Widescreen Gaming Forum

(I don't know how not to show these images on top)

I have used a 4-screen setup without problems for the last couple of months. I used to have 4 identical LG 23" 1920x1080 screens (Flatron W2343T). The 3 N-Surround monitors were connected to 2 GTX 580's and I have an 8400 gs for the fourth screen. I had placed the fourth screen above the centre N-Surround screen (both physically as well as in the Windows / Nvidia settings). This setup worked perfectly.

Then I upgraded my N-Surround screens to 3 Samsung 24" 1920x1200 SyncMaster 2443's. N-Surround worked perfectly with those screens, but something weird was happening with the fourth screen:

1. At first I was using the fourth screen (the 23" LG) in portrait mode 1080x1920 combined with the N-Surround setup. This worked fine until I would log-out. After logging out Windows (7, pro, x64) would reset all my monitor settings. Upon logging in N-Surround was disabled and the centre N-Surround monitor was set at 800x600.

2. I figured it might have something to do with using to many pixels so I swapped the 23" LG with a 17" 1280x1024 Samsung. I setup the N-Surround and added the 17" screen. This time after logging out N-Surround did not get disabled, however when I logged back in the 17" monitor was set to a resolution of 1920x1080.

3. I read a similar story as #2 on the Nvidia forums so I figured that any additional monitor besides a N-Surround setup has to have a resolution of 1920x1080. So I swapped the 17" back for the 23" LG but this time in landscape mode. After a log out and back in everything seems to work perfectly.

Problem solved... or so I thought. I placed the 23" LG monitor above my left N-Surround monitor. I also set this up in the Windows config / Nvidia config but after every log-out and log-in the position of that 23" monitor is reset to be on the same hight-level as the N-Surround monitors. I have attached 2 images showing what I mean with this.

This behaviour, the monitors placement being reset also happens after I play a full-screen game. This also happened when I was still using the 4xLG monitor setup, however back then after a reboot the placements of the monitors would be fixed / solid / unchangeable. Unfortunately with my current setup a reboot will just reset the placements of the fourth monitor.


So far I have tried 3 different drivers with no difference:
- 270 (I used this version when I had the 4x LG monitor setup where it worked just fine)
- 275
- 280

I have also formatted my drive, installing a fresh copy of Windows 7 Pro x64. This has had no effect on the problems I had. For example problem #2 was the same before and after the format.

I don't really understand what the real problem is. Upgrading the N-Surround monitors might have had something to do with it. I can live with having to use a 1920x1080 resolution monitor as my fourth screen, but that it keeps resetting its place will make using it a lot less fun / useful.

I hope I have explained my problem properly and I wonder if others have had any experience with this kind of setup. I can't find much about an N-Surround setup with a fourth screen on the internet (most people claim its not possible, not thinking about the option of using a third videocard), but this problem seems to be rather unique.

Any input / questions would be appreciated. Often even writing a help request like this gives me some ideas how to fix it / what could be wrong. So far however I am stunned by this problem.



Images:

This is the setup I would want:
[inline:I_want.png]

But this is what I get after a log-off:
[inline:I_get.png]