2 Graphics Cards

[DylanrHay]

Hi there,

 

I was just wondering, could i put 2 different graphics cards in my pc? I was given a older pc and it has a graphics card in it that i was thinking i could use to hook more monitors up to my main pc? Mu current GPU is a GTX 660 but i don't know what this other graphics card is. Is this at all possible or am i just dreaming?

 

Thanks,

Dylan

[jaslion]

You can. But without knowing the other card I'd say don't. Your 660 supports at least 3 monitors so unless you need more I don't see a point. The other card won't give you extra performance or anything.

 

Also if doing this you need to make sure both cards are on the same driver or if using a nvidia and amd card to install both drivers when only one card is connected and then put in both for the best chance of success.

[refinedskillz]

Your talking about Nvidia SLI. Yes, you can buy another GTX 660 and run them together. As mentioned above me, you do need the same driver, and preferably the same card manufacturer (EVGA, MSI etc.)

[DylanrHay]

2 minutes ago, jaslion said:

You can. But without knowing the other card I'd say don't. Your 660 supports at least 3 monitors so unless you need more I don't see a point. The other card won't give you extra performance or anything.

 

Also if doing this you need to make sure both cards are on the same driver or if using a nvidia and amd card to install both drivers when only one card is connected and then put in both for the best chance of success.

alright. thank you. if i did do it, what could the consequences be? could it break my motherboard or cpu or something?

[DylanrHay]

Just now, refinedskillz said:

Your talking about Nvidia SLI. Yes, you can buy another GTX 660 and run them together. As mentioned above me, you do need the same driver, and preferably the same card manufacturer (EVGA, MSI etc.)

okay thank you

[NineEyeRon]

Just now, DylanHasYouTube said:

alright. thank you. if i did do it, what could the consequences be? could it break my motherboard or cpu or something?

Maybe increased performance but that depends on the application, probably very little performance change and a warmer system.

[refinedskillz]

Just now, DylanHasYouTube said:

okay thank you

I forgot to mention, you need to make sure your PSU has the capacity to take the extra power too.

[DylanrHay]

Just now, NineEyeRon said:

Maybe increased performance but that depends on the application, probably very little performance change and a warmer system.

So it wouldn't harm my pc in any way apart from heating it up a little more?

[DylanrHay]

Just now, refinedskillz said:

I forgot to mention, you need to make sure your PSU has the capacity to take the extra power too.

ah right yeah. okay thank you

[jaslion]

1 minute ago, DylanHasYouTube said:

alright. thank you. if i did do it, what could the consequences be? could it break my motherboard or cpu or something?

If your psu is up to the task nothing should happen. At worst you consume more power, the pc runs hotter and you just wasted space in the system with a useless gpu. Windows might not like it too.

[DylanrHay]

Just now, jaslion said:

If your psu is up to the task nothing should happen. At worst you consume more power, the pc runs hotter and you just wasted space in the system with a useless gpu. Windows might not like it too.

okay. the issue i have with my current graphics card is that the 3rd monitor just wont display anything and thats why i was wondering if i could use a second graphics card. ive tried reinstalling the drivers multiple times, reinstalling the os, switching os and swapping out cables. any ideas at why this is?

[jaslion]

Just now, DylanHasYouTube said:

okay. the issue i have with my current graphics card is that the 3rd monitor just wont display anything and thats why i was wondering if i could use a second graphics card. ive tried reinstalling the drivers multiple times, reinstalling the os, switching os and swapping out cables. any ideas at why this is?

How is it connected?

[DylanrHay]

1 minute ago, jaslion said:

How is it connected?

dvi cable. i have a hdmi to vga adaptor for 1 monitor, i have the main monitor plugged in through a dvi cable and the monitor that isnt displaying anything also with a dvi cable. ive noticed my gpu has a display port on it. should i try using a display port to hdmi cable or adaptor and see if that works?

[jaslion]

1 minute ago, DylanHasYouTube said:

dvi cable. i have a hdmi to vga adaptor for 1 monitor, i have the main monitor plugged in through a dvi cable and the monitor that isnt displaying anything also with a dvi cable. ive noticed my gpu has a display port on it. should i try using a display port to hdmi cable or adaptor and see if that works?

I remember this happening before. It had to do with adapting ports on this series of cards. Unhook the hdmi one and see if you get a display out from both dvi ports then. If not try the one working monitor on both ports (hdmi port not connected) if you still don't get a display on the one port that doesn't work then the port may simply be broken.

[WhitetailAni]

10 minutes ago, DylanHasYouTube said:

dvi cable. i have a hdmi to vga adaptor for 1 monitor, i have the main monitor plugged in through a dvi cable and the monitor that isnt displaying anything also with a dvi cable. ive noticed my gpu has a display port on it. should i try using a display port to hdmi cable or adaptor and see if that works?

Question:
Are they the same card and are they connected with an SLI cable?
If so, your motherboard needs to support SLI as well.
Not all do.

[DylanrHay]

5 minutes ago, jaslion said:

I remember this happening before. It had to do with adapting ports on this series of cards. Unhook the hdmi one and see if you get a display out from both dvi ports then. If not try the one working monitor on both ports (hdmi port not connected) if you still don't get a display on the one port that doesn't work then the port may simply be broken.

ah. great. thank you. it seems to be working now. if this does happen again in future, would getting a display port to hdmi be an option? i'm sure i read somewhere ages ago that those sorta cables/adaptors aren't good for gpu's or something?

[DylanrHay]

2 minutes ago, ragnarok0273 said:

Question:
Are they the same card and are they connected with an SLI cable?
If so, your motherboard needs to support SLI as well.
Not all do.

they are not the same card

[WhitetailAni]

Just now, DylanHasYouTube said:

they are not the same card

What's the second card, and what motherboard do you have?

[jaslion]

1 minute ago, DylanHasYouTube said:

ah. great. thank you. it seems to be working now. if this does happen again in future, would getting a display port to hdmi be an option? i'm sure i read somewhere ages ago that those sorta cables/adaptors aren't good for gpu's or something?

It's literally what dp port is meant for. Easy adapting to anything else. The one thing that can interfere here is the hdmi to vga adapter as those have always been iffy and caused issues with gpu's. Older ones were a lot more wonky with them often enforcing that you  need a active dp to vga adapter or something stupid like that. Good that it works tho.

[DylanrHay]

34 minutes ago, jaslion said:

It's literally what dp port is meant for. Easy adapting to anything else. The one thing that can interfere here is the hdmi to vga adapter as those have always been iffy and caused issues with gpu's. Older ones were a lot more wonky with them often enforcing that you  need a active dp to vga adapter or something stupid like that. Good that it works tho.

alright. thank you

[DylanrHay]

35 minutes ago, ragnarok0273 said:

What's the second card, and what motherboard do you have?

i have no idea what the second card is. My motherboard is a Gigabyte F2A78M-HD2 HDMI Motherboard with AMD Triple Monitor Support

[Lord Bloobus]

It sounds like he's just trying to push extra monitors, not enable SLI (different cards). The only concerns will be power and heat, you can check what gpu it is by going into something like GPUZ. I have a feeling it's a discreet card rather than a full on gaming GPU since they can't identify it. If they have open PCIE slots that it fits in there's basically no reason they are unable to install it.