Two video cards, one motherboard?

[delussional77]

Hey everyone, I'm not sure if computers can do what I need but I'm pretty sure they can.

I currently have three monitors:
(2x) Samsung 22" Widescreens
(1x) Samsung 61" LCD TV

Currently I have the 22" widescreens on my normal computer and the 61" LCD is connected to a home theater PC that I built. I am having a lot of issues with the HTPC and it just doesn't get the use that would justify the expense of fixing it.

As of right now I essentially have two PCI video cards (nothing special, an 8600GT and an FX5900...). Each mobo is an cheappie AMD using a 5000+.

Is there a mobo that I can purchase that will allow me to put both video cards in and use them without conflict? I did some googling and I'm not seeing any direct answers. I just really want to consolidate my two PC's into one and control everything from there.

Thanks for any help you can offer.

 

[geoffry]

For my trading setup I had 2 cards running 3 monitors perfectly. ne was an x700 and the other was some cheapy, forget what it was.

Just get a mobo with PCI slots and you should be fine.

 

[magreen]

Uhmm... an 8600gt PCI card? I don't even think they make those. Maybe you mean pci-e?
And what is the other one, pci or pci-e?

 

[delussional77]

I'm sorry, I meant PCI-Express (16)

 

[delussional77]

they are both PCI express

 

[magreen]

Well, you can run your two monitors off of the one 8600gt card. If the card also has a tv out then you could be set for the big 60" tv also... Unless it's hd...

 

[delussional77]

it is HD, which is why I need the other video card

will this not work then?

 

[ViRGE]

Doesn't the 8600GT offer component out?

 

[delussional77]

umm...the video card that I have does not have component out.

Both video cards are sort've "old" and nowhere near top of the line. They both only have a VGA and a DVI output.

They are both PCI Express 16

Is there a way to use both of them so that all three monitors are in use?

 

[ViRGE]

If the other card weren't a 5-series card, it would be rather easy. The problem is that you need to be able to use the same driver set for both cards, and recent drivers don't support the 5-series. What OS are you using?

 

[delussional77]

XP Pro

if I had a pair of the same cards this would work then?

Let me rephrase my original question. How can I cheaply & effectively use two video cards on one motherboard to drive three large monitors?

 

[ViRGE]

Nvidia did release a version of the 169 drivers with support for the 5-series for XP. You may be able to get away with it given that, but I can't make any promises.

http://www.nvidia.com/object/winxp_169.21_whql.html

 

[delussional77]

ViRGE,

Are you familiar with mobo's that have onboard video output (HDMI)? I see a few mobo's on newegg that have HDMI out. I could use that with a video card to drive my dual monitors right?

 

[taltamir]

Originally posted by: delussional77
umm...the video card that I have does not have component out.

Both video cards are sort've "old" and nowhere near top of the line. They both only have a VGA and a DVI output.

They are both PCI Express 16

Is there a way to use both of them so that all three monitors are in use?

It does have component out, you just don't know it...

That plug that looks like s-video is NOT s-video, it HD out, it has much more pins then S-Video and it uses a dongle that splits it into s-video and component out.
If you do not have a black circular plug then you can't.

I hear that AMD video cards CAN do 3+ monitor output if used in crossfire, is that true?

 

[Dman877]

NM

 

[delussional77]

thanks Taltamir, I didn't realize that the plug was actually component out. I will have to check and see if I have that plug.

Can a single video card run all 3 monitors at full resolution though?

 

[citan x]

I am afraid your out of luck. Nvidia cards can only drive two monitors at the same time.
Even though some cards have three outputs, only two work at a given time. You would have to switch between any two monitors.

Also, since they are both PCI-E, you would have to get a new motherboard with two PCI-Express slots which are generally more expensive.

To drive the three monitors simultaneously you would need two video cards. The cheapest option I see would be for you to get a cheap regular PCI video card and connect that to your motherboard. I have that setup with three monitors. Bear in mind, that the capability of the PCI card is limited, but it should be able to handle basic stuff. I would connect the 61" LCD and your main monitor to the PCI-E card, and the second monitor to the PCI-card.

More expensive options for three monitors include getting video cards that support more than two monitors like some NVidia quaddro series. Another option that would be nice would be an sli motherboard. You can run two PCI-E cards and drive up to four monitors if you disable sli.

 

[delussional77]

Thanks Citan. You pointed out something which I probably should have stated earlier. I won't necessarily be running all three monitors at the same time (the TV will only be used exclusively for hi-def movies).

That being said I think using onboard mobo HDMI would be most beneficial (and the cheapest solution so far).

Does anyone have any input on using onboard mobo HDMI for running my 61" LCD easily? I don't need extreme video card options, just enough for smooth playback and a few basic options.

Thanks for all the input guys.