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Hi i was wondering if it is possible to install 2 video cards in one pc and if that would make the graphics any better. I have one Bfg GeForce 5500 now.
It is now posible to use 2 video card in one pc using nvidia SLI or Ati Crossfire (+fire).
Requirements:
-NvidiaSLI - motherboard with two x16 PCI Express slots that runs nForce 4 or an SLI compatible chipset.(your graphics card bus is AGP-8x so it wont)-Ati +Fire - motherboards have two x16 PCI Express slots but the company claims that the boards will need to be running the Radeon Xpress 200 CrossFire chipset.
SLI AND CROSSFIRE COMPARISON
http://www.megagames.com/news/html/hardware/sliandcrossfire-acomparison.shtml
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More than 1 card, yes. PC's had that ability from almost the beginning. Whether the software could support it is another story. The question of better graphics has been done mostly with VGA cards using the feature connector or through an external loop through. The new SLI cards are mostly for increased graphics performance. There are 4 output video card that can support 4 monitors. You can use 4 of them for 16 different screens.
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you have to have a motherboard that supports it and lots of ca$h. What are you working with and what are you trying to accomplish? A few details about your system could be helpful.
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Windows has had the capability of handling two video cards since Win98.
Both cards must be designed so they can work with another video card on the PC at the same time without clashing with each other.
Your mboard doesn't necessarily have to be recent or specially designed, as long as it meets the minimum specs for both cards (e.g. the PCI or AGP version standard) - the important thing is the two video cards must be designed so they can work with another video card on the PC at the same time. There must be Resources available for both cards of course - IRQ's, etc.A card used in combo with onboard video is often not possible, and some cards cannot work properly if you have onboard video that does not disable itself when a video card is installed in a slot - and that may depend on which slot.
For example I have a Gigabyte 7ZMMH - it has onboard video, and an AGP slot. An AGP video card in the AGP slot disables the onboard video, but a PCI video card in a PCI slot does not, the two videos clash, and you can't fix the problem, even if you disable the onboard video in the bios.
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Oops (should have said)
...but a PCI video card in a PCI slot does not, the two videos clash, and you can't fix the problem, even if you disable the onboard video in Device Manager.
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tubesandwires is pretty much correct. Go look up the Whinehoezed "hardware compatibility list" before you invest money in one or two video cards.
Around here, I've got several, recent motherboards, all acquired used/trades, some with onboard video, etc.
I've had mixed results with dual cards. BE SURE and check compatibility.
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The Windows 98 (and up) "hardware compatibility list" doesn't have a lot of cards listed in it, and isn't much help for newer cards. A card not being on the list doesn't necessarily mean it can't be used this way.
It is sometimes hard to determine.
If the cards are compliant with Win98 and up specifications, they can often be used in a computer with another card.The magic word is to search for is Multiple Display support - [Multiple Display (Adapter) Support] because that is what Microsoft calls it.
Most of these lists have older adapters listed.
How do I get multiple displays to work in Windows 98?
https://support.ati.com/ics/support/default.asp?deptID=894Hardware Requirements for Multiple Display Support in Windows 98
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/q182708/How to Enable Multiple Display Support Using Windows 98
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q179602Hardware Requirements for Multiple-Display Support in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/296538/List of Supported Display Adapters for Multiple Monitors and Dualview in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;q307397..............
An alternative is to get one card that can display on two monitors at the same time, the same or different screens on each, or spread out one large display over two monitors.
- e.g. that is called Dual Monitor support by ATI and some other card makers, Dual Head support by Matrox and some others, Dual View by Microsoft, etc. There are lots of those available, new, and older.
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He starts by asaking about two video cards to make the graphics better. I guess he heard something on TechTV about SLI.
Now we are talking about dual head cards for two monitors. What's the deal? I don't think this was the question.
You can avoid many of these Windows problems with Linux. Linspire eases the transition for new users
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Most of my last post was about which cards you can use if you want to use two - dual head was only a alternative. It depends on what he wants to do.
Unless jonmyates replies, we'll never know what he meant. He may have already left the building in any case.
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