Two dual video cards

Discussion in 'Hardware' started by Toonces, Jun 5, 2006.

  1. Toonces

    Toonces

    I'm thinking of replacing a quad video card (not enough memory) with two dual cards. Can you put one card in an AGP slot, and the other one in a PCI slot? Would that cause a potential compatability issue?
     
  2. Banjo

    Banjo

    Yes , you can, if they are the same mfg even better. Using diff mfg's will require diff drivers. Use the same mfg for both cards for best results.
     
  3. Adobian

    Adobian

    Can you recommend a MFG ?

    I have done this before. using one AGP and three PCI for 4 monitors. I have not use dual out cards.

    I am looking into using two PCIe cards in an SLI of Crossfire configuration to get 4 DVI outs.
     
  4. gnome

    gnome

    Yes, do exactly that. No problem. My favorite solution would be Nvidia Quadro NVS 280. .. comes in both AGP and PCI.... 1600x1200 max resolution... either DVI or VGA.
     
  5. gnome

    gnome

    If 1920x1200 is good enough for you, you can get 2 each Nvidia Quadro NVS 285s.
     
  6. You are getting very good advice here (particularly by gnome).

    I'll add a few points to those already mentioned by others:

    1) Instead of getting one AGP and one PCI card, get both PCI's. The AGP slot is being phased out.

    2) Nvidia is a very good brand. I also highly recommend ATI cards.

    3) No matter which brand you choose, buy the cards that have actually been manufactured by Nvidia or ATI. Do not buy the cheaper Nvidia/ATI cards made by 3rd party manufacturers. The latter are simply substandard and cause a lot of compatibility problems.

    Good luck. :)
     
  7. Adobian

    Adobian

    I would rather use the regular NVidia cards for cheaper prices and much better performance, on a motherboard that support SLI.
     
  8. Josh009

    Josh009

    I have the Nvidia quadro fx 540 in the pci-e slot, and 2 PNY branded geforce 5500's in pci slots. Never had any problems with the setup. I just downloaded the driver from nvidia (nview software, with drivers), and it works for all 3 cards.

    I'm sure there are some decent off-brand cards. I've had no problems with PNY.
     
  9. Toonces

    Toonces

    Thanks for the advce guys. I just had a tech guy tell me to use AGP over PCI because a video card will perform much better on AGP. Is that correct?
     
  10. skepticaltrader

    skepticaltrader Guest

    Yes... that is correct. All of the Computer Aided Designers (CAD) and gamers use AGP over the PCI.
     
    #10     Jun 6, 2006