Can a single ASUS GTX 660 run 3 x 24 in displays ?

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lesurderf

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Aug 29, 2009
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Can a single ASUS GTX 660 ( standard , not the Ti ) run 3 x 24 in displays ?

I believe it's called extended desktop ? I'm not interested in surround or Eyefinity or what ever it's called.

( building for a client and he wants this card...he says Nvidia and $220 budget to hook to his 3 x 24 inch monitors and play Civ5 on one)

New build
ASRock H77 Pro4-M - no SLI - no Xfire need a single card
i5 3470
8 GB 1.5 v Ram
256 GB Samsung 840 Pro

2 monitor setups are easy. I'm having a heck of a time understanding 3 monitors. It seems everyone talks about 3 monitors as one big wide screen for first person shooters or whatever. Not many threads explain 3 separate monitors showing 3 different things.

I searched and am more confused by the wording than ever.

Can someone please help me with this question. This game isn't supposed to be very GPU hungry.
I have no idea what I'm doing or where to find the answer. ( maybe chat with Nvidia tomorrow )

The three displays will be independent if that makes sense.

Monitor 1 Game - Primarily Civ5 HDMI
Monitor 2 Internet - surfing DVI
Monitor 3 internet - movie Displayport > Active DisplayPort Adapter to DVI



SAPPHIRE 100924 Active DisplayPort Adapter
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814999030

I know I can get a 7850 - 7870 and do the job.

The question is....can a GTX 660 do it ?






 
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Yes, you can run 3 monitors with a single GTX 660, but AMD is better at it surround gaming/multi-monitor. They have already done it for years, AMD is more mature on it, and Nvidia only started in this generation of graphics cards. But it's really up to you. If you only play games on ONE single monitor, at 1080p resolution or lower, without turning Anti-Aliasing to max, the GTX 660 should do the job. At extreme resolutions or turning high on Anti-Aliasing, because the HD 7850 have a 256 bit memory interface, while the GTX 660 only have a 192 but memory interface. even a HD 7850 can beat the GTX 660 at quite a difference. If I were you, I would take the HD 7870.
 
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Surround gaming might not interest everyone but 3 monitors for work is very useful and productive. Besides, OP said his client is intending to game on 1 monitor only, so it's not actually surround gaming.
 
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Thank you all for your replies.

I have one more question.

For the third monitor, is it necessary to use one of the Display ports ( which requires an adapter since his monitors are DVI / HDMI only.)

Keeping in mind he will only game on one monitor ( prob the HDMI ) can he use this setup

HDMI - Monitor 1
DVI - Monitor 2
DVI - Monitor 3

and skip the Displayport altogether ?

 
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It's not for gaming on 3 monitors. His client is only gaming on 1 monitor and the rest for general use (browsing internet, probably work, etc...). That's why a single 660 will work just fine
 
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It is necessary for the third monitor, it needs an active display port adapter. Otherwise it won't work.
 
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AND..... KNOWLEDGE FAIL.

AMD requires active display port for the third monitor. When nvidia FINALLY decided to support multiple monitors (and finally got the cards out 6 months late)they made all the outputs work on the higher end cards. He can run off hdmi/DVI just like he said. I know it happens, but you shouldn't advise if you dont know what your talking about and can't google.
 
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Thanks again everyone. That's exactly what I was looking for. I don't game and trying to understand this before I order, assemble and ship has been a challenge.

You've been very helpful.

I know there are better cards but the 660 should be ok.

The first 2 monitors are only for work, trading, streaming charts and some video's.

The third monitor is only for this game Civ5 he spends way too much time on :)

Civ5 isn't your regular action game.


Recommended Requirements
Core 2 Quad Q6400 2.13GHz
Phenom 9600B Quad-Core

GeForce 9800 GTX+
Radeon HD 4830 512MB

4 GB
Win 7 32
DX 11
1 GB

Thanks again.

 
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............................................................

Just to follow up. I had been searching for GTX 660 3 monitors no surround without success ( most hits referred to the Ti version and surround ) and none were definitive. This thread is a good example. Not to mention the fact that it's hard to find info that doesn't wander off into red - blue team discussions...or is green team ???

Searching for GTX 660 4 monitors brought this from Sep 2012 up right away ......doh

"Finally, looking at display connectivity we once more see the return of NVIDIA’s standard GTX 600 series display configuration.
The reference GTX 660 is equipped with 1 DL-DVI-D port, 1 DL-DVI-I port, 1 full size HDMI 1.4 port, and 1 full size DisplayPort 1.2.
Like GK104 and GK107, GK106 can drive up to 4 displays, meaning all 4 ports can be put into use simultaneously."

http://www.anandtech.com/show/6276/nvidia-geforce-gtx-660-review-gk106-rounds-out-the-kepler-family/2

I'm ordering the ASUS version of this card, the ASUS GTX660-DC2O-2GD5 and will report back after client has tested it out.

Unless there is more to the story on the DVI-I and DVI-D ports, it looks like the easy answer is:

NVidia with Kepler 104, 106, 107 ( maybe more ) can run 3 or 4 displays on any 3, or all 4 connections. Displayport is not required.

AMD can run 3 or more displays - however - display 3 and 4 ( and more ) must use the displayport.

I don't game and have never set up three monitors.

This is not for a surround system, this is to game Civ 5 on monitor 1 and work on the other 2.

I'll ask client to hook it up this way and see what it looks like. Client lives in another state. It would be nice to avoid the Displayport since that requires an active adapter for his monitor.

Monitor 1 - HDMI
Monitor 2 - DVI-I
Monitor 3 - DVI-D

Thanks again











 
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Here's an update: Just finished chatting with an NVidia rep. You can connect any three monitors in any fashion on the GTX 660, not using the diplayport is ok. DVI DVI HDMI no problems. he did recommend using Didplayport for the third monitor since it's newer tech.

When I asked about gaming on the third monitor he said certain games, by design, turn off the signal to other connected displays when played.

???????

I never read that anywhere.

He had a couple of games, a GTX 670 and 3 x 24 monitors connected and tested something while I waited. I told you it was a great customer experience from that aspect.

He fired up all three monitors, loaded web pages on all, worked fine.

Started up Civ5 on the third monitor. Worked fine, all monitors worked.

He started up AC3 on the third monitor. AC3 worked fine, the other 2 monitors went black, lost signal.

He said this was normal, he had seen it with other games and it was the game designers that do this.

I'm just passing along info.

I'm going to put a GTX 660 in the box, make sure it works using one monitor and ship it off.

Client will have to load Civ5 ( I don't have it ) and see if it works for him.

Bummer this happens as it's AC3 that Nvidia is giving away with this card.

Surround works fine gaming on 3 monitors, but if you want to game on one of three active, separate monitors, you might have problems depending on the game.

Sheeesh, I could have built 5 machines in the time I've spent trying to understand this.

Gaming on PC's........what a thrill.


 
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I think he will only have that issue with the other 2 monitors losing signal if he has Surround enabled, but has the resolution set to the resolution of a single monitor. If you disable Surround and then open AC3 that should not be an issue, and if that dose not fix it just run the game in fullscreen window mode.
 
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Any game that makes the other screens black just needs to be changed from Full Screen Mode to Borderless Mode.
 
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I have the GeForce GTX 660 and currently run 3 monitors off it, no problem. I can play a game, watch hi-res video, and surf the internet at the same time. I use the HMDI input, DVI_D, and DVI-I (with VGA adapter).

I use 2-32' LG 1080P (32LN5300) screens and an old 24' LG Flatron (W2452T). Just bought my third 32' LG to make all monitors identical. Should be here Tuesday.

The only problem I had was hunting down the proper adapter for the DVI because the LG's only use HDMI. I decided to buy a display port adapter to HDMI because it was easier to find in-store.

I would like to know what program to use instead of eyefinity for surround gaming. Or if I can use Eyefinity with my GTX660. Links to those programs I can use would be great! I'd really appreciate it.

Hope this helps!!
 
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Lol that would have been the easiest fix ever like the above said you just had to change the game to windowed mode or boardless windowed mode that would of allowed you to play on 1 screen and still see desktop on the other 2. The card is working fine its doing what its ment to do 99% of pc problems are to do with the user
 
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Did you have any problems getting you computer to recognize the DVI-D output? (the one without the four prongs at the top) for some reason my computer wont recognize it and it was a pain to fit into the port itself, i am wondering if my 660 is defective.
 
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Surround can be very useful for work and play. I have many game titles to play and found that most FPS do not do, what I would say very well visually. the center display is perfect but the 2 outside displays tend to be stretched or just not right. I have had good luck with Bioshock and CoD titles, but like i said only the center is best. So far only the Civ titles, SimCity, MS Flight and driving games work well with 3 displays. I generally keep my displays on surround and then use a Ctrl+Alt+S to go to one display on Fallout 3, New Vegas, and Skyrim if i want to play these game on Ultra Settings. Now when it comes time to work on my pc, 3 displays rule.


Homebuilt rig

WIN 7 Ultimate
Intel i7 920 1366
ASUS Sabortooth MoBo
18 GB triple channel RAM
2x ASUS 660 GTX GPUs SLi
Nvidia 3D Vision
Creative Soundblaster X-Fi
Corsair 1200 PSU
3x Acer GD235HZ Displays all on DVIs
 
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