Dual GPUs (non-sli) verse Single GPU Debate.

[Zacherial]

Currently i am running a EVGA GeForce GTX 660 3GB 192-Bit for my main monitor where i do my gaming (Battlefield/Metro heavy Graphics games).

My second monitor is powered by PNY GeForce GTX 650 2GB 128-Bit.

Power/Heat not an issue for my computer, but are there any FPS benefits to do this?
I watch/stream a lot of Video on the second screen, and i do not want to tax the main card during gaming.

Complete Comp Specs:
CPU: FX 8320 Black Edition 3.5GHz AM3+ Boxed Processor
MB: M5A97 R2.0 Socket AM3+ ATX AMD Motherboard
RAM: 4x(Vengeance Series 4GB DDR3-1600 (PC3-12800) CL9 Dual Channel)
PSU: CORSAIR RM Series RM750 750W ATX12V v2.31 and EPS 2.92 80 PLUS GOLD Certified
SATA: DVD/CD RW
SDD: Agility 3 AGT3-25SAT3-240G 240GB SATA 6.0Gb/s 2.5
HD: 2x(Momentus 500GB 5,400 RPM SATA 3Gb/s 2.5)
FANS: 5 (3 LED)
CPU Cooling: Antec - Kühler H2O 620 Liquid Cooling System

Thank you!

 

[Thelps]

If the GPUs are not in SLI then they will offer no performance benefit to your gaming. Furthermore those two GPUs are not compatible with one another for SLI.

Streaming video on the same GPU as gaming will demonstrate little to no performance loss since streaming video does not tax the GPU's resources, which are optimised for 3 dimensional graphical calculations. However, dual-monitor support can occasionally reduce framerate slightly, so you are seeing a slight benefit from this.

Overall, it is better that you are running two cards if you are running two monitors, although there isn't too much of a performance loss if you were running one. The 650 GTX is certainly not being forced to work very hard, however! I'd be curious to know what its power consumption is and whether that's cost effective from an electricity bill standpoint!