Gigabyte X58-UD5 two ATI HD 5450 PCIE cards do not work same time

You're using each one to connect to a different monitor?

I really know very little about this, but I thought you had to crossfire or SLI link cards to use them together. I mean, otherwise wouldn't only one of them count as your primary display adaptor?

My only personal experience of multiple monitors was running them off the same card.

I am not interested in SLI or crossfire. I just want to be able to run a monitor from each card.

Well, I'm probably wrong. I've just never seen it done. I'm curious how you do it.

I believe SLI or crossfires are used to make two cards work like a single card so that total calculation power is twice. And also, in SLI or crossfire, only one primary card work and it takes control of the second card. This is how I understood it. I could be wrong.

after its posted is everything peachy? do you get a display on both monitors?

No, I did not. Still one monitor. I wonder if MB is built for just one. If that is the case, then the advertisement is certainly wrong and it is going to be returned.

  I hope not, I have the same motherboard and I want to go crossfire  

Have you got the latest drivers?

As I said at the end of my original, I don't have the board in the case yet. That is because the case has some sort of short and would not let the board boot. If I put it on the cardboard it boots awesome. So I do not have an OS or drivers yet.

I'm almost certain there's no way to use dual monitors without using graphics card drivers and also either Nvidia or ATI (catalyst) control panel.

As far as I know, the system will only ever try to use the second monitor if you specifically tell it to do so, and this is done in said control panel's options under the "multiple displays" tab.

So maybe it'll be fine once you get an OS and drivers on there. Surely you can do that without having the case? All you need is to attach a hard drive and dvd/cd drive then install the OS and drivers.

zipzoomflyhigl: As I said in my original post, "I was wondering how to get the display from both the cards at the same time." I did not say I did everything correctly and MB or Display cards are wrong.

Also: I did not ask if my MB is wrong. I just wanted to see, with my current setup and progress, if I could get display from two monitors connected to two cards.

Read before you write.

Regarding MB standoffs, it was just my assumption that it is the short thats the reason. I still trying to find out what is the actual reason.

Thanks for the reply. That is next in my "to do" list with or without the case.

I must warn you though, I asked my friend about this. (He has dual displays). He says it is possible to do what you're trying to, but he doesn't remember how. Apparantly it's tricky.

He just runs both off one video card. That's why I suggested crossfiring. That way you could run both displays off one card (assuming you have enough connectors for the right cable type) and use the other card to boost the graphics processing power.

I know you say you don't want to Crossfire, but if you can't work out how to do dual displays with the two separate cards, it'll definitely work this way.

Something to think about as a last resort.

Wait doesn't the 5XXX series support dual displays off one card?

Yes. That's why I suggested crossfiring would be easier.

The cards I got don't even have crossfire (No pins on the top!)! They just have one DVI, HDMI, and VGA. I could use any two at a time, I believe. Also, once you crossfire, if I am right, you can only use the first card ( and its two displays). I would eventually like to have two monitors attached to one card and the TV's receiver to the second card (Three displays in total).

Ah, no crossfire pins? Doh.

Well, I'm afraid I've told you all I know. Hopefully someone else knows how to connect one display per GPU.

Solved!!


Well, I just tested the system with two monitors and ATI Catalyst flawlessly detected the two monitors (attached to two separate GPU's) and now I have extended display to the second monitor and it is working pretty good (The system rebooted automatically twice and I do not know the reason yet. I was using Adobe PDF both times though. Temp's were very reasonable- around 45 C)).

ATI drivers automatically detected the resolution of two monitors and set it accordingly.

P.S. Regarding the original problem: I think it was the power supply. I am currently running my old coolmax 600 W power supply (inctead of Thermaltake 850 W PS - never liked Thermaltake but wanted to give it a chance - never buying it again) and the system boots perfectly. No reboots (except those two which I will have to figure out - I think they were due to ATI - Adobe Clash) and system boots every time it is switched on. Filled an RMA for Thermaltake (as Newegg would not take a return as I filed for a MIR - Big mistake) and hoping to get a proper replacement (Their website explicitly states that when RMA'd, the returned product will be a refurbished one). Have to see how it goes.

Thanks all for the help!

Interesting. I too have a rebooting problem. In your case, was it only when you were putting load on the system, or was it entirely random?

My PSU voltages look ok, so I'm struggling to work out if the PSU could be the cause.

I think it's more likely to be the motherboard in my case as it only happens when I do something involving graphics. Games or media player videos. My previous graphics card got fried so I wonder if there's damage to the motherboard too.

What's a MIR, by the way?

You might want try it another power supply (in my case it seems to be working). My PSU voltages also looked really good on the BIOS - may be a loose connection in it?? MIR is mail-in-rebate.

Hm. Might be worth RMAing it then... I wish I HAD another power supply to try. Maybe I can see if the repair guy who messed up my PC to start with could bring over another PSU.

The two unexpected shutdowns I mentioned above were due to the RAM. I set the RAM to 8-8-8-24 at 1.60 V (rated for 1.65 V) and windows 7 started giving blue screens with STOP errors related to one of the RAM modules. Took all three out and tested them individually and found the bad one. FYI the RAM's were OCZ gold series - supposed to be working at above numbers. Don't look like though.

Ahh. Hm. Well, I did try taking out my ram sticks and trying them one at a time. Didn't make a difference, though this was when the busted GPU was in the system.

Would a ram problem always give a BSOD? What I get is just a system freeze or reset with no error message at all.

If it is BSOD, then you can copy the STOP error code and check for the solution online. If it is system freeze, it is likely either GPU Check for temp?) or operating system (OS-GPU clash) (from my limited knowledge). RAM problems are very serious and usually lead to BSOD.

That's what I thought...

In my case it's definitely not overheating. The operating system has no reason to conflict with the GPU because it uses the exact same drivers as the previous GPU that was in the system. The problem also happens on more than one operating system.

Sooo. I think it's either the motherboard or processor that's the problem. I managed to get a new motherboard for £40. I'll see if that fixes it.