Tom's Guide | Tom's Hardware | Tom's Games
 |
 |
 |
I seem to have dug myself quote the nice little hole here. I bought an ATI HD3450 PCI-e to replace my onboard graphics and an ATI 9250 PCI to support my third monitor.
Mistake number one: Buying the 9250 assuming it will be compatible with Vista.
The 9250 is in fact, as it turns out, not compatible with Vista, much. I say that as it will work fine as a standalone card when I set it to be the primary graphics adapter without the PCI-e card turned on. Ah ha! I thought, maybe I'll just run the PCI-e card as a secondary card instead of the other way around. Nope. The HD3450 was replaced in windows by the onboard X3100 chip (which also doesn't run with the 9250 for reasons I will outline below)
When the 3450 and 9250 are run together, windows starts for the first time and installs drivers for the 9250. It then prompts for a restart, at which point it crashes entirely at the Vista loading bar (the screen freezes and all hard drive activity ceases. This problem is remedied by starting in last known good configuration mode but it disables the 9250 drivers as they are "not compatible with the VGA driver" This is the same thing that happens with the 9250 and onboard enabled.
My questions are: if they both run separately on the same computer, shouldn't they be able to run together? Am I banging my head against a wall trying to get them to do so? Are there any Vista compatible PCI cards out there that will happily run in tandem with an HD3450? I thought that the ability for a driver to crash Vista was limited at best, is this false? Will I learn from my mistakes here and read the specifications and manufaturer websites next time(rhetorical question, doesn't need answering)?
Matt
Sponsored LinkResponse Number 1 Reply:
ATI uses Catalyst drivers. There are many versions of the catalyst drivers. Generally speaking older cards may not be able to use the latest version. Also I think there is some issue with ATI cards running on some systems. Can't recall the details. Multiple card support has always been spotty with all vendors. I suspect now that most cards today support dualhead there is less attention paid to this issue. I suggest you go to the ATI site and post in thier forum. Or look at their FAQs.
The except here is from the ATI site. I am linking to it. "ATI Hybrid Graphics – Combine an ATI Radeon™ HD 3400 Series graphics card with a compatible AMD 7-Series Integrated Chipset to improve gaming performance and multi-monitor productivity".
0
Response Number 2 Reply:
Can you recommend an nVidia set up that would probably work? Low cost PCI-e and PCI card, same card, different slot if possible since it seems unlikely I am going to resolve this issue.
Edit: How about the following:
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/121534
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/134887I've had a look at the nVidia site and it looks like one download for all 6 series gpus for windows vista.
Response Number 3 Response Number 4 Reply:
MSI MATX G33M
Response Number 5 Reply:
Are you using the triple displays for gaming? Why Vista? I no nothing about Vista. The 9250 is supported by ATI in WinXP. I can't guarantee any cards will work in Vista. Below are multiple links dealing with multiple displays & monitors. If you have WinXP available you might want to try that out to verify both cards you already have will work in XP.
Newegg.com has a couple of DX9 ATI cards that are PCIe x1. That would keep your one PCI slot open. Both those cards are low profile cards that don't have the best specs. Newegg.com has a good selection of PCI cards that are DX9/ Vista compatible. To verify just look at the ATI driver link I below.
The 9250 isn’t supported in Vista. Your other card should work OK. Below is the driver page for ATI. I would think it would be best if both cards are ATI. That is assuming you want to keep the 3400. Ihttp://ati.amd.com/support/driver.html
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307873
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/296...
Response Number 6 Reply:
I only plan to do very light gaming, nothing strenuous at all. Vista is my operating system of choice, I do own a copy of XP but do not wish to switch back to it as I use the features of Vista too much to lose them.
I'd rather not have to order parts from America as it's hard enough finding a decent site that will ship to the UK, nevermind at a sensible price.
It does look as if the two 6200s will work under Vista and I would imagine that two cards from the same series would have a better chance of working than two different ones from ATI so I have RMAd the two ATI cards and I'm going to give nVidia a try to see if they work any better, thanks for the links, I'll let you know how this turns out.
Sponsored Link
Post LockedThis post is quite old and has been locked from receiving new replies. Please create a new posting instead.
Go to General Hardware Forum Home
Sponsored links
Ads by Google
Results for: Triple Monitor TroubleTriple Monitor on Dell Optiplex 755Summary: We are trying to obtain a dual monitor setup with one of the monitors "forwarding" its display to a projector. This is going to be set up in a training room and one monitor is going to be a working mo...
www.computing.net/answers/hardware/triple-monitor-on-dell-optiplex-755/53535.html
Triple monitors: how to?Summary: Hi there, I'm looking at upgrading to a triple monitor setup but I'm having no luck finding much info about it, so thought you guys and girls could perhaps help? I'd like to know what kind of hardware...
www.computing.net/answers/hardware/triple-monitors-how-to/56476.html
Triple Monitors: Required Hardware?Summary: Hi there, I'm looking at upgrading to a triple monitor setup from my current dual monitors, but I'm having no luck finding much info about it, so thought you guys and girls could perhaps help? I'd lik...
www.computing.net/answers/hardware/triple-monitors-required-hardware/56616.html
