# Crossfire two video cards and multiple monitors



## Tyrael

hey i was wondering if it would be possible to run 3 monitors with crossfire. now i know that crossfire can not be enabled with all the monitors...well as far as i know. however, i was wondering if i could plug the main monitor into one video card and the other two monitors in the other one. and somehow get a program that would allow me to enable crossfire and maybe disable the other two monitors (if anyone knows of such a program it would be good to know) so I was just wondering this because im building a computer in the near future and want two video cards so i can have three monitors and be able to play diablo III (whenever the heck blizzard decides to release it!) :upset:

Thanks,

Tyrael


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## Phædrus241

You can in fact use two video cards to run three monitors, but you cannot run them in Crossfire as that will restrict the video outputs to the two on the main card. But you could get one high-quality graphics card (Radeon 4800 series) and then also put in, say, a Radeon 4350. Play games on the monitors hooked up to the 48xx and just put web browsers and such on the one connected to the low-end card. Just run them as separate cards, not in Crossfire. In fact that's exactly what I plan on doing.


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## Tyrael

so i dont even need crossfire? what the heck is the point of it then!=p


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## Phædrus241

Crossfire is for combining the power of two graphics cards. For instance you can put two Radeon 4870s and *theoretically* get twice the performance. In reality you only get about 30% more than one card by itself. Crossfire of two identical or similar cards, or Nvidia's SLI, is basically an expensive luxury for people who can afford two high end graphics cards and an 850w PSU. Crossfire between a low end card and a medium end card can be useful in some cases, but it's still usually better to go with one high-end card.

Basically it's a gimmick. But for 3 monitors all you have to do is have two cards made by the same manufacturer, preferably from the same series, and use your display manager to get them set up to extend your desktop.


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## Tyrael

ok sweet thanks a lot man you cleared a lot of stuff up for me :grin:


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## Falfuris

to setup eyeinfinity ( play games on 3 screens) 
n.b. the card usage is about the same strangly

actually ! let me help you out a little  i have 3 23inch monitors and 2 5750xfire 
( cough cough maybe they are overclocked cough cough)

and you cant plug the 3rd monitor on the second card because the 2nd card ports are disabled because of the crossfire link ( imagine you cant see your second card and you have a better card ) 

so you need 3 dvi cables ( it can be a hdmi cable ) and 1 display port adapter
youll need to have one of them to be plugged in display port ( sadly)

then your set ( download displayfusion ) i find it better for backgrounds and display settings


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## MoonShadow_1AU

You may want to check out the Sapphire Radeon HD5770 FleX 1GB which allows 3 DVI connection (one as a double, the other a singe) to run three monitors with eyefinity. Then you could xfire 5770s with it.


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## Falfuris

you cant plug 3 dvi directly ... you absolutly need a display port adapter because 2 cards in cross fire = 1 analog and 1 digital display

what you need is an active displayport adapter ( about 150 $) to dvi ( because one of the dvi is connected to the hdmi port internally so you gotta know  

but fear not ! saphirre is going to release active display port adapter to dvi for 40 $ 

also if one of your monitor is a NATIVE displayport you wont need the display port adapter !!!

the second card is physicaly not there if you crossfire ... that means you can only connect monitors to the first one

3 monitor 23 inches ( my rig ) is 5760x1080 ( most games after 2006 supports it )
and i found that the perfomance required is about the same that is because

1920x1080 and 5760x1080 is about the same 
you gain performance when you lower you <<height>> configuration ( 720p )


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## norklooter

I currently have the same problem. I have a 4850 and have in the past been running dual 22in monitors. I recently bought a 1080p projector and sacrificed the use of 1 22in. I want to utilize all 3 for multitasking but there is the fork between fighting with a crossfire setup or just jumping to a 5000 series card. 
I read on many different sites that the only way to simply deal with the crossfire driver issues is to restart and turn crossfire on and off in your bios based on your intentions. This is because the crossfire drivers for the 4800 series are only stable with one monitor. 
I consider the best price point is to sell off my 4850 and put it towards a 5000 series with 2 dvi and an hdmi/display port. 
The 5770 is now sub $150 and 1 is enough for eyefinity. 
Norklooter
Phenom II 920 2.8ghz
4gb ocz 1066mhz
XFX 4850
Patriot 128gb SSD
3.5tb external storage
Raidmax 530watt 
Raidmax Smilodon
Dual Acer 22in 1680x1050
Panasonic PTae3000U 1920x1080


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## Falfuris

norklooter...please wait until chrismas...the 6000 ( roughly 30 % increase in performance btw ) series HD are coming out and the 5000 prices will drop ... aka 250 $ 5870

***by the way please excuse how this post just sounds so lame  but you gotta wait until chrismas ( or after for after chrismas sales  )***


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