Tom's Hardware > Forum > Graphic & Displays > Graphics Cards > 2 Monitors 2 Graphics cards but how do you make them work together????

2 Monitors 2 Graphics cards but how do you make them work together????

Forum Graphic & Displays : Graphics Cards - 2 Monitors 2 Graphics cards but how do you make them work together????

Tom's Hardware: Over 1.4 million members in 6 different countries available to answer all your high-tech questions. Sign up now! Its free!

Ask the community Add a reply

Bottom Search this thread

Hi I'm not sure if this was posted on the forum before but I could not find anything that answered my question.

I recently purchased a HIS Radeon HD 2600 Pro (512 MB) and I have an older Sapphire Radeon X850XT (256MB). I was using dual monitors on the Sapphire card but the 2 screens caused my games to lag a bit. What I want to do is use my main monitor on the HIS Radeon HD 2600 Pro and run my second monitor on the Sapphire Radeon X850XT.

I know that it is possible to run individual monitors on individual cards but I could only get XP Pro to recognize one card. I know that both cards have 2 DVI ports but I'd like to keep the beefier card exclusively for my main monitor.

I'm Not sure if it helps but I'm running...
DFI LanPartyUT RDX200 CF - DR
Dual Core 2.4 GHZ AMD Processor
4GB Ram

Add a reply

The X850XT is significantly faster than the 2600Pro.

You should see no lag on games for using two monitors on one card--are you spreading the window across both screens?

Reply to hesskia

Yes I'm using the second monitor as an extended desktop. From what I understand this setup basically splits my GPU memory between the two monitors equally. I figured that since i have the Sapphire card left over from the upgrade that I could use it on my second monitor and keep the entirety of the HIS card dedicated to the main monitor.

Reply to Aldaris687

Wait don't you mean that the 2600Pro is faster then the X850XT? Or did I just waste money on a new slower card

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to Aldaris687

Aldaris687 wrote :

Wait don't you mean that the 2600Pro is faster then the X850XT? Or did I just waste money on a new slower card

Yes, the 2600 is faster, although still slow by today's standard. You didn't waste your money.

------------------------------ Q6600@3.6ghz, GA-EX38-DS4 motherboard, 8gb 800mhz ddr2 4-3-3-12, 8800GTS(g92)@780mhz, 1TB + 1.5TB hdds, 850watt psu
Reply to dagger

Tom's Hardware Best Graphics Card for the Money - What about this card?

Actually, the X850XT is rated one bin higher than the HD2600Pro. However, the HD2600Pro does support newer features (like DX10).

Aldaris - In Catalyst Control Center, do you see both graphic cards listed? If so, are they both enabled? Not at home so I can't be more specific.

-Wolf sends

------------------------------ System Specs:
Gigabyte EP43-UD3L Intel Core2Quad Q8400 8 Gig RAM
NVidia Geforce 8800GTS-640/Creative X-FI Extreme Music/Dual-Boot XP-64&Server2008
Reply to Wolfshadw

I don't see it in the CCC, I never uninstalled the original cards drivers or software I just installed the new card drivers and software and replaced the cards in the case.

I reinstalled the X850XT card in the second PCI-E slot just to make sure and it doesn't show up in CCC. Now however the fan on the X850XT card runs on high and does not stop

Reply to Aldaris687

Check you BIOS to make sure GFX Multi Function Mode is set to Enabled and that the PCI-E bandwidth settings are correct (GFX0 --> x16, GFX1 --> x1). This should tell your motherboard you are using two graphic cards not in a crossfire setup.

Link to manual

-Wolf sends

Message edited by Wolfshadw on 08-27-2008 at 05:53:48 PM

------------------------------ System Specs:
Gigabyte EP43-UD3L Intel Core2Quad Q8400 8 Gig RAM
NVidia Geforce 8800GTS-640/Creative X-FI Extreme Music/Dual-Boot XP-64&Server2008
Reply to Wolfshadw

Ok so i went into bios and it did not have the "GFX Multi Function Mode" it did have a "dual slot configuration" which let me change the bandwidth settings to (GFX0 --> x16, GFX1 --> x1). but when i exited bios my monitors stayed in standby mode but my tower was still running.

The X850XT fan still stayed at full speed like it did before I changed my bios settings. Before with this card (X850XT) it would rev the fan to full then slow down when initially started but thats it, not stay on full like how it is now.

Reply to Aldaris687

I did some more searching through the board manual and found where the "GFX Multi Function Mode" options is supposed to be but its just not there in my system bios. I've never updated the bios on this system before could that explain the lack of this option? or is it that my board simply cannot do what I want it to do

Reply to Aldaris687

You could probably check your current BIOS version and see if there is an update. If there is, check the release notes to see if it states anything about GFX Multi Function Mode.

I can't think of any reason why you wouldn't be able to do this.

-Wolf sends

------------------------------ System Specs:
Gigabyte EP43-UD3L Intel Core2Quad Q8400 8 Gig RAM
NVidia Geforce 8800GTS-640/Creative X-FI Extreme Music/Dual-Boot XP-64&Server2008
Reply to Wolfshadw

I updated the Bios and dove through the DFI community forum again and still nothing. The only articles I can seem to locate are about setting up in crossfire The GFX Multi Function Mode was not in the release about the bios update and did not appear in my bios menu after updating it. Would there be any other reason why it would not work correctly??

Reply to Aldaris687

is there any sort of jumper setting or internal Bios setting that would cause GFX Multi Function to appear?

------------------------------ DFI LanPartyUT RDX200 CF - DR
Dual Core 2.4 GHZ AMD Processor
4GB Ram
Reply to Aldaris687

So I'm finally caving and I emailed DFI Tech support. Hopefully I'll get an answer soon if at all. Fingers crossed

------------------------------ DFI LanPartyUT RDX200 CF - DR
Dual Core 2.4 GHZ AMD Processor
4GB Ram
Reply to Aldaris687

Ok I finally got the graphics cards to work together!! Thank you all for your help! What would you recommend to be the best Dual Slot Configuration. 16x on GFX0 and 1x on GFX1? I originally set it as GFX0--> 12x and GFX1--> 4x.

But where one problem ends another begins. Now with the second card installed my computer freezes occasionally on start up right after the DFI logo but before anything else loads. I've disabled the second card for now, now that I have figured out how to configure bios for them to work

Reply to Aldaris687

If you can go x8 and x8 in a non-Crossfire mode, then I'd probably go with that set up.

-Wolf sends

------------------------------ System Specs:
Gigabyte EP43-UD3L Intel Core2Quad Q8400 8 Gig RAM
NVidia Geforce 8800GTS-640/Creative X-FI Extreme Music/Dual-Boot XP-64&Server2008
Reply to Wolfshadw

Ask the community Add a reply

Tom's Hardware > Forum > Graphic & Displays > Graphics Cards > 2 Monitors 2 Graphics cards but how do you make them work together????

Go to:

Help |
Forum rules

There are 1069 identified and unidentified users. To see the list of identified users, Click here.

Page generated in 0.742 seconds

Please mind

You are about to answer a thread that has been inactive for more than 6 months.
If you still wish to proceed, please ensure that your posting is original and does not duplicate or overlap any prior responses to this thread.

Add a reply Cancel

Focus On

2 Monitors 2 Graphics cards but how do you make them work together????

Forum Graphic & Displays : Graphics Cards - 2 Monitors 2 Graphics cards but how do you make them work together????

Please mind