WOW, can I really have to different GPUs on same system?!?!

[gentrinity]

Hi, I just saw on a thread in this forum that someone actually had a pro card and a gaming card installed at the same time!!!! Can you really do this?!?! I plan on buying a quadro 560, but Im a little worried that the gaming performance wont be too awe inspiring. Granted, it will suffice to play it at normal settings, but I wouldnt mind shelling out money for a 7900 GT card as well as a 560 if I can have them both connected at the same time. I have a projector, so i could then connect the projector to watch movies and play games, and then use my dual monitors to work. The game I am planning on getting is Medieval 2, so I have until november something to buy my 7900 gt. Overclock that sucker till i see Medieval battlefields unfold on 88 inches of wall. Freakin awesome.


IS THIS POSSIBLE???!??!?!?!

 

[gentrinity]

Could I have SLI and connect both, then switch the monitor cables from my 560 to a 7900 GT to play games? Switch them back to work? Is this possible? Only one would be used at a time, I just dont want to go through the hassle of taking off and putting back video cards, its also a little bit more dangerous if im doing it on a daily basis to break something.

 

[jaguarskx]

Yes, you can have two different video cards in the same computer but you will not be able to link them up for gameplay via Crossfire or SLI. The Quadra 560 is a PCI-e x1 video card while the 7900GT is a PCI-e x16 video card. You can use them to drive different monitors but that's about it.

If you mix and match Radeons with GeForce, again you can only use them to drive different monitors. The same is true for a 7600GT and 7900GT; no SLI.

7900GT and 7900GT = SLI. You can also use each one to drive separate monitors.

 

[gentrinity]

I am in no way shape or form interested in running them together. I would want to run them seperately.

The thing is I need a Quadro for my work. The 560 runs at $270 bucks, which is great, but its a sorry gaming card, its only comparable to a 7600 Gt, and probably not as good, which wont be that great. I wouldnt mind spending 270 extra bucks to get a 7900GT so I can play games at very high resolutions, considering that i will be getting a C2D 2.1 which I plan to overclock, and 2Gigs or RAM.

I WILL TEST THE CARD FIRST, OF COURSE!!!

If I deem it not a worthy gaming card, I would buy the 7900 GT.

The Quadro 560 is a PCIexpress x16
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814133178
Unless New Egg screwed up

Could I then get SLI and then do the following;

I have a projector which I could connect to the gaming card, that way I game at 80 inches, I could then leave the dual monitors to my quadro and work with those. How would I switch? Control Panel > Display and change the card or something?

 

[Heyyou27]

The thing is I need a Quadro for my work. The 560 runs at $270 bucks, which is great, but its a sorry gaming card, its only comparable to a 7600 Gt

That card can't even come close to the performance of a 7600 GT; I'd really just suggest you get a 7900GTX and use it for both CAD and gaming. Chances are you won't be able to tell the difference, and seeing as you don't have a real budget, I doubt you need to meet any critical standards.

 

[gentrinity]

@Heyyou27

No disrespect, I appreciate your opinion, but benchmarks I have seen do not support youre claim.

First off, the stability I will be getting, as well as the breakout box included with the 560 are things the 7900 GTX wont provide, and the GTX is more expensive, I could get the GT and overclock it for less money.

Second, I saw benchmarks of a 540, 1400, 4500, and a 7800GTX single and SLI
http://features.cgsociety.org/story_custom.php?story_id=3321&page=

You will easily see that the 7800GTXs are horrible in the apps I plan on using; Lightwave and Maya. Granted, a 7900 GTX is faster than a 7800 GTX, but the Quadro 560 is faster than a 540, with more pipelines and more than twice as much Graphic Memory Bandwidth (8.8GB/s compared to 19.2GB/s) So you can expect similar benchmarks.

A 560 basically performs a bit better than a 1400.

http://www.lostcircuits.com/video/quadro_fx1400/

If you look here, the 1400 does awesome in low resolutions, which for me is allright since I will be using a projector that doesnt support high resolutions, it dont think it even gets over 1024 x 768. All this suggests that my 560 should game comparable to a 7600 gt.


Also, my main priority is professional work, gaming comes second.