Use AMD and NVIDIA together in Windows Vista?

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it0uchpods

Commendable
Jul 26, 2016
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Hello,
I have a NVIDIA GeForce GTX960 from PNY. I also have a ATi Radeon HD 3870X2 lying around. I have both cards in my PC, and it worked on a spare Hard Drive in Windows 7. the GTX960 used NVIDIA's drivers, while the 3870X2 used the Microsoft WDDM 1.0 Drivers. However, I use Windows Vista most of the time. I haveheard that using multiple video drivers is not possible in Vista, is this true?

How do I get around this? I do not want to upgrade my Operating System.

Thanks
 
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hang-the-9


If as you said after some research " I have heard that using multiple video drivers is not possible in Vista" , not possible would imply there is no work-around or it would be possible. This is similar to "I have tried everything to fix the issue", if everything was already tried, there is no possible fix.

From Microsoft "In a heterogeneous multi-adapter configuration, the PC has more than one graphics...
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hang-the-9

hang-the-9

Titan
Mar 25, 2010
60,387
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Back-up a bit, why are you even using both the cards? The 960 is much much faster than the 3870. Unless you are trying to connect a lot of monitors or are trying to make your local electrical company some extra money by using more power to run that card, it's a waste to have the card in the system.
 
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Tallon Serkanic

Tallon Serkanic

Honorable
Jun 25, 2015
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10,640
First of all, Upgrade should be your first priority. I know you said you don't want to but support for windows vista is ending either in 2017 or 2018. Might as well move on to the better and faster windows 7. And get rid of the vista drive all together for more space for windows 7.

Second, you should not even use the 3870x2. Are you trying to start a fire? It's old, hot, and pointless if you have the 960.

Third, to answer you question, yes it's possible, but again pointless to constantly switch video drivers.

Just sell the 3870x2 for a good price, You can even sell both of those graphics cards to get a gtx 970, RX 480, or better!
 
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I

it0uchpods

Commendable
Jul 26, 2016
4
0
1,510
Because I need to use many monitors.

3870X2 is fine. I put new thermal paste, and it runs at a cool 50-60 per GPU. Those monitors not used for gaming.

"I do not want to upgrade my Operating System."
I like Vista, and I will continue to use it.

Please do not answer if you cannot answer my question!
"How do I get around this?"
 
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I

it0uchpods

Commendable
Jul 26, 2016
4
0
1,510
I am aware of this.
It works under win7 with the vista drivers.

The problem is Vista disables other video adapters if the drivers are not compatible with the main ones. 7 and XP do not.
 
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J

junkeymonkey

Polypheme
BANNED
Nov 11, 2013
17,389
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maybe vista was a test bed between xp and 7 then all that worked went in to 7 so it maybe something Microsoft tried in it and gave it up under 7 ? I use vista and after sp 2 I liked it worked great but I never crossed card brands it was either 2 NVidia or 2 amd cards under it ..

like how the new win 10 can spit thing out it don't like that worked fine and dandy before ? maybe just on of them things ??
 
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hang-the-9

hang-the-9

Titan
Mar 25, 2010
60,387
1,081
152,940


If as you said after some research " I have heard that using multiple video drivers is not possible in Vista" , not possible would imply there is no work-around or it would be possible. This is similar to "I have tried everything to fix the issue", if everything was already tried, there is no possible fix.

From Microsoft "In a heterogeneous multi-adapter configuration, the PC has more than one graphics adapter and uses more than one graphics drivers. A common example is the use of graphics adapters from two different manufacturers, each of which requires a different graphics driver from the respective manufacturer.
Windows 7 supports heterogeneous multi-adapter configurations, whereas Windows Vista did not. In Windows 7, a system can have a heterogeneous multi-adapter configuration, with multiple GPUs that require different WDDM drivers. The WDDM model for Windows Vista required that all display adapters use the same driver."

Do you like using Vista more than having multiple different video cards? If yes, then keep Vista and get a second nVidia card for the other monitors. If not, Windows 7 fixes your issue.
 
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