Mac pro - multiple graphics cards - multiple monitors - gaming?

Hi there
Early 2008 I purchased a mac pro, with 2 8800gts and 1 2600xt. Works amazingly well, as it was originally purchased for number crunching (video cards were purchased to take advantage of openCL in snow leopard) and more screen realestate. (3 monitors)
But the thought occurred to me... I am also a bit of a gamer...
Are there any games that take advantage of multiple video cards???
Mac or windows game recommendations are welcomed!
Thanks!

I'm sorry if my question was a little ambiguous, let me try to rephrase.
If anyone is familiar with the Nintendo DS system, you will understand that this handheld device has 2 screens.. one is used primarily as a game screen, the second screen has the game map or console or some kind of readout or whatever. Bottom line is, the game takes advantage of 2 screens.
My question to the masses is:
Are there any games in Mac OS or Windows that take advantage of multiple monitors, and therefore multiple video cards. Not SLI or Crossfire as I understand the Mac Pro hardware does not support it. My question relates to any software titles like Flight Simulators, that can render images on 2 screens connected to 2 separate video cards.
I have a copy of XPlane, and unfortunately, it only supports multiple monitors on a single video card, not multiple monitors on multiple video cards.
So, just rehashing,
Are there any games that are capable of rendering images or gameplay on 2 different video cards at the same time?
If so, what are they?
Cheers and sorry for the confusion.

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been wondering...
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This is an Apple-firmware one that will save you a few bucks if you live in the US (except for New York where they must add tax):
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Hello,
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Since silence is the only thing you get from apple on this subject here is a little help:http://www.tonymacx86.com/416-building-customac-buyer-s-guide-march-2014.html
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Cheers,
ozmo

One 30" ACD
Two 20" ACD (thinking about selling and replacing with two 24" LED ACD).
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Thanks.

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How do I get my Mac Pro to see the second monitor through a video splitter and/or switcher?

In a recording studio we have a Mac Pro with two video display monitors in the control room and we want to be able to show the content of the second monitor to the person in the recording room on a big display monitor there. However, when we interpose a switcher or splitter between the computer and the second monitor so that we can (with a switcher) switch the second monitor signal from the control room monitor to the record room monitor or (with a splitter) split the signal to go to both monitors, we have no luck. On startup the computer does not see the monitor through the switcher, so it doesn't recognize its existence. If we start the computer up without the switcher in the signal chain, it sees the second monitor just fine, and (weirdly enough) we can then change the cabling to interpose the switch, which then works to switch back and forth between second monitors (control room and record room), but that cable swapping's a royal PITA. We want a simple solution that will allow us to start up the computer, see the second monitor in the control room, then choose to show it to the person in the record room with a simple flip of the switch (or even better, split the signal so it's available both places). The splitter we've tried most recently is this one: http://tinyurl.com/curen39 I'd appreciate any advice from people who have tried this configuration or something similar with success. We have a full ProTools HD Accel 3 system installed, so there's no room to install a second video card. Thanks.
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Christopher Dobrian wrote:
Thanks for the response! Yes, it's a 5x70 video card, a 5770 I believe. In any case, it does have the three ports, but (a not-well documented fact) that doesn't mean one can really get three full-resolution signals out of it at one time, as you alluded to in your message. So, yes, we did try hooking all three up directly to the computer, but the computer would only recognize two of those monitors, and the only way to get it to "de-recognize" the second monitor and recognize the third monitor was to physically disconnect the second monitor.
I did say when you want to connect three monitors to 5x70's there are some rules to adhere to. These are covered in the first two apple docs mentioned above, or by title:
Mac Pro (Mid 2010), Mac Pro (Early 2009): Issues with three displays and multiple DVI, HDMI connections
Mac Pro (Early 2009), Mac Pro (Mid 2010): Supported display configurations
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Here's a good explanation of what's going in here and why you need two active adapters on these cards:
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I'm not doubtful. It is a very powerful utility for dealing with all aspects of multiple monitor configurations (they call them "Display Sets") complete with forcing EDID information if necessary. The different configurations can be controlled with a (contextual) menu and/or hot key.
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I only described in general terms above about the adapters since you never said exactly what kind of connections these monitors require (single link DVI, dual link DVI, hdmi, mini-displayport, vga).

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You cannot upgrade the Graphics card on a laptop because everything is built into the logic board. Unfortunately your perticular graphics chip is actually built into the CPU, and is a very low performing chip which would definately make gaming hard.
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I am a brand new mac user...trying to figure out how to switch from the Mac Pro screen to my external monitor. Appreciate any help.

am a brand new mac user...trying to figure out how to switch from the Mac Pro screen to my external monitor. Appreciate any help. thanks

In Finder... goto Help... In the Search Window type in Displays...
Lots of Useful Information there...
You may find these Links Useful too:
http://www.apple.com/support/mac101/
http://www.apple.com/support/macbookpro/
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http://www.amug.org/
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Why not just go out and buy the "stock" Mac Pro with the default ATI 2600XT card right now, and then just order the Nvidia 8800GT separately. Then when your 8800GT card finally arrives, sell the ATI card for $100 or so on eBay. All you will end up paying is about $70.00 more than the BTO option ($375 (including tax) for the 8800GT as a standalone option, minus $100 for selling the ATI 2600XT=$275 out of pocket cost vs. the $200 BTO option).
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HP 6300 pro Multiple Monitor Issue

Hello,
In office we are using 3 hp 6300 pro with 4 monitors for each. In each pc we have 2 output from graphic card, 1 from dvi and 1 from vga on board output to monitors. The problem is after the every restart and normal starting process we can not see the screens till unplug and plug the dvi cable (the screens are black till that). How can we solve this
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Hello @melionh ,
Welcome to the HP Forums, I hope you enjoy your experience! To help you get the most out of the HP Forums I would like to direct your attention to the HP Forums Guide First Time Here? Learn How to Post and More.
I understand that you are having issues with your HP Compaq Pro 6300 Business PC displaying correctly on 4 monitors. I am sorry, but to get your issue more exposure, I would suggest posting it in the commercial forums, since this is a commercial product. You can do this at Business PCs - Compaq, Elite, Pro.
I hope this helps. Thank you for posting on the HP Forums. Have a great day!
Please click the "Thumbs Up" on the bottom right of this post to say thank you if you appreciate the support I provide!
Also be sure to mark my post as “Accept as Solution" if you feel my post solved your issue, it will help others who face the same challenge find the same solution.
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Adobe Acrobat 9 Pro - Multiple Monitors

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For Windows:
Ensure the local machine has the proper hardware.
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or a single, dedicated graphic card that supports dual monitor output.
In some cases, and integrated graphics device can support dual monitor output.
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Windows' Help describes establishing an Extended Desktop.
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On this particular box I run Adobe's TCS ver.1 which has Acrobat 3D ver.8.
If I need to have different PDF files in view on the two monitors,
I drop out of MDI and into SDI (by making the selection described above for Acrobat 8).
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[edit - power supply needs to be adequate for the number of graphic cards - higher end cards need more 'juice']
Be well...
Message was edited by: CtDave

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Based on:
Specs: 4GB Ram, 2.66 GHz Xeon, NIVIDA 7300GT 256MB,
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Mac pro - multiple graphics cards - multiple monitors - gaming?

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