Dual GeForce GTX 1060 3GB running Dual monitor?

[spikegifted]

I am currently running dual monitor (1920 x 1080 x 2) using a single Dual GeForce GTX 1060 3GB (MSI).

Does it worth for me to invest in a 2nd card to have one card dedicate to each monitor?

Do you have experience running a dual-monitor using 2 cards?

Do you see any potential set up issues?

Thanks.

Setup:
Windows 10
Asus Maximus Hero VIII
Intel i5 6600K
Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB 3000MHz CL15
SanDisk X400 512GB m2 SSD
MSI GeForce GTX 1060 Gaming X 3GB
etc...

[cptwhite_uk]

You can't SLI 1060 series cards, there's no way it would work.

[kompukare]

Dual monitor with what usage?
Because if it's for desktop usage then (aside from the very applications which benefit from OpenCL or CUDA), then the Intel IGP of your i5-6600K is more than enough.
As cptwhite_uk said, Nvidia took away the SLI support from the 1060 but it might be possible to use two cards without SLI support. Obviously it wouldn't work in games (aside from something like Ashes of the Singularity in DX12), but Compute applications should be able to use them. Even though Nvidia is not generally good for most cryptocoins, people are able to run multiple cards without SLI.

[spikegifted]

I am not looking to SLI. I'm looking drive 2 monitors with 2 cards.

I'm looking to have improved gaming performance by using 2 cards.

[kompukare]

In which case cptwhite_uk's answer is correct: You'd need SLI which Nvidia disabled on the 1060. Besides, with only 3GB it wouldn't make sense anyhow

[spikegifted]

Thanks.

So I can only have 2 cards in my PC in SLI mode. And I can only drive 2 monitors either via a single card or 2 cards via SLI. Is that correct?

[kompukare]

No, not quite. Not 100% about Nvidia, but with AMD there is no reason you can't have multiple cards in the same computer, but for gaming and Nvidia unless the cards and motherboard support SLI (your motherboard does, but card does not) you can't use them for gaming.
Unless you're playing one of those rare DX12 games which support multi-GPU (er. only Ashes of the Singularity I think) you cannot use two non-SLI capable cards for gaming.

EDIT: Seems DX:MD has some DX12 multi-GPU support too:

https://www.pcper.com/news/Graphics-...ankind-Divided
But looks like it doesn't works for Nvidia.

[spikegifted]

Thanks.

That's very interesting. I shall keep that in mind the next time I need to upgrade. For now, your advice saves me some money as I won't be pouring money into something I can't use. Thanks.

[EndlessWaves]

SLI is never very popular in the mid-range because it's not as good as a faster card. It's simply a better all-round experience to buy a single £400 card than two £200 cards. It's mainly of interest where there are no faster cards available.

[scaryjim]

... For now, your advice saves me some money as I won't be pouring money into something I can't use. Thanks.

That's pretty much it, sadly - the only real choice you'd have to improve gaming performance over two monitors would be to sell your GTX 1060 and buy a single GTX 1070 (or 2 RX 470s/RX 480s, if you didn't mind switching to AMD ).

Just a little aside though, for the next time you consider multi-GPU setups: it wouldn't work by dedicating one card to each monitor. You'd still attach both monitors to one card - the graphics drivers then splits the rendering work between the GPUs and outputs all the frames via one card.

[spikegifted]

Just a little aside though, for the next time you consider multi-GPU setups: it wouldn't work by dedicating one card to each monitor. You'd still attach both monitors to one card - the graphics drivers then splits the rendering work between the GPUs and outputs all the frames via one card.

Thanks for that little tip. I will certainly keep that in mind, whenever the next upgrade is... (Note: I went from a Core 2 Quad Q6600 to a i5 6600K - that's 9 years between upgrades!)

[shaithis]

I am not looking to SLI. I'm looking drive 2 monitors with 2 cards.

I'm looking to have improved gaming performance by using 2 cards.

Well, using onboard or adding another cheap card will give you a tiny bit better performance (as you'll render your non-gaming display with the second card).....I've found the performance difference to be very small but it is there.

DX12/Vulkan mGPU may be a possibility for the future but to be honest mGPU/SLI/CF are all in a transitional period and not really worth it unless you have a specific use scenario which you know works well and you are happy to pay the extra just for that.

As someone who regularly used SLI/CF and would have recently purchased a second "last gen" card as part of my normal upgrade cycle (before going with a single next-gen on the next hop), I ended up going 980 > 1080 instead Messing with multiple cards for gaming is just crap at the moment.