I am using 2 GForce 560Ti's in SLI to provide Nvidia 3D surround gaming on my 3 Acer 23" monitors. I am satisfied with the performance in most part.

Is anyone able to tell me if it's possible, and how, to use my 4th monitor (a 15" Acer) in the remaining 560Ti's connector to power it? I realize it will not be part of the surround configuration, but am hoping I can use the smaller monitor to provide support to maps, charts, and what not we depend on when flying. Using surround gaming mode for anything other than flying, like managing maps is awkward at best as an image best viewed on one monitor gets stretched across 3 23" panels. Annoying to say the least.

 

If using the 4th monitor in this way is impossible, what are some of the other practices people are using to enjoy spanned flying yet still having access to a supporting information monitor?

RK,

I do not have a second video card to try this but can you not undock a view a drag it to the desired screen?

Sorry I cant give a better answer, However I had a quick question for you. I am looking at getting a second GTX560 for surround and i was wondering what your experience was with 1 screen vs 3?

For example sitting on your favorite runway for take off with one monitor getting say 35fps. Then adding second card for full surround what fps did you see it drop to, and did it studder more?

Thanks.

Even though you have physical connectors left on the cards, you can't use them for additional monitors when activating SLI/Surround mode. There is a chart somewhere on Nvidia's site describing this for all the different GPUs. The solution is simple though (if there are slots left on your motherboard). Just install any cheap graphics card and connect your additional monitor(s) to it. It will not affect the performance. I use surround mode on 2x580 and display 2d panels on a 4th screen and it works very well.

Your i7 chip has a built in video chip that you can use for the fourth monitor. I use it for my second monitor that shows me all of my undocked 2D windows. Takes load off of the main card, looks great and works well.

Hi gentlemen,

 

Turboken ... I did not see any significant gain or loss in framerate. On average was receiving about 33FPS sitting on the end of a busy airport. Climbing over dense urban environment, frame rates between 26-33. Level flight in clear skies, frame rate anywhere between 45 and 62 FPS. No noticeable studders in my flights.

 

Tolip2 ... yes ... I had investigated NVidia's site and read that very information, but was hoping there might be a cleverly discovered workaround through settings or 3rd party software etc.

 

Mark ... are you suggesting that I should use the onboard video port for my fourth monitor as an alternative to a 3rd video card as suggested by Tolip? I'm a bit confused. I didn't think you could use a video card and onboard simulateanously.

Even though you have physical connectors left on the cards, you can't use them for additional monitors when activating SLI/Surround mode. There is a chart somewhere on Nvidia's site describing this for all the different GPUs. The solution is simple though (if there are slots left on your motherboard). Just install any cheap graphics card and connect your additional monitor(s) to it. It will not affect the performance. I use surround mode on 2x580 and display 2d panels on a 4th screen and it works very well.

Your i7 chip has a built in video chip that you can use for the fourth monitor. I use it for my second monitor that shows me all of my undocked 2D windows. Takes load off of the main card, looks great and works well.

 

Does this work in full screen mode or only in windowed mode?

 

Does this work in full screen mode or only in windowed mode?

 

Either mode works. I use full screen mode because of increased performance.

Yes you can use both at the same time.