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Cloud 2008-02-22 19:10
Current Computer Setup
» Intel Pentium 4 3.20E HT Prescott Processor
» -Abit- IC7-G Max II Motherboard
» 2x Western Digital Raptor 10,000RPM SATA Drives in RAID-0
» 2x 1Gig CORSAIR XMS PC3200 DDR RAM
» nVIDIA FX 5900XT
» Creative SB Audigy2 ZS Platinum Sound Card
» ENERMAX Noisetaker 485W Power Supplies
» Microsoft Windows xp Home Edition SP2
» Triple DELL 2005FPW Widescreen 20-inch LCD Monitors
Needless to say, I was running with a dated 6800GT that had considerably better performance than the now 5900XT I had laying around. But, as I have experienced, I couldn’t make it work with the FX 5200. So this is only temporary.
Virtually, what I needed to do was:
- Set the AGP bandwidth to 256mb. This will eliminate the “insufficient system resources” Code 12 when using two video cards.
- Kept the AGP card as the primary (AGP bootable; I really don’t think it matters for me)
- Use video cards from the same generation. Both are FX series. Like I said, the 6800 GT was unstable.
- Used 61.76 Forceware drivers. Although, I never tested newer drivers with the 5x00 generation. I bet they will work.
- Installed one card at a time. (Installed AGP, loaded drivers, turn off, install PCI, restart, restart.)
- Yes, it took two restarts for the system to pick up the second card. Even then, I had to force the monitor to support the bizarre 1680x1050 resolution. Probably because of the dated video drivers.
For whatever reason, I couldn’t make the 6800GT work with the FX5200. I know someone else on this forum was more successful than me, and I followed his steps down to the proper driver. But the very driver it self seemed to not even support the 6x series. All I got was unsupported resolution errors and system restarts. (did I get the wrong one?)
In a few different situations I did have three monitors running with the 6800GT and with the newest 169.21 forceware drivers out. But after several restarts I would get no video through AGP. My only reasoning to this is: Faulty video card (Similar isolated symptoms occurred before… but now much more frequent with two video cards), considerably different video cards, and/or an unwilling motherboard (the IC7 was the shit of the day. Who knows; IRQ conflicts? Didn’t seem like it).
Honestly, I probably would have had more success using two different core brands with separate drivers than using one driver for two different generations.
If you want to run a setup utilizing two or more video cards… stick with the same generation. As much as I would like to say it doesn’t matter: that wasn’t the case for me. I will be purchasing a 6x generation video card soon.
Three widescreen monitors is the shit.
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David DeRolph 2008-02-26 03:24
I disagree that you have to use two cards from the same generation of graphics chips. I used an FX5200 (AGP) with a GeForce4 MX440 (PCI) for months without problems. Both cards used the same driver. But I think using two drivers, if necessary for different generation chips/cards, should not be a problem.
I know some motherboards are finicky about which PCI slot is used for a video card. For example, I once installed a PCI card in a Sony VAIO to run a second monitor; the primary monitor ran off an AGP card. I initially installed the PCI card in the second PCI slot from the top. It did not work right. I moved the card to the top slot; then, it worked fine.
I'm currently running two monitors off an FX5500 AGP card, using the latest driver, 169.21. However, the older driver, 81.98, worked fine, also.
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Gene 2008-03-15 15:18
I run one 8800GT and one 7800 GT and i use the same driver for both cards with no issues
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Rich 2008-03-18 17:42
I seem to only even get the dreaded "blue screen of death" when I tried a second card.
Primary card is a dual head BFG NVIDIA GeForce 9600 GT in a PCI-E slot (powering two 24"); I added a Zotac NVIDIA GeForce 5200 in a PCI slot...
Machine started but no third monitor - tried to open NVIDIA control panel to configure - BSOD
Vista restart only works with restore to last point, any attempt to install driver or open control panel = BSOD
Have taken card out and am back to 2 instead of 3.
Response from BFG: "You may be able to get a 6200 card to work as a second video card. We cannot say for sure if that will work." and when pushed: "I know that our video cards only support 2 displays at once, the 6200 is the best PCI we have" & "Most likely, you will see the BSOD, there is software and splitters out there.
I would do some looking around online and see which suite your needs best."... so no help there then.
Anyone any ideas before I ditch NVIDIA card(s) and go for a ATI 4 head?
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Rich 2008-03-25 15:46
I use an ATI Radeon X1550 and X1650 with the same driver. I used to use nvidia cards but always had issues. The ATI card have worked great, I highly recommend switching.
Different Rich
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