Multiple Video Cards Question

[andarlite]

Hi ddimm,

I have a fairly low end system by todays standards running an nvidia 6600 256MB AGP along with a 6200 128MB PCI card in order to run two monitors for panels and a Triple Head 2 Go with 3 monitors for outside view. I run the TH2GO out of the AGP card and the two monitors from the PCI.

This is exactly what I want to do. I currently have a PCI-E GeForce 7900GS with dual monitors. Currently one is for the outside view and will soon be connected to a Triplehead2go with eventually 3 monitors. I'm using the other video card output to display panel information.... but as I progress with my cockpit construction, it is obvious that I need to add another monitor for the panel display.

I started searching the internet for a PCI video card when it suddenly dawn on me that my motherboard (Asus P5LD2-VM) has on-board VGA. Well, wouldn't you know it, I couldn't get it to work. I played around with the BIOS (not a heck of a lot of choices to make here in regards to the video) and only one of the video source is recognized by Win XP, but not both. So, am I resigned to having to purchased a PCI video card?

Regards,
Henry

[Kennair]

Yes, you can use either the onboard video or an external card but not both (unless you have a motherboard that can achieve both, which I don't). Just pick up any old PCI video card. I don't think memory capacity is all that important as your main card does all the work. Your 7900 should handle this with no problem at all.

Ken.

[AndyT]

Once the DX10 patch comes out for Vista, THEN more than 1 video card will begin to make a difference. DX10 removes much of the graphic work from the CPU and places it on the Video processor (GPU). Once these 2 things are in place and working correctly, SLI and Crossfire will begin to have serious impact on frame rates. Until then, The most memory you can get on the fastest card your machine will handle is the best you can hope for.

Other than that, Try moving some of the visuals to another computer. I'm not sure but I think WideFS will do that for you. Even an old PC sitting doing nothing will help remove some of the load from your main FS PC.

[Kennair]

No I'm sorry Andy but WideFS won't shift FS visuals to another PC, you need Wideview for that (along with a complete mirror copy of FS on the second PC). WideFS allows specifically designed addons like Active Sky and Radar Contact to talk to the main FS PC from another networked PC in order to inject weather or ATC. I sincerely wish it was as easy as adding WideFS to take the load off! You need additional panel software like PM or FSExpand to run separate panels. Then you can devote your main PC to scenery only.

But I'm very interested in your comments about DX10. I didn't really understand what impact besides better visuals that it might offer. Certainly offering the advantage of full SLI/Crossfire access will be a big boon. I'm currently in the market for a new setup and this will influence my MB and GPU decisions markedly.

Ken.

[AndyT]

WideView. Thats the one I was thinking of, Thanks.

Since the DX10 feature set kept changing, its very difficult to say just how much impact it will really have. However, it is supposed to have as one of its core features the ability to route much of the graphics processing from the CPU to the GPU. FSX is very CPU bound because of the rendering of the visuals. DX10 SO FAR promises to remedy much of this by making SLI and Crossfire actually worth having. Once the graphics are actually routed to the vid card, the CPU will be freed up to do other things. At that point a multi card video solution will be the way to go. This will require Vista to run properly since XP simply does not have the internal handles to run DX10 in anything other than emulation mode for development purposes. Add to that a multi-core machine, and you can cut the server farm in half! (Hopefully!)

[Kennair]

Great. I'm currently tossing up between a P5N-E and a P5N32-E motherboard, but if they are going to make the most of SLI, then the 32 will have an advantage I would think.

Ken.

[AndyT]

The DX10 patch is supposed to be out this year. I'd wait for it if I were you.