2 differant cards on asus a8n mobo..PLEASE HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[kinky777]

First off I dont need asshole answer's I am here for help not smart ass remark's. Now I have a asus a8n premium MOBO I also have a 2006 ati aiw catalist and a asus 7900gt-top GPU. I do know under sli mode that both have to be identical but How do I run TV/cable off the ATI and use the 7900 for gameing and dvd's. This MOBO says it is dual card compatible but come to find out It is ONLY SLI dual card compatable.The device manager reccognizes both VGA drivers but how can you switch between the 2.I am running XP -not WMCE The rest of the system includes a AMD4800cpu a plexor atapi dvd/cd =/-R/RW and also a sony dvd/cd I have a mitsumu 7 in 1 A drive and a 120 gig ultra ata HD. I have a thermaltake 680watt PSU and the sytem is liquid cooled by a TT rythm. The sound is through a audigyzs2 platinum card. I wanted to go this route because I tryed to stay from WMCE because of all the problems so I went with ATI aiw catalist and planned to use the remote. The ati aiw should run TV/Cable/Movies and wanted the punch of the asus 7900gt-top for gameing only. I was sold on the asus a8n platinum MOBO because of its dual graphics X16 slots but come to find out it will ONLY work in sli Not individually. Is there a cure for this delimma? I have been told I have no reason to run 2 ATI aiw catalist's SLI mode(that would be retarded) but I cant run 2 7900gt's without the loss of the remote and the input of signal from outside devices. which would leave me to my only option of WMCE. How if possible can I switch between the 2. Also is it just me or how could asus let something so simple not be possible. Without this option its like a bentley without leather......lol

 

[Nitro350Z]

First of all, space out your post, its very hard on the eyes to read something like that

Second, you can usually run both cards but you will need a different monitor for each card if you dont have a data switch box.

I am do not know if you can mix both ati and nvidia cards because there may be driver issues an such

If you want to have both on one monitor, you can buy a data switch, its basically a small box that alows you to switch between input signals.
they are usually around 10-30$ but if you get a real cheap one, they can make your monitor ghost

 

[elpresidente2075]

I have been discussing a similar issue in another thread today. One option that was brought up was using two different hardware profiles to seperate the drivers. Personally, I don't know how exactly to implement that, but it does sound like a possible solution. If you figure it out, post your results, I would be interested to see how it works out.

 

[kinky777]

How is the switchbox going to change the input signal when the signal is comeing from the motherboard. I wouldnt need 2 monitors because I wouldnt be useing both VGA cards at the same time. Useing the example of If I were watchig TV through the ATI tv/tuner card and then decided to play a game I wouldnt be doing both on the same monitor at the same time. I will be using a 59inch widescreen TV for the monitor. The input signal would be comeing from cable/satalite into the ATI tv tuner card then going from that to the TV. The games however would be comeing from the plexor drive through the board to the GPU to the TV.So how will a switch box help......? Maybe I just am not understanding what you mean.

 

[kinky777]

The hardware profiles still wouldnt be getting the signal across the board. But It is deffinatly worth looking into ..... I had considered this at first but after looking into it more I can't see how it will work. I will try it out and see what happen's but I really dont think it will work....Thanks for the input.

 

[elpresidente2075]

So all you are using the ATi card for is a Cable repeater? Just plug your cable into the back of the TV and split it somewhere before that and run the other cable to your computer. That way you can use it as a DVR. Now for when you want to play games, you just have the main video out be your Nvidia Card, and plug that directly into the tv. Simplifies the setup a bit, I think.

 

[kinky777]

Actually it doesnt....... I have the ATI as a catalist which means I will use the remote with it for everything. It(cable) has to come directly into the ATI and out to the TV the 7900 has to go to the tv also but will be plugged into video 2 whereas the ATI will be in video 1

 

[elpresidente2075]

Im just not understanding why you are running the cable through the computer at all. I am under the impression that you must change the channel on the cable with the cable descrambler (haven't had one in a VERY long time). Even if that isn't the case, you still seem to have a very odd setup planned. I don't see why you are involving the ATi card at all.

 

[kinky777]

Ok check this out go to ATI.com and look up a ATI aiw tv/tuner card and see what people do with them....then let your imagination run wild you will then understand what I am doing....lol ( Not meant in a smart ass way ) I need the ATI because I want to NOT have to have a cable box I will be using normal cable and letting the ATI do what it can for for the picture which wont be alot. I will be able to use the computer as a TiVo for example. As for the gameing and DVD's I dont want to use the ATI I would rather put the workload on the 7900 gt-top because it preforms better. I am only wanting to end up with 1 remote. I have a VERY VERY clean set up and trying to have nothing more than the TV , the audio reciever and the tower . I have no DVD's and simply put them all on hard drive (external hd's) so no more clutter.

 

[firepyro555]

Ok, well first off, i wouldn't see how this would work at all. If its a SLi mobo, then the only way you would be able to run a non sli card in the slave slot is by either doing a dual hardware config, like elpresidente said, or by giving up because it seems like an idea that wouldn't work in the first place. Also, just keep it to 1 thread instead of 3

 

[michaelahess]

Gosh darn man, this is why they make dedicated tuner cards, get rid of that pos aiw and get a tv tuner.

You basically want the aiw to shutoff it's output when playing a game, and the nvidia to shut off it's output when watching tv, you can't do that!

All a8n's support dual vid cards but only for multiple displays.

I think you miss the point of the aiw, it's for people who want a single card to do everything. Like buying a crappy sony stereo at walmart vs building a Denon component system for example.

And stop saying catalyst, it's piss'n me off You mean Multimedia Center (MMC - MultiMedia Center to replace WMCE), catalyst is just the driver (CCC - Catalyst Control Center).

This is also why I'm more inclined to ati cards, I've got a x1800xt, x800 pro, and x850xt pe, all support VIVO (better than nvidia, my 4600 sucked) so I can use them for everything except cable which is irrelivent for me as I use firewire off my cable dvr box, but you could just as easily use a tv tuner card. I can run svid, composite, whatever in and out with one display (I use two however.)

 

[kinky777]

LOL....... people just get me.....lmao. I havent seen anything windows has that looks better than the damn ati but to each is their own.

 

[michaelahess]

ATI has better image quality on vga/hdmi outputs, the tv tuners aren't as good as dedicated cards though.