SLI cards of different GPU's?

I'm not following you here....Permastream said "But you don't think that the 285 will degrade the 580?"NGX, your response was "Only if connecting through SLI".And then you stated that you never said anything about SLI'ing the 285 and 580?And when clum (correctly) said "It's not possible to SLI two different types of GPU...", your response was "that's wrong".I can recommend that you read Nvidia's SLI FAQ.

Ahhh. I get what you're saying now.