So exactly how many vid cards can we use?

[abalavsan]

I noticed a few boards from Nvidia allow for 3 video cards. My guess is 2 for SLI and maybe a 3rd for more screens, but what about some i650/i680 boards with 4 PCI Express slots? I thought quad SLI were for the 7950 GX2s which are single slot cards anyways.

[UnknownSouljer]

Some professional based boards are for use with Dual SLi. Most individuals doing that sort of setup are using Quadros and doing professional work, not gaming.

[-Red-]

^^ What he said. I think for us Joes, it's pretty much only for multiple screen support.

[furillo]

Why would the average person need so many screens? I can see professionals like Unknownsouljer says, but I never had a need for more than 1.

[DarthSius]

I consider myself a normal home user and let me say that if you have used two screens before, it's tough to go back. I dabble in photo editing, and it's nice to keep my work tools on one screen and my work area on another. I also keep my RSS feeds and various tickers running on it also.

[pF.TK]

Dual screens are also nice for gaming and irc / chat open at the same time, the pop ups don't interfere with gaming and you can tell our friends what server you are on :).

Have to say, I came about it by accident mostly, as 17" LCD's fetch no money used, and I upgraded to a 20.1" WS, so I kept the 17" and put it to dual use, building new machines on the DVI input and dual monitor on VGA...

[UnknownSouljer]

Why would the average person need so many screens? I can see professionals like Unknownsouljer says, but I never had a need for more than 1.

It depends on what you do.
Honestly I don't game much anymore, but I find that dual monitors are infinitely useful for work/research purposes.

Examples would be things like:
Full Firefox in one, and Microsoft word/AIM(chat progs etc) in the other
Anything involving webwork like: Dreamweaver/notepad/Photoshop in one, Firefox/IE/FTP proggie in the other.

Of course that doesn't include other things like boredom like I do all the time:
Full screen TV show in one (Family Guy,Futurama,Anime,etc), Firefox for browsing and chatting in the other.

This doesn't include things like audio players, or background service progies, or folders you have open either.

The versatility that multiple monitors offer are endless.

[DoctorKyo]

I never gamed with dual screens, but I do use two here. One screen is my Acer 20" widescreen which is my main one. I have an old Samsung 15" which isn't all that great from a spec perspective, but it does work well and allows me to keep some things like my RSS and Gaim off my main screen.