Widescreen Gaming Forum

New to widescreen, trying to get up to speed, been researching around and no luck so far.....here's my problem:

I have 3x22" LCD @ 1680x1050 each (should be total of 5040x1050) and 60Hz. I'm running 2 x GTX 580s in SLI. I cannot get Windows (or any games for that matter) to recognize 5040x1050. Turns out 3840x1024 is the maximum resolution I can select in Nvidia control panel and it won't let me customize to anything higher.

Am I missing something here, or is there a limitation I'm not aware of?

And on a somewhat a related note, does Eyefinity allow 5040x1050? I have a Radeon 5970 I can drop in if the Nvidia Surround is too problematic.

I'd appreciate any help or advice. Thanks in advance!

Both Nv Surround & Eyefinity support resolutions up to 3x 2560x1600, and quite a lot of WSGF members have been using Nv Surround at 3x 1920 without issues, so 5040 shouldn't be a problem. Maybe you went a little to fast ?

Slow and safe setup:
1) with only 1 card installed and 1 monitor, start Windows. Make sure nvidia driver is installed properly and 1680x1050 works ok. Turn off computer.
2) 2 cards + SLI bridge, 1 monitor. Start windows, make sure SLI is enabled and resolution is 1680x1050. Run a game to make sure everytihng is ok. Turn off computer.
3) connect second and third monitors. Start Windows, configure Nv Surround.

Everything Scavvenjahh said, and, are the 3 screens the same, as in identical ? I believe surround must see them as identical or they will not work. Not just 3 x 1680 x 1050 monitors that are hooked up. Otherwise eyefinity will be you next best option.

Ah, I think I missed a step. I did:

-1 monitor, 1 card. Works.
-3 monitors, 2 cards+SLI bridge. Doesn't work.

Looks like that might be my problem. I'll try that and report back. Fingers crossed.

Many thanks!

Nvidia Surround certainly isnt "problematic", at least it seems to be easier to setup than eyefinity or matrox, and also runs much better than these other two surround options.

New to widescreen, trying to get up to speed, been researching around and no luck so far.....here's my problem:

I have 3x22" LCD @ 1680x1050 each (should be total of 5040x1050) and 60Hz. I'm running 2 x GTX 580s in SLI. I cannot get Windows (or any games for that matter) to recognize 5040x1050. Turns out 3840x1024 is the maximum resolution I can select in Nvidia control panel and it won't let me customize to anything higher.

Am I missing something here, or is there a limitation I'm not aware of?

And on a somewhat a related note, does Eyefinity allow 5040x1050? I have a Radeon 5970 I can drop in if the Nvidia Surround is too problematic.

I'd appreciate any help or advice. Thanks in advance!

I just sold my 5970 waiting for 6990. Using friends 2x260gtx in meantime. Having same issue with the 3840x1024 problem when eyefinity ran at 5040x1050. 3 diff types of monitors but same size and res. Spent my whole sat night and most of sunday trying to get it to work. Did you get yours to work??

No, it's not working @ 5040x1050 yet.

-1 monitor, 1 card works.
-1 monitor, 2 cards in SLI works
-2 monitors, 2 cards in SLI works
-3 monitors, 2 cards in SLI (Surround) doesn't work. It defaults to 3840x1024 and will not increase in Windows or in any game. As soon as I try to engage Surround it goes to the crapper.

Can anyone verify the monitors HAVE to be the SAME manufacturer and model and that might be the problem? From what Nvidia's information says, they don't have to be, so long as the same resolution and refresh Hz. Could this be the problem?

I may try Eyefinity with the 5970 to see if 5040x1050 will work. I will be getting the Radeon 6990 actually before launch, so no worries about horsepower; I'm ONLY concerned about getting the proper resolution working.

No, it's not working @ 5040x1050 yet.

-1 monitor, 1 card works.
-1 monitor, 2 cards in SLI works
-2 monitors, 2 cards in SLI works
-3 monitors, 2 cards in SLI (Surround) doesn't work. It defaults to 3840x1024 and will not increase in Windows or in any game. As soon as I try to engage Surround it goes to the crapper.

Can anyone verify the monitors HAVE to be the SAME manufacturer and model and that might be the problem? From what Nvidia's information says, they don't have to be, so long as the same resolution and refresh Hz. Could this be the problem?

I may try Eyefinity with the 5970 to see if 5040x1050 will work. I will be getting the Radeon 6990 actually before launch, so no worries about horsepower; I'm ONLY concerned about getting the proper resolution working.

Exactly the same thing for me. Everything works but the surround!!
I just sold my 5970 2 days ago to a guy from work for a good price (for me). It ran 5040x1050 perfectly.
One word of caution!! The first month I had some blanking on and off of one screen when I was using a vga to displayport adapter.
I said heck with it and got a dell p2210 monitor that has a dp input and a monoprice mini dp to dp cable for 10 bucks.
Since I got the native dp monitor it has been smooth sailing.
I just ordered last night 2 of the same dell p2210 monitors recertified for 159 apiece with free 3-5 day shipping.
When I get them at the end of the week I will report back to this thread on if I can get the nvidia 260 gtx's to work!
I spent more time goofing around in the last two days messing with the nvidia solution than I did in 11 months with eyefinity.

I know alot of the other members here have had fantastic luck here with the nvidia cards but I do think they had matching displays. We will see fri- sat when the new monitors get here. It was nice to see the bezel mgt work on the nvidia solution. Ati needs matching monitors for bm to work.

Weird that bezel mgt works on nvidia with mismatched monitors but ati needs matching monitors for bm. O well in a week I will have matching monitors!
Remember the 5970 works very good with a native dp monitor. :cheers

Wait for the 6990! I sold my 5970 early so I could get top dollar for it. The 5970 runs out of vram in certain games with only 1 gb per core.
The 6990 is projected to have 2gb per core.

What driver version are you running?

I've had absolutely no luck with any nVidia drivers and Surround except the first WHQL ones - 258.96.

I realise that doesn't help you much running GTX580s which don't work with 258.96, but I'm wondering whether it might be worth a shot editing the .inf installer of the 258.96 drivers so they 'recognise' the GTX580.

I think the problem is mismatched monitors. One is Acer, one is Samsung, one is Dell. All 1680 but sounds like they need to be identical. That's a shame, to be honest, the requirement seems very restrictive.

So.........I went with Eyefinity. Already have a 5970, I'll be getting a 6990 so no worries about waiting. I'll just sell the 5970 after I get the 6990.

I might pick up an ASUS 24" 120Hz and use the GTX 580's now for Nvidia 3D on a single monitor on my other rig.

Thanks for the help guys, looks like there's nothing that can be done, but at least I know it's a problem beyond my control.