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Installing 2 GFX cards (diff model) NON-SLI Display issue

Last response: in Graphics & Displays
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Hello everyone,

I recently bought the GeForce GTX 580 (Fermi) 3072MB 384-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 and installed it on my ASUS A8N-SLI Premium 939 NVIDIA nForce4 SLI ATX AMD Motherboard. Before I bought this new card I had the Nvidia GTX 285 (1.5 gig) graphics card installed.

What I would like to do is use the GTX 580 as the main adapter and the GTX 285 as a dedicated PhysX card. However, when I first tried to install the GTX 580 on the top PCI-E slot the card wouldn't fit properly and the butt of the card wouldn't line up to the chassis rail at the back and also the screws wouldn't line up to be properly secured. So, I moved the card to the bottom most PCI-E slot and it installed fine. I then took the GTX 285 and installed it to the top PCI-E card slot.

I then connected the HDMI cable from my monitor to the GTX 580 and another Monitor as well on the same card. I did not connect any monitor to the GTX 285. I then tried to boot up the PC and received no error sounds but there was NO display. Both monitors showed no connection to the card.

I then disconnected the GTX 285 and then booted the pc again and this time it worked just fine. I was able to install the drivers etc.

I am not sure why I'm having this problem because I have enough wattage to power both cards and the rest of the PC. I also have all the connectors seated properly and there's no errors while booting. Is this a motherboard issue? I know the motherboard is about 5 years old but I feel it should be enough to run both cards. I am hoping the Guru's here can help me with this problem. Thank you kindly.

My system specs as follows:

Motherboard: ASUS A8N-SLI Premium 939 NVIDIA nForce4 SLI ATX AMD Motherboard (i7 930 @ 3.0 Ghz)
Display Adapters: GeForce GTX 580 (3 gig by EVGA)
Secondary adapter: GeForce GTX 285
RAM: 12 Gig Corsair 1333 memory
Power Supply unit: 1200 watt Thermaltake PSU

I can provide additional info if necessary so please don't hesitate to ask me questions. I'm not very tech savvy but I am learning what I can so I'm really hopeful you guys will be able to enlighten me :) 

Thanks again.

More about : installing gfx cards diff model sli display issue

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The fact that you put the 285 in the first slot is what the problem is , all motherboards say that they want the video card in the first slot nearest to the cpu. How many pci-e slots do you have ? Why did you put the 580 in the bottom most slot are there no others. When you put the 580 in the first slot did the card go into the slot at all , you should make every effort to get the card in that first slot , is it the slot bracket that is the problem?

Looking at your motherboard, you should have the GTX580 installed in the BLUE PCIe slot.

You may have issues because of the heatpipe, although you SHOULD have enough clearance. It's SLI certified and your card is reference. Try reseating the card again.

The GTX285 should be seated in the BLACK PCIe slot.

I think if you have them seated in reverse order, your rig may recognize the GTX285 as your main GPU.

Also note that there are few titles that will utilize the GTX285 as PHYSX. It may even hinder performance.

As with monitor issues, I think they should be connected to uppermost GPU.

Hi inzone. Thanks for your reply.

I tried for almost 30 minutes to put the GTX 580 into the first PCI-E slot (btw my motherboard has 2 PCI-E slot). The card fits in to the slot just fine however the rear of the card doesn't line up to the rail at all. I can't secure the card properly with the screws since the rear rail doesn't line up with the card. If I force it I'm afraid the card will be damaged or the motherboard PCI-E slot will get damaged too. That's why I had to put it to the very bottom one.

I should also mention that with this motherboard the first PCI-E slot is aligned a little to the right of the motherboard (by about an inch compared to the other PCI and PCI-E and AGP slots. I think that's the problem. The bottom PCI-E slot that I installed the card into is aligned as normal so it fit the card just fine and I was able to align the rail and screws and lock it in properly.
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That might be a simple problem, Your Mobo checks the PCIe first slot firstly if there's no dedicated card it moves to the other.
Also make sure that you install your GPU in the X16 or X8 PCIE slot, no matter if it's first or last just make sure it's no routed at x4.

The GTX is powerful enough to handle the games plus the Physix acceleration. Since there are so few games that support physix and the amount of physix action in a game if it is your only choice you will do okay with just the 580. I know you want to use the 285 since you have it but it is not absolutly neccessary and mabe you can even sell it on e-bay or something. It does seem odd that the 285 would fit in the first slot but not the 580. You have an AGP slot on this MB ? Can you modify the back of the case rail area , this does seem to be an old case and MB setup , without touching the card or the MB can the back case area be modified ? Of course thats just me and I'm not one to shy away from modifing anything. My computer pictured to the left of this post is a Cooler Master Half-X case and if you look closely you will see that it dosn't look like a Half-X case.

Thanks for the info everyone. It seems like the problem is really the Motherboard. I will try to tweak with it some more (without breaking it I hope!) and see what happens.

Inzone - I'm not as tech savvy as you to try and modify the case rail area nor do I have the tools really. I only have a screwdriver and coffee :kaola: 

Thx tho. I appreciate all the help you guys have given me. I will try to see if I notice any performance issues by using the Physx with the primary adapter only.
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