running multiple video cards

[Snprphnx]

i currently run an ATI Radeon HD 5850 gfx card, with multiple monitors set up. both DVI ports go to my desk screens, and the HDMI is going to my TV. However, the way the 5850 is setup, only two outputs can be active at once, not all 3.

i was wondering if its possible to take a second video card, an NVIDIA GeForce 9300 GE, put it my current PC as well, and run one of my desk monitors from it, and the other monitor and tv output active on the Radeon, thus having all 3 going at once?


or if anyone knows of a way i can get all three monitors going at once from just the Radeon, that would work too

[Jojimbo]

Get an active DisplayPort->Whatever adapter, you can make do with the cheaper version for 1920x1080 (not passive, but the cheaper $30 actives as $100ish ones are dual link). Only two out of all the dvi/hdmi can be active, for the third screen you need to use displayport which would require an adapter if your monitor doesn't have native dp input.

[Snprphnx]

i also have a DVI to VGA split adaptor, if that can help

[bungiefan]

Do the specs say that card can run all 3 ports at once? My XFX 6870 has 5 video plugins, but can only run any 3 of them at a time. Mixing brands of video cards in a computer is generally a bad idea. If you want multiple cards, you want them to be the same, so they run the same control panel software. I think they also usually want SLI or CrossFire enabled to work together, which means you'd need another card of the same generation that is enabled for the support.

If you have two computers set up, I'd just set up Synergy on both and use that to link the monitors, so you can split your tasks up between processors, and still have a shared keyboard. I've done it between three computers, a Mac, a Windows system, and a Linux system, to have 4 screens running. You can't drag windows between the monitors, since they are seperate machines, but you can still multitask and copy/paste.

[Jojimbo]

Do the specs say that card can run all 3 ports at once? My XFX 6870 has 5 video plugins, but can only run any 3 of them at a time.

What card is this? I see a XFX that has 5 ports: 2 DVI, 1 HDMI, 2 DP, but that should still able to run 4 monitors and I can't find anything saying that it's limited to three (unless it's just that specific card, because 6800 series can support 4)

But snp, your easiest option is just to get an active DP->DVI/HDMI converter and hook up the third monitor/tv using that (but post your exact card here, just in case there's some version without DP that I'm unaware of)

[Orph]

If you have windows 7 you can run 2 completely different video cards with no problem