Can a second card extend the life of my current setup?

[jessepage1989]

Currently i have a 5870 2gb card. I am running dual monitors. when i play games one monitor gets used and the other shows the desktop. My question is would a second card say any old 5xxx series or 7750 running the second monitor reduce the load on the 5870 and increase the current performance as it is only rendering one 24" screen instead of 2 24" screens? My motherboard allows for 2 pcie x16 devices so the second card will not reduce the 5870 to 8x.

 

[lt_dan_zsu]

That wouldn't boost performance very much. It may a few frames, but I don't think it is worth it. I would try to sell your old card and get a new one.

 

[mace200200]

I see what your saying, it really won't, the performance cost of a second monitor is very very small. Really the only thing it does is keep the card from going into 2d mode at idle. Even that isn't putting a load on the card though, it's just clocking it up and keeping the temps from dropping as far.