Second graphics card

[Barthandelus 1]

Hi guys,

I currently have an nVidia 560 card, driving both my monitors.

 

Thing is, i need a third screen output for a hardware FMC.

 

What should i look out for when installing a second graphics card? Can someone please let me know if my spare 460 GTX fit my motherboard? Asus P8Z77-V .

 

This second card wont be used for anything intensive at all - just to display a small 2D panel at a low size. I know the 460 isnt the same as my 'main' card, but i dont need SLI or anything like that.

 

Also, will a second card cause problems in FSX? Any other caveats that could bite me down the line?

 

 

Thanks guys, i appreciate your help.

 

 

EDIT - Looking at my current card, as well as two DVI outputs, it also has a mini-HDMI output. Can i use that to drive the third output at the same time as the two DVIs?

[peppy197 165]

If it fits you cannot acquit

 

So try out your 460

I have an old 260 that I use for the third monitor, of course nothing is in SLI

 

and I di not think you can run 3 monitors from the 550Ti, maybe the 670 and up

 

 

You will also be consuming more green energy than your little green friends would approve of tho, so just dump your friends and enjoy your 3rd monitor....

[Barthandelus 1]

Cool, so far so good - i put the second card in, and got a couple of problems where i thought FSX took a dump on me from a great height, but reinstalling the drivers sorted that. My 560 does have 3 outputs - two DVI and a mini HDMI, i was wondering if i can use the HDMI at the same time as the 2 DVI.

 

And regarding the power consumption - ill stick an acorn on the ground and plant a tree or two - thatll make up for it! :)

 

Thanks again for your input.

[SAAB340 28]

I would advise you to get a GTX670 that is capable to use 3 display outputs off one card. Your 560 can't use more than 2 outputs at the same time even thou it has more. It is now running @ x8 PCIe 2.0 bus. This is known to cause stutters in high autogen scenarios and should be avoided.

[Cloudkid 0]

I agree for the GTX 670 (which, for me, it will arrive this weekend). If you have patience I will test it and post some results

[Barthandelus 1]

Thanks guys, thats a big help. So are you saying that the spare 460 is now causing my 560 to run slower?

The 670 has 3 DVI outputs? Do they all have this?

I saw some 670s that have two DVI and one full size HDMI - but i would need to convert the HDMI to VGA for my hardware FMC.

 

Cloudkid, some results and how you have it set up would be really useful, thanks!

[SAAB340 28]

Your CPU only has 16 PCIe lanes for the GPU(s) to use. So they get 8 lanes each when you use 2 cards. I guess you have an IvyBridge combined with the Z77 mobo and in that case the lanes are capable of PCIe 3.0 speeds, but as the GTX560 only is capable of PCIe 2.0 it will run at that speed. Having only 8 lanes at 2.0 speed will make you loose FPS and induce stutters in scenarios with a lot of objects in the scene. So yes, that second card is making your GTX560 to run slower at times.

 

It's up to the different card vendors how they configure the type of outputs, so check the config before buying anything. You can always convert DVI or HDMI to VGA. But remember to get hold of the cables.

[Barthandelus 1]

Ok, so after a little research, and some advice from you guys, iv removed my 460 and 560, and installed a GTX670. So far so good! 3DMark 2011 reported it to be literally twice as fast as my 560. A much cleaner way of doing it. Windows is picking up the third display, i have my two DVI's working, and this is the config, from the graphics card:

1 Monitor -> DVI

1 Monitor -> DisplayPort via an active DVI converter (apparently, it has to be active for DP to DVI, even tho it looks like a normal coverter)

1 Monitor VGA (soon to be the CDU) -> DVI via normal adapter.

 

Thanks to everyone that helped out, i really appreciate your time.

[Cloudkid 0]

Well I just received mine yesterday and I am very happy about it. With a little help of a software called afterburner I ve noticed that the 670 can be easily OC getting almost to the same performances of the 680. Natively they are exactly the same card but with a limited CUDA number (to reduce the power).

 

I've seen also a great image improvement from my 8800GTX (maybe due to a huge distance in generations?).

 

So far so good. I'm also installing 2 OCZ Agility 3 for both the system and P3D. Already following Word Not Allowed's guide I improved 130% my average FPS (in KJFK was a suicide before). Tweaking literally takes a lot of time but at the end is really worth it. Increase in performances, image quality, fluidity and playability.

 

Let's keep in touch to find a good solution for main view and CDU!!!

[Manny 1,293]

With 670 I have 4 monitors

 

DVI-I ---> RGB (a 19" touch screen monitor)

 

DVI-D---> DVI 24"

HDMI --->DVI 24 " (Passive $8 cable)

DP --> DVI 24" (via passive $15 cable)

 

Manny

 

IF only I could use those outputs from the MB for CDU or something..that would be awesome! :)