silly question about using 2 gpu's

[nyfirefly11]

ok, so I'm pretty sure I know the answer to this, but a friend asked me, and I just wanted to confirm:

1. Can you use 2 different gpu's, one from nvidia and one from ati, in the same rig, but NOT using them at the same time? (I'm assuming no.)

2. Can you use 2 gpu's from the same manufacturer, one being a top of the line and one being a much less powerful card, again NOT using them at the same time?

Thanks for indulging the ridiculousness.

 

[krnmastersgt]

1. It's possible, they tend to not play nice with each other, so don't expect to work (and if it does, probably gonna have some problems)
2. Definitely

 

[MegaWorks]

1. Yes only in Windows XP and Windows 7

2. Yes with all platforms.

 

[nyfirefly11]

Great..with the second option, if I had 2 cards from nvidia, how do I set it so it's only using one card at any one time?

 

[dflynchimp]

if you're using the cards for GPU+ PhysX, the Nvidia Control Panel (NCP) should handle it, just plug your monitor into the more powerful card and let that one be the default GPU, and enable PhysX via NCP for the other card. You would not however use a SLI bridge between the two GPUs, as you can't run mismatched cards in SLI mode.

For the display, pretty much whichever card your monitor is plugged into will be the one doing the graphics work.

 

[TheDoc9]

Originally posted by: nyfirefly11
Great..with the second option, if I had 2 cards from nvidia, how do I set it so it's only using one card at any one time?

removed.