2nd monitor possible with this configuration?

[walter.sk]

I want to use a 2nd monitor just for the panels and menus in CS4, but the way my XP PC is configured I'm not sure I can.  I couldn't find anything on the nVidia website, and the Dell website is such a labyrinth that I have given up there.  Here is what I've got:

I have 2 nVidia 9800GT 512mb video cards, bridged to act in tandem for 3d effects.  They are PCIe x16 cards, whatever that means.I want to leave these bridged because I'm a FlightSim junkie.  You cannot use the cards for 2 monitors when bridged.  It might be possible to leave a 2nd monitor attached to the 2nd card, and disable the so-called SLI feature through the nVidia panel except for when playing with the flight simulator.

If that is not possible, could I use a PCI video card with 64mb that I rescued from an old PC for a 2nd monitor?  There is nothing in the Dell documentation that says you can or cannot use a 3rd video card in a PCI slot while using the bridged pair in the PCIe slots.

I'm running XPPro on a machine with a Duo-Core Quad CPU, 4 GB ram, and an NEC 3090 WQXi display.  It may be wishful thinking, but it seems to me that the rendering in CS4 is faster when the SLI feature bridging the two video cards is activated.

[Dave R]

I want to use a 2nd monitor just for the panels and menus in CS4, but the way my XP PC is configured I'm not sure I can.  I couldn't find anything on the nVidia website, and the Dell website is such a labyrinth that I have given up there.  Here is what I've got:

I have 2 nVidia 9800GT 512mb video cards, bridged to act in tandem for 3d effects.  They are PCIe x16 cards, whatever that means.I want to leave these bridged because I'm a FlightSim junkie.  You cannot use the cards for 2 monitors when bridged.  It might be possible to leave a 2nd monitor attached to the 2nd card, and disable the so-called SLI feature through the nVidia panel except for when playing with the flight simulator.

If that is not possible, could I use a PCI video card with 64mb that I rescued from an old PC for a 2nd monitor?  There is nothing in the Dell documentation that says you can or cannot use a 3rd video card in a PCI slot while using the bridged pair in the PCIe slots.

I'm running XPPro on a machine with a Duo-Core Quad CPU, 4 GB ram, and an NEC 3090 WQXi display.  It may be wishful thinking, but it seems to me that the rendering in CS4 is faster when the SLI feature bridging the two video cards is activated.

Installing the older PCI card to run the second monitor might be exactly the way to go here.  Since you already have the card, it's probably at least worth a shot.  It may not need to be a real powerhouse card either, if all you want to do is display Photoshop palettes with it, as long as the card can handle the resolution of the second monitor.