Two Video Cards but display from only one

G

glom

New Member
I have two video cards.

1. PCI - Diamond ATI Radeon 9600
2. PCIe - Geforce Nvidia 9500 GT

Originally I had windows XP and PCI - ATI Radeon 9600. I had two monitors and I was a happy camper.

Then the problems started....I upgraded to Windows 7 and Windows 7 would not recongnize the drivers for Diamond ATI Radeon 9600...No problems, I bought another video card with dual DVI outputs (PCIe Fefroce Nvidia 9500 GT) and I also bought another monitor. ( I actually need 4 monitors....as I day trade stocks but for now I would stick with 3 monitors)

Now I want to have display through three monitors....I installed the Geforce Nvidia video card without any problems and I get an extended desktop of two monitors.

When I installed the old video card in the PCI slot as Standard VGA adapter and restarted the computer, the display would only show on the one single monitor which is connected to the ATI card and the two other monitors connected to the Geforce monitor do not show any display. I tried to use the onboard video of my motherboard but as soon as I activate the onboard video from control panel, the computer gives me a blue screen of death.

Is there any way I can have both of my video cards working so that i can have display through 3-4 monitors??

Should I buy another Geforce PCI video card.

Here is my computer specs.

ECS 945 GZT-M 1.0 Mobo
Pentium D 2.66 GHZ
2 GB RAM
475 W Power Supply
 
Technically, you should be able to do this without a problem, but I suspect lack of support/bad drivers are your primary cause for problem... Install the two cards, get the latest supported driver and see what it thinks. Having the same brand cards might help resolve some driver conflicts if you still can't get different branded cards working, but in reality it really shouldn't matter...
 
I was thinking along the same lines.....I updated the drivers for both the video cards but I just get the display from one.

Actually the ATI radeon 9600 has some drivers issues with Windows 7.

I guess the next best option is to get a PCI Geforce card as I do not have any more PCIe cards on my motherboard. Any recommendations on a PCI Geforce video card which is compatible with Windows 7?? I dont do any gaming on my PC so I dont need a real fancy one, just one which supports two monitors, One HDMI and one VGA.
 
Also is there anyway to change the Bios so that it sees both the cards rather than only one card.....Once both the cards are installed.
 
I at the moment would think it is Windows 7 causing your problem. I looked up your mobo this is the link

http://www.ecs.com.tw/ECSWebSite/Pr...ailID=725&DetailName=Feature&MenuID=1&LanID=0

and it says for Windows XP only...

Might just be me as well but I never heard of running two video cards in a computer and having both of them work on a different monitor with SLI or Crossfire coming into the picture which I do not believe your motherboard is able to do.. Plus on top of this you would need 2 of the same make of video cards either Nvidia or Radeon.

How many monitors do you want to run at once?

After you have hooked up the monitors have you tried to go into your control panel and setting up the monitors?
 
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Well this is what I read on other forums that you should be able to run two different video cards for 3-4 displays. SLI or crossfire is not needed for a multi monitor setup.

I will actually try the control panel idea after I install my PCI card again....

I did order another Nvidia Geforce PCI card....if that one does not work, then it is definitely the motherboard causing the problems and I will have to upgarde my motherboard which might be costly.

Somehow deep inside something tells me that I wont be able to run more than one VGA card with this motherboard. However, I can always return the newly ordered PCI card to amazon.com if it does not work.

I will post an update soon.
 
Glom,

What two video cards do you currently have installed in your machine? It is possible that the other video card (not the NVidia 9500GT) is incompatible with Windows 7. Prior to migrating from Windows XP to Windows 7 did you happen to run the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor?
To determine if your current computer configuration will be compatible with Windows 7 please go to the following link: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/get/upgrade-advisor.aspx

You can also check hardware and software compatibility at Microsoft's web-based Windows 7 Compatibility Center available here: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/compatibility/windows-7/en-us/default.aspx

Also, Microsoft does have an official Windows 7 Support Forum located here http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/category/w7itpro/ . It is supported by product specialists as well as engineers and support teams. You may want to also check the threads available there for additional assistance and feedback.

Jessica
Microsoft Windows Client Team
 
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