Hello everyone,

So, I have an Alienware Aurora R3 that I bought in the summer of 2011. It has 2 NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450 cards. I currently play on a 1920 x 1080 monitor and a 1280 x 1024 monitor. I have a second 1280 x 1024 monitor that I would like to use so I can play on 3. I do know that 1 GTS 450 cannot support 3 monitors, but I was wondering if 2 cards could support 3 monitors. In my screen resolution settings, the third monitor is not detected so it may not be possible.

However, I thought I would ask because someone at work with a company laptop (not a gaming one) on a Dell dock is using 3 monitors that I would guess are 1920 x 1080. I don't understand how the laptop could support 3 when my super computer can't detect the third. Assistance would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Hello everyone,

 

So, I have an Alienware Aurora R3 that I bought in the summer of 2011. It has 2 NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450 cards. I currently play on a 1920 x 1080 monitor and a 1280 x 1024 monitor. I have a second 1280 x 1024 monitor that I would like to use so I can play on 3. I do know that 1 GTS 450 cannot support 3 monitors, but I was wondering if 2 cards could support 3 monitors. In my screen resolution settings, the third monitor is not detected so it may not be possible.

 

However, I thought I would ask because someone at work with a company laptop (not a gaming one) on a Dell dock is using 3 monitors that I would guess are 1920 x 1080. I don't understand how the laptop could support 3 when my super computer can't detect the third. Assistance would be appreciated.

 

Thanks,

unless you have a power house, typically most is 2 monitors per card. There are some cards that can do more than 2 but are typically limited to normal desktop applications/workstations and not heavy graphics

unless you have a power house, typically most is 2 monitors per card. There are some cards that can do more than 2 but are typically limited to normal desktop applications/workstations and not heavy graphics

My power supply is 875W; so it should be enough power. I was hoping my two cards could share the load.

My power supply is 875W; so it should be enough power. I was hoping my two cards could share the load.

when i said powerhouse was referring to the cards. If you have dual GPUS you can support upto 4 monitors, ideally they would be identical and all the same resolutions. But you should be fine with your setup.

Hello everyone,

So, I have an Alienware Aurora R3 that I bought in the summer of 2011. It has 2 NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450 cards.

The horror. Why the heck would one put two lower-midrange cards in one PC, introducing SLI bugs for no real reason, when their performance could easily be replicated by a single upper-midrange card, for maybe $50 more, but without all the issues?

This is why pre-built PCs are a bad idea.

Anyway.

I currently play on a 1920 x 1080 monitor and a 1280 x 1024 monitor. I have a second 1280 x 1024 monitor that I would like to use so I can play on 3. I do know that 1 GTS 450 cannot support 3 monitors, but I was wondering if 2 cards could support 3 monitors.

Yes. You will have to turn SLI off. Can remove the SLI bridge altogether (if you know how to, else not important). Connect your 1920x1080 monitor to one card, other 2 to the other card.

Then go through your settings, turn everything SLI related off, reboot etc, see if that helps all 3 get detected.

The horror. Why the heck would one put two lower-midrange cards in one PC, introducing SLI bugs for no real reason, when their performance could easily be replicated by a single upper-midrange card, for maybe $50 more, but without all the issues?

 

This is why pre-built PCs are a bad idea.

Anyway.

3 years ago I just graduated from highschool with no knowledge how to build my own PC or that the cards I was getting were "bad" or cause glitches. In perhaps another 2-3 years, I'll be looking to get a new machine, so if you have parts websites, feel free to share.

Yes. You will have to turn SLI off. Can remove the SLI bridge altogether (if you know how to, else not important). Connect your 1920x1080 monitor to one card, other 2 to the other card.

 

Then go through your settings, turn everything SLI related off, reboot etc, see if that helps all 3 get detected.

Thanks for the info. I actually tried googling how to turn SLI off for invidia, and i have "Set PhysX Configuration" instead of "Set SLI Configuration" Would you know where to find SLI?

3 years ago I just graduated from highschool with no knowledge how to build my own PC or that the cards I was getting were "bad" or cause glitches. In perhaps another 2-3 years, I'll be looking to get a new machine, so if you have parts websites, feel free to share.

Most people order on newegg, for tighter cost control pcpartpicker.

As to particular configurations, in 2-3 years most of what we have now will be obsolete, there will be new best options, etc. Best idea is to ask for specific advice on hardware forums. Techpowerup is a very good review site and no one will mind you asking for a build on their forums.

Thanks for the info. I actually tried googling how to turn SLI off for invidia, and i have "Set PhysX Configuration" instead of "Set SLI Configuration" Would you know where to find SLI?

It should be there. Does it show 2 adapters, at least?

edit: Are you trying to stretch your screen across all 3 displays at once? You can't, they have to be the same resolution for that.

Most people order on newegg, for tighter cost control pcpartpicker.

As to particular configurations, in 2-3 years most of what we have now will be obsolete, there will be new best options, etc. Best idea is to ask for specific advice on hardware forums. Techpowerup is a very good review site and no one will mind you asking for a build on their forums.

Thank you much.

It should be there. Does it show 2 adapters, at least?

 

edit: Are you trying to stretch your screen across all 3 displays at once? You can't, they have to be the same resolution for that.

Ok, so I pulled off the SLI bridge, and after that the SLI config showed up. But I also had to reinstall drivers. After those two things, now it worked. I play the game in windowed mode, so i just drag the game across. works well.