Triple Monitor Setup - but now this...

[Mister Fork]

I was running Aces High using triple monitors for a while and then my second SLI video card took a dump and I had to RMA it.

When I ran my SLI setup through the NVIDIA control panel, it all went fine - I have 3 BEN-Q 1080p monitors - all the same.  I select the "Span" option to go across three monitors... the first two sync up left, centre, and then the third monitor goes "Out of Range".  

What?

Anyone else experience this?  I'm about to loose my nut getting this setup to work properly.

[rant]I consider myself a fairly good IT properller head. Actually, I've been custom building gaming PC's for 25 years now.  But this sheit has me banging my head against the wall.  WHY WHY WHY is tripple monitoring so bloody hard with these stupid stupid machines?  Why doesn't it just work. Turn key. Poof. It's on.  But no. Ooohhhh no. Or is it just NVIDIA blows at it?[/rant]

[MrRiplEy[H]]

I was running Aces High using triple monitors for a while and then my second SLI video card took a dump and I had to RMA it.

When I ran my SLI setup through the NVIDIA control panel, it all went fine - I have 3 BEN-Q 1080p monitors - all the same.  I select the "Span" option to go across three monitors... the first two sync up left, centre, and then the third monitor goes "Out of Range".  

What?

Anyone else experience this?  I'm about to loose my nut getting this setup to work properly.

[rant]I consider myself a fairly good IT properller head. Actually, I've been custom building gaming PC's for 25 years now.  But this sheit has me banging my head against the wall.  WHY WHY WHY is tripple monitoring so bloody hard with these stupid stupid machines?  Why doesn't it just work. Turn key. Poof. It's on.  But no. Ooohhhh no. Or is it just NVIDIA blows at it?[/rant]

Yep, Nvidia makes it much harder than AMD.

[ebfd11]

What type of connectors are you using on your monitors, nvidea only allows similar connections, ie HDMI and DVI, or all VGA you cannot mix VGA and DVI due to the different speeds they are sending the signal.

I have 3 ACER 24's with 2 on HDMI and one on a DVI to HDMI conversion.

if you have any problems I can always guide you through total hook up.

LawnDart

[Mister Fork]

I have two HDMI connections and a DVI.  Strange enough the HDMI and the DVI works fine but the HDMI on the second SLI card is causing the issue. I may have a work-around and I'll post it if I can get it to work... it involves pre-setting the frequency (which is stupid for LED monitors) but it's also a KNOWN issue for NVIDIA cards.

What have I learned from this? If you want to use two video cards in SLI/CROSSFIRE, DONT...DONT go NVIDIA. Use AMD/ATI.

[guncrasher]

mister fork I have never been able to connect all 3 monitors using a mix of hdmi and dvi.  try not using any hdmi cables and see if that fixes your problem.  lawndart on the other hand has no problems.  since there's no difference other than sound and I am pretty sure you wont use the monitor's speakers then just dont use hdmi.

btw amd uses crossfire.  nvidia uses sli.

Yep, Nvidia makes it much harder than AMD.

great contribution to solving the problem.  I kinda thought you would suggest than using win8 would have solved all his problems, after all it's only 40 bucks.

midway

[MrRiplEy[H]]

great contribution to solving the problem.  I kinda thought you would suggest than using win8 would have solved all his problems, after all it's only 40 bucks.

midway

I don't use Nvidia but I know multi-monitor with it is much, much harder than AMD. Quit whining about Win8 please, it's the future and you're lagging behind.

[guncrasher]

I don't use Nvidia but I know multi-monitor with it is much, much harder than AMD. Quit whining about Win8 please, it's the future and you're lagging behind.

so you know nothing about nvidia.


midway

[MrRiplEy[H]]

so you know nothing about nvidia.


midway

I know enough to know that Nvidia multi-monitor setup is much more complicated than AMD Eyefinity.

[ebfd11]

Mr Ripley using Nvidea 99% of the time using the triple monitor isn't that hard to set up, plug in then click a few buttons then you are finished. Now if inwasnto switch to an AMD video card I think I would be totally lost as what to do. I appreciate that you admit knowing little about Nvidea cards, as I know shack jit about AMD.

The earlier card variants were a pain in the butt to set up but they have gotten a lot easier. As I restated earlier if I need to I can post help for the OP.

LawnDart

[MrRiplEy[H]]

Mr Ripley using Nvidea 99% of the time using the triple monitor isn't that hard to set up, plug in then click a few buttons then you are finished. Now if inwasnto switch to an AMD video card I think I would be totally lost as what to do. I appreciate that you admit knowing little about Nvidea cards, as I know shack jit about AMD.

The earlier card variants were a pain in the butt to set up but they have gotten a lot easier. As I restated earlier if I need to I can post help for the OP.

LawnDart

Just a little while back Nvidia required two displaycards for a triple monitor setup lol. The fact that the OP has problems with it is a testament to its complexity.

Here's a quick guide on the setup: http://www.geforce.com/optimize/guides/how-to-correctly-configure-geforce-gtx-680-surround#1

[Skuzzy]

<snip>Quit whining about Win8 please, it's the future and you're lagging behind.

Hehe, that's what Ford said about the Edsel.  Then again, everyone has their own opinion.  It does not make yours anymore correct than his or vice-versa.

And yes, AMD has done a better job with support for multiple monitors than NVidia has.

[MrRiplEy[H]]

Hehe, that's what Ford said about the Edsel.  Then again, everyone has their own opinion.  It does not make yours anymore correct than his or vice-versa.

And yes, AMD has done a better job with support for multiple monitors than NVidia has.

Pardon me, Sir, but I am correct in saying that Win8 is the future and no amount of whining is going to change it. Not by my choice but Microsofts. Especially needless is to whine here about my sayings in a completely separate thread.

Just look at Vista - it was globally hated on it's time but there it still is. Many people still use it and it came out as a refined version (Win7) instead of disappearing in the myst. I'm afraid that the 'modern UI' is here to stay. Microsoft actually has taken big steps 'forward' in this department by unifying all application development (meaning no more mobile 8).

Also quite ironically Windows8 DOES make multi-monitor easyer and better: http://www.neowin.net/news/huge-multi-monitor-enhancements-coming-in-windows-8

[gyrene81]

Pardon me, Sir, but I am correct in saying that Win8 is the future and no amount of whining is going to change it. Not by my choice but Microsofts. Especially needless is to whine here about my sayings in a completely separate thread.

Just look at Vista - it was globally hated on it's time but there it still is. Many people still use it and it came out as a refined version (Win7) instead of disappearing in the myst. I'm afraid that the 'modern UI' is here to stay. Microsoft actually has taken big steps 'forward' in this department by unifying all application development (meaning no more mobile 8).

lol, there goes ripley swallowing the marketing propaganda again...

win8 is not "the future", at best it's a preview of what may come. although win8 has been better out of the box than all of its predecessors, it's still a testament to the long standing microsoft philosophy of "nobody cares if it actually works as long as it looks pretty". as long as i have a touch screen thingamajigabob doodlewhatsit that doesn't require any more thought than a 12 year old kid can muster then it's better than ice cream. but that's all it is good for.

your example of widblowz8 multi-monitor setup doesn't illustrate anything "easier" nor "better". it's just more mac like than previous windblowz and does nothing to make more than 2 monitor setups easier.


i'm surprised no one has asked mister fork exactly what video card(s) he has in his system, or is that common knowledge?

[MrRiplEy[H]]

lol, there goes ripley swallowing the marketing propaganda again...

win8 is not "the future", at best it's a preview of what may come. although win8 has been better out of the box than all of its predecessors, it's still a testament to the long standing microsoft philosophy of "nobody cares if it actually works as long as it looks pretty". as long as i have a touch screen thingamajigabob doodlewhatsit that doesn't require any more thought than a 12 year old kid can muster then it's better than ice cream. but that's all it is good for.

your example of widblowz8 multi-monitor setup doesn't illustrate anything "easier" nor "better". it's just more mac like than previous windblowz and does nothing to make more than 2 monitor setups easier.


i'm surprised no one has asked mister fork exactly what video card(s) he has in his system, or is that common knowledge?

How wrong you are. Windows 8 is the current release version - nothing marketing about it. And multi-monitor support is indeed better - or did you miss the new functionality with the task bars and backgrounds for example? Keep on hating, you only show your own ignorance.

[gyrene81]

How wrong you are. Windows 8 is the current release version - nothing marketing about it. And multi-monitor support is indeed better - or did you miss the new functionality with the task bars and backgrounds for example? Keep on hating, you only show your own ignorance.

           thanks again for the laughs ripley...