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Forums -> Multiple monitors -> Working triple monitor setup nVidia 6600GT AGP + 8800 GTS PCIe
AndyC   2007-08-11 22:23
Hi,

I thought I'd give something back to this very useful forum by posting how I managed to get a triple monitor setup working on my ASRock 939 using a nVidia 6600GT AGP alongside a BFG nVidia 8800GTS PCI-Express, on Windows 2003 Server SP2 (similar to XP SP2) running 2 x Dell 2705FPW and 1 x Dell 2405FPW.

I found out by trial and error and numerous crashes, that the order of installation is very important.

Steps to get this working...

1. Uninstall all nVidia drivers and shutdown.

2. Ensure only the AGP 6600GT card is plugged in (i.e. remove the 8800GTS card)

3. Set BIOS --> AGP card (i.e. *not* PCI or PCI express). This is important, otherwise boot splash screen may freeze.

4. Boot into windows VGA mode.

5. Install the 6600GT drivers. Reboot and check that all is well.

6. Shutdown pc. Plug in the 8800GTS PCIe card and boot into windows.

7. Open up computer management (command prompt --> mmc compmgmt.msc). Display adapters should show 2 entries: (A) NVIDIA GeForce 6600 GT, and (B) Standard VGA Adapter (or something similar)

8. Install the 8800GTS drivers... right click Standard VGA (B) --> Update driver... --> No, not this time --> Install from list --> Search for best driver in these locations --> Include this location in the search --> Browse --> Now select 8800GTS drivers from installation CD or wherever --> Next (Sorry I can't remember the rest of this exactly, but hopefully it should be obvious how to proceed!). NOTE: I found that installing the 8800GTS drivers by running the BFG setup program would cause the display to go blank and freeze the computer!

9. Reboot.

10. Open up computer management (command prompt --> mmc compmgmt.msc). Display adapters should show 2 entries: (A) NVIDIA GeForce 6600 GT, and (B) NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTS. Congratulations, you now have both cards running!

11. You should now be able to open control panel --> display, and extend the desktop to all 3 monitors!

12. You might also need to run direct-x util dxdiag.exe to enable direct-draw and direct-3d.

13. Enjoy :-)

Cheers,
Andy.
AndyC   2007-08-11 22:32
I forgot to mention to leave the BIOS default card set to AGP. If you change it to PCI-express you'll probably cause windows to freeze on boot!
Ali   2007-08-15 01:54
congratulations but 2 questions

u said to leave the bios as agp but how can u display a picture with this setting on the pci-e card and monitor attached to it? u change the bios or what?

and i wish u can try the same but with one card nvidia and another card ati and let us know will itr work or it is beyond dreams :)
AndyC   2007-08-19 09:42
Hi Ali,

The 6600GT AGP is my default card and is setup as such in the BIOS. So the 2 monitors on the PCIe 8800GTS are blank until windows starts up.

My previous setup was running a Radeon PCI 9200SE alongside the Nvidia 6600GT AGP, and at one point I even had a legacy Number Nine card thrown into the mix.

Sorry I can't remember the order of installation but it did involve a lot of pain :-(

Andy.
Forums -> Multiple monitors -> Working triple monitor setup nVidia 6600GT AGP + 8800 GTS PCIe

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