2 Video cards

[Dermen]

A friend of mine told me that you can use both a PCI and AGP video card at the same time to make a dual video card system. Would this work or would just one of the cards work? He said they would both work together but he wasnt quite sure. I have a 667mhz P3 with integrated agp graphics and if I could add a PCI card that would work with it that would be great. A friend of mine has a voodoo3 that he says I can have but the integrated graphics on my computer are better looking than his voodoo3 so if I cant use them both I will probably just stick with the integrated graphics.

[NotHisTechiness]

welcome to the forums and while you can do a dual vid card with agp and pci i don't think you can do that with integrated graphics. i tried doing it on a asus board and it just didn't go

[deenda]

i know that windows supports dual monitors through the use of multiple video cards.
i want to try it too because me tyan s2462ung has onboard video

[Dermen]

ok thanks. I might get his anyway and disable the integrated graphics. They look better but it slows down sometimes. Really the only time I have noticed is playing CS when somebody turns on a flashlight my fps goes to about 10 from 30.

[funnyperson1]

even 30 is a bit low...trust me the Voodoo3 is better.....

[Angry]

yeah, them V3's may be old but I know friend that has one in a K6-2 500 system playing Max Payne....

[Dermen]

It doesnt matter anyway my friend is retarded. His voodoo3 is a agp card. I need a pci one. I dont know what he was thinking. But thats alright. I am planning on getting a new comp sometime in the next year. When I got my comp I didnt know alot about them so mines not that good for gaming. I didnt even know about video cards when I got it.

[Wicked Klown]

Ok how do you run a system with dual vidoe cards and what is the gain. Like if I was to get a Xtasy 5564 AGP and ran that with my Xtasy 5564 PCi what would be the diff.

[hunter00]

wow i've never heard of this but it actual sounds kinda cool, anyone else have more info (*cough*benchmarks*cough*)

[funnyperson1]

sorry to say but unless you run Voodoo2 PCis there wiull be No, 0 performance gain...alll it will enable you to do is to use two monitors..it may even slow down your games...

[hunter00]

or you could just get a dual display radeon . . .

[eli]

Does windows 2000 support dual monitor support?

[funnyperson1]

Originally posted by eli
Does windows 2000 support dual monitor support?

yes

[Clevor]

I run a Ti 500 in the AGP slot and a Voodoo5 in the PCI. Am I happy or what? :D

To do this you switch cards in the BIOS, shut down, then switch over the monitor cable and restart the comuter. This is the cheap way to do it.

The expensive way is what I do: use a KVM switch that allows you to switch over monitors with just a keyboard combination, after the BIOS change.

I have a 4-port KVM switch, so I can run dual video cards from each of two computers. :p

Since I sometimes run NT, all USB is out, so the KVM switch uses regular PS/2 mouse and keyboard. There is a separate mouse, keyboard, and monitor cable from each port, and I use mouse and keyboard splitters going into my motherboard.

So when I want to swap video cards, I just enter the BIOS, switch from my AGP to my PCI, reboot, and press a keyboard combination to switch the KVM port to my PCI card. All it takes is 5'

I use Win98 and you can install drivers for each card separately, as you boot the card. It remembers to keep the drivers separate.

I even can share USB ports (for stuff like joysticks and steering wheels) between the two computers. I have a USB hub that allows me to run 6 ports shared between two computers, just by flicking a switch. ;)

The Voodoo5 in my PCI slot will reside there forever, as I use it for Glide games. It's one reason I just got rid of all my Voodoo2 SLI cards. Plus it will play games no Geforce can play, like Insane and MBTR.

[CrystalMethod]

Originally posted by hunter00
or you could just get a dual display radeon . . .

Radeon = $$$

Old PCI vid card = 0$

[Monaco]

clevor- the easy way would be to simply tell your game which card to use. Most games let you pick the display adaptor.

If it's an older game that does not support selecting adaptors, try disabling the card you don't want it to use in Device Manager when you install it. It should 'see' only the other card from now on. And no more rebooting:)

And, yes- I personally have run dual screens with Intel integrated AGP and a Voodoo3 PCI. Worked fine. Just had to set "Init Video first" in BIOS to the V3, and that was it.