Hello.

I currently have a EVGA 8800GT 512 card. I also have a crossfire motherboard. I want to buy a 4870 and install it along with my 8800GT until I can get a second 4870. They will NOT be running in SLI/Crossfire. I just want to be able to use the power of the 8800GT for one 30" monitor and the power of the the 4870 for the second 30" monitor.

I want to be able to have two monitors running 3DS Max on the 4870 and Photoshop / Autodesk Revit on 8800GT?
I'll plug one monitor into the 8800GT and the second monitor into the 4870.

This should work right?
Will I have drive conflicts because I will need to install nvidia and Ati drivers?
Has anyone done this before?

snipster

That sounds like a recipe for disaster, but kudos if you can get it working

^^ you will almost certainly have driver problems, how bad it'll be I can't tell you (it's a secret )

you, my friend, has tapped into a territory unknown to me, i shall rule that you are trying way too hard... if you own 2x 30" mon i dont see why you cant afford to get the 4870 in within days... and personally, if i was you i would have been able to live that few days without one of them no problem... truthfully your attempt makes no sense at all. the 8800gt should be on eb@y right now instead of sitting right next to the 4870. my 2cents

gl

^^ btw Gaiden is your profile pic a part of the Diablo 3 splash screen?

Never heard of that working

You might be able to use that 8800GT for PhysX processing in the future, at least I am hoping that will be true.

Well like the other posters I don't have an answer for you. But I would definitely try it! If you do try it give us some news on how it goes

Which OS are you running? I think that with XP you can run two different video drivers, but with Vista you can't. Something to do with the way Vista handles graphic. Not sure where I read this. So, if you're using XP, I think it is possible to do.

However, I don't see the need to. You should be able to run both monitors with the 4870 no problem. You only need a powerful video card for gaming. And I don't think you'll be be gaming on both monitors at the same time.

You might be right, are both of the DVI connectors dual link on the 4870? I thought I heard that only one supported dual-link.

Honestly, I don't think you should try it unless your willing to sit through a fresh install of the os in case you encounter problems. But like the last poster said it is probably possible in XP but in Vista there is no way that will work. Also like the last poster said the 4870 is more than enough to run both monitors without any type of hitch. Your are better off selling that 8800gt to get some money for that other 4870. best of luck should you try it and lets us know how it worked out.

I think you SHOULD try it... and then come back and share your experience with us. Although I'm not sure many people here would use that sort of setup, I think a lot of us would like to know if it's doable... and if so, how many problems you encounter.

Come on... what's one more Windows reload?

D3 baby!

I don't see why it wouldn't work. I've different cards for multimon before. just not two different brands. worth a try IMO.

It took my a long time to save up for those two 30" LCD. I don't have a lot of cash so I would have to wait awhile for the second 4870.

I'm running Vista 64bit, 8GB RAM. When running 3DS Max you need power behind your video card when modeling/displaying materials/textures (this is not the same as rendering ie CPU power) that's why I wanted to be able to use both cards. (both these cards are still lacking the power for my prof apps ie. Not Ultra-High End Quadro's)

Anyone else ever tried this?

All hail to the dark lord!

If you are running vista, you can't do it. Vista will only load ONE driver for all video cards. Because the 4870 won't run on Nvidia drivers, you are out of luck.

Since you have Vista, it's a no go. Won't work. Probably your best bet is to buy two HD4850s and sell the 8800GT. Should cost about the same or cheaper than 1 4870 and will give you a good performance increase, especially if you OC them. GL

running 8800GT and HD4870 is out.

When I get both HD 4870 cards:

1 HD 4870 hooked up to monitor 1.
2nd HD 4870 hooked up to monitor 2.

Will these two be running in crossfire? I'm still not 100% clear if crossfire can be used to power two monitors ( 2 3DS MAX apps running) Or will 1 card power everything on monitor 1 and the 2nd v-card power everything on monitor 2?

snipster, what version of Max are you using? If 2008 and below + you're using directX- you can only get anti-aliasing(aa) forced through nvidia card.

As you may have noticed, 8800gt is too fast for any work you might have in max, so 4870 will be good upgrade only for gaming.

If you’re using openGL, both ATI and nvidia can force aa in Max. If you’re using max 2009, no card can force aa at the moment.

All that said, using both cards in one system is a guaranteed way to get a driver conflict and system ripe for formatting.

Good luck anyway

Will these two be running in crossfire?

Only if you set them to. They wont if you don’t.

I'm still not 100% clear if crossfire can be used to power two monitors

Yes it can.

( 2 3DS MAX apps running) Or will 1 card power everything on monitor 1 and the 2nd v-card power everything on monitor 2?

This I cant say. I don’t have crossfire/sli. I think it’s a huge waste of money.

As you probably know, 99.9% professional applications don’t support crossfire/sli – 3ds max included. Most games will run in 60+ fps in most resolutions on single 4870, while in some games it might be good to have the second one for 26x16. You probably would be better of with single 1gb 4870 card- for both max and high res gaming.

Just replace single card once the 5870 comes out. Or gtx 380.

Sli/ crossfire always has been and probably will be – a waste of good money… Maybe with exception in 26x16 on 30” screen. Cant tell. I don’t game in that res. I'm on 19"/22" setup