Is it a bad idea to run 2 different Nvidia GPU's in one System?

timelyidiot · February 14

Hello, I recently got gifted a 2nd hand 1660 super, and the display port is damaged. HDMI still outputs everything perfectly but then I have no other ports to run to my 2nd monitor. Ideally I want to run my 1660 to the higher refresh rate monitor, so I was thinking of plugging in my old gpu (gtx 1050) and having that output to my 2nd monitor. I'd probably have to buy a better PSU but I think that's a better option than paying to repair a 1660 I was hoping to replace eventually anyways, since I'd have to upgrade the PSU then either way. Is this an absolutely dumb idea? Moreover will this cost me any performance CPU (ryzen 5500) wise or is that just a non-issue? Is there anything I'm missing?

my 1660 super only has 1 display port and 1 HDMI port. Display port does not work.
primary monitor has a dp and hdmi input
secondary monitor only has hdmi input

TLDR; I want to use 2 different Nvidia GPUs because a port is broken, is it better to have the GPU repaired or not. Will using both at once cause any issues or performance loss?

191x7 · February 14

No issues.

Antares23 · February 14

It cause issue if the cards requires different version of the driver. (once the older one is unsupported basically)

I couldn't get both my RTX 3060 and a old GT 710 I had lyring around (to plug in more monitors) because they required different driver version

It was either the RTX that was working, or the GT, but not both at the same time.

If they're the same generations or 2/3 gen apart it should work

Takuan · February 14

I concur with what has been said so far. If not using SLI or Crossfire (same two cards), you may very well run into driver issues. From my experience, it would be better to use two different cards perhaps from two different manufacturers such as an NVIDIA card and one AMD card. But if you are willing to tinker with it in order to hammer out the issues, it would be possible either way.

About CPU issues and performance, there should be no issues and no performance loss, none that is noticeable anyways.

And a sidenote. Whether you use same brand, older models, different brands, same or different models etc. should have no performance impact in a negative way. Just plugging in more cards, should not cramp up the performance of your system. Aside from the possible driver issue (same vendor, older models), I cannot from experience recall anything that would render such a setup a bad idea.

I have two GPUs in a few of my systems. In most it is the same brand and model (using same drivers), but in a few I have a GTX Geforce NVIDIA card alongside another much older Quadro card. The latter runs one screen and the bigger runs a bigger and higher resolution screen.

All without any issues at all.

Repairing a GPU may be very expensive. Whether or not it is a good idea, would be a matter of evaluating the cost vs buying another one new or second hand.