Dual Non-Identical Cards - Not in Crossfire? - ATI

I was wondering if it is possible to have two graphics cards, not of the same type, and not in crossfire, in one computer. I was thinking of having my current card, a Radeon x300, used for gaming, and then have my Radeon 7000, which supports dual monitors, for desktop purposes. So, could I do this?

Thanks.

Add a reply

Register or log in to remove.

Quote :

I was wondering if it is possible to have two graphics cards, not of the same type, in one computer. I was thinking of having my current card, a Radeon x300, used for gaming, and then have my Radeon 7000, which supports dual monitors, for desktop purposes. So, could I do this?

Thanks.

No, you can't. They have to be Xx00 or later generation with a crossfire compatible motherboard, none of the cards must be AGP, and you have to have a master crossfire card. Also, even IF you could Xfire the 7000, you'd be better off with a single X300 anyway because the X300 shrinks to the 7000's level. It's like combining an X1800GTO with an X300, stupid move, ya know? Either way, you'd be better off buying one good card instead of crossfiring in all circumstances unless they are 2 high-end cards, like 1950XTXs.

Reply to Grinch123456

I don't want them in crossfire. What I was trying to say was, could I use one card for each monitor; use the x300 for the main monitor, then the 7000 for the second monitor. Then when I am at my desktop, doing normal stuff, have both monitors showing the extended desktop like normal dual monitors would. Then when playing games, etc., the second monitor (The 7000) is unused while I use the main monitor (The x300) for the game.

Does that make more sense? If not, I'll try to explain it a little differently.

Reply to darkspreader

does the X300 not do dual screens?

EDIT

looks like some don't

It will work...i did it with Rage 2c and TNT2 back in the day...

but you need a board with PCI-E and AGP (Asrock dual sata2)

Unless your 7000 is PCI.....in that case it will work...but may be slow....

Reply to nukemaster

Yeah, I have the PCI version.

And you was right. It is very slow on my second monitor. The mouse is always choppy, lol.

Reply to darkspreader

i would say find a cheap dual display card....even most x300's can do it....but for the price there are some good cards....

BTW
when i did it...i had a pci TNT2....but back then computers did not have so much onboard PCI devices sucking all the bandwidth....

Reply to nukemaster

Unfortunately you will not be able to use those cards in the comp at the same time.You would need two of the same cards that are not agp,and one has to be a master card.Goodluck.

Dahak

AMD X2-4400+@2.4 S-939
EVGA NF4 SLI MB
2X7800GT IN SLI
2X1GIG DDR IN DC MODE
WD300GIG HD
EXTREME 19IN.MONITOR 1280X1024
ACE 520WATT PSU
COOLERMASTER MINI R120

Reply to Dahak

lol

Reply to Lionhardt

Quote :

Unfortunately you will not be able to use those cards in the comp at the same time.You would need two of the same cards that are not agp,and one has to be a master card.Goodluck.

Dahak

AMD X2-4400+@2.4 S-939
EVGA NF4 SLI MB
2X7800GT IN SLI
2X1GIG DDR IN DC MODE
WD300GIG HD
EXTREME 19IN.MONITOR 1280X1024
ACE 520WATT PSU
COOLERMASTER MINI R120

I cant believe you guys, twice you guys didn't read what he was asking to do...

He does not want to do crossfire, so he doesn't need a master card or a slave card or two ATi cards...

So the answer to your question is yes and always will be, just like before crossfire and sli were made you could do this, just cause this technology has been made doesn't mean you can't use multiple graphics cards in the pci-e and pci...

Reply to IcY18

Quote :

I was wondering if it is possible to have two graphics cards, not of the same type, in one computer. I was thinking of having my current card, a Radeon x300, used for gaming, and then have my Radeon 7000, which supports dual monitors, for desktop purposes. So, could I do this?

Thanks.

No, you can't. They have to be Xx00 or later generation with a crossfire compatible motherboard, none of the cards must be AGP, and you have to have a master crossfire card. Also, even IF you could Xfire the 7000, you'd be better off with a single X300 anyway because the X300 shrinks to the 7000's level. It's like combining an X1800GTO with an X300, stupid move, ya know? Either way, you'd be better off buying one good card instead of crossfiring in all circumstances unless they are 2 high-end cards, like 1950XTXs.

and the award for the person who can't understand a simple question goes to....

seriously, it is best to read a post before answering it.

Reply to strangestranger

Well, I got it all working fine and dandy. I have dual monitors now, and everything works as I wanted to.

The only thing is that the second monitor lags when in IE7, lol. But that was expected; the Radeon 7000 is a crap card, it only has 32mb (box said 64mb) of memory.

Reply to darkspreader

Quote :

does the X300 not do dual screens?

EDIT

looks like some don't

It will work...i did it with Rage 2c and TNT2 back in the day...

but you need a board with PCI-E and AGP (Asrock dual sata2)

Unless your 7000 is PCI.....in that case it will work...but may be slow....

The ASRock Dual SataII can only use either/or (AGP or PCIe). It can't use both, I'm afraid, unless something changed.

And sorry I misunderstood the question. Woops!

Reply to Grinch123456

You are correct.My apologies to you.I guess I was in too much of a hurry to read the post thorouly.Make no mistake,I'll not do that again.TY.

Dahak

AMD X2-4400+@2.4 S-939
EVGA NF4 SLI MB
2X7800GT IN SLI
2X1GIG DDR IN DC MODE
WD300GIG HD
EXTREME 19IN.MONITOR 1280X1024
ACE 520WATT PSU
COOLERMASTER MINI R120

Reply to Dahak

Quote :

The ASRock Dual SataII can only use either/or (AGP or PCIe). It can't use both, I'm afraid, unless something changed.

As far as I know you can use both at the same time, in a kind of Crossfire-ey/ SLI-ey kind of way. And I did read the question.

Reply to randomizer

Now I have a problem. It's saying that my x300 is the secondary, and the 7000 is the primary. I don't want it that way. I want the x300 as my primary, and the primary gfx card / monitor for games, and the 7000 for the secondary. Help? lol

Also, when I try to play Halo for example, it says that it could not open because DirectDraw is disabled; I have it enabled, but the 7000 doesn't support it. So I know that it's trying to open on my 7000 gfx card...I'm confused. lol

Reply to darkspreader

should be under display properties in the control panel, you should be able to choose which is the primary display...

Reply to IcY18

It should work fine.

Reply to Heyyou27

Quote :

The ASRock Dual SataII can only use either/or (AGP or PCIe). It can't use both, I'm afraid, unless something changed.

And sorry I misunderstood the question. Woops!

uh thats completly wrong, one of the strengths of that board, which i have now is that it can have up to 6 screens attached...and besides he's talking about an AGP X300 and a PCI 7000, not a PCI-e slot

Quote :

Now I have a problem. It's saying that my x300 is the secondary, and the 7000 is the primary. I don't want it that way. I want the x300 as my primary, and the primary gfx card / monitor for games, and the 7000 for the secondary. Help? lol

Also, when I try to play Halo for example, it says that it could not open because DirectDraw is disabled; I have it enabled, but the 7000 doesn't support it. So I know that it's trying to open on my 7000 gfx card...I'm confused. lol

you have to set the primary in the BIOS it will ask you where to first look for the Grfx card by default it is often set to PCI. which is why it will load your 7000 as primary. Thankfully you have 2 ATI cards rather then 1 ATI and 1 Nvidia. nothing wrong with that, just that its a bit of a bitch to do it properly. anyway just set the BIOS to look for the Video in the AGP or PCI-e. also the reason that you get the direct draw error is that the 7000 doesnt support it.

Reply to burn-e86

Yeah, I got it all fixed now, realized that it was set to PCI, not PCI-e, lol.

Reply to darkspreader

Dual Non-Identical Cards - Not in Crossfire?

Forum Graphic & Displays : ATI - Dual Non-Identical Cards - Not in Crossfire?

Please mind

Focus On

Dual Non-Identical Cards - Not in Crossfire?

Forum Graphic & Displays : ATI - Dual Non-Identical Cards - Not in Crossfire?

Please mind