# I want to install second graphic card.



## mydan (Sep 3, 2007)

Hi
I have got EN7600GT card installed on my computer into PCI-E slot.
I chose it because it is silent.Works fine.I don't play games it is to run 2 monitors.
I need to run another monitor.I have 2 more PCI slots available.
I can get NVIDIA FX5500 card for PCI slot.

The questions are: 
Are these two different cards using two different drivers?
To my knowledge computer can handle only one graphic card driver.?
Do I just install second card and let the computer workout what to do with drivers.
If I use 2 cards do they have to be of the same manufacturer? 
One thing I understand that if computer has aditional slots then it can handle more than one card.

Generally, how do I install second graphic card?

Model number of the ASUS motherboard is P5Lp-LE
VISTA 
System BoardChipset Intel i945P/G 
Southbridge Intel 82801GH (ICH7DH) 
Manufacturer ASUSTek Computer INC. 
Product LEONITE 
Vendor Phoenix Technologies, LTD 
BIOS Version String 5.16 

Intel(R) Pentium(R) D CPU 2.80GHz CPU:1Specification Intel(R) Pentium(R) D CPU 2.80GHz 
*** 
NVIDIA GeForce 7600 GT (Microsoft Corporation - WDDM)Manufacturer NVIDIA 
Driver c:\windows\system32\drivers\nvlddmkm.sys 
Version 7.15.10.9746, 8-22-2006 
Thanks


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## Goldfish92 (Aug 30, 2007)

Well, it sounds like you want to install just another graphics card to drive another two diplays (that is a lot of displays, 4 in total?). 
Well, I'm guessing you won't be wanting to run SLi with them because you mentioned two cards of totally different models so in that case, yes, as far as I know you can run two different models of cards but just to drive multiple monitors. I can honestly say though I'm not sure about you decision to use a PCI graphics card as they are not the most powerful peices of equipment so, if you had the money I would sugest an upgrade to a board that has 2 PCI-E slots but I can't see that you should have any problems.

Hope this helps you out and any other questions I'd be happy to help


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## Goldfish92 (Aug 30, 2007)

(following on)
To answer you questions...
Yes, the two cards will probably be using two different drivers.
I would have thought only one driver per card but I might be wrong.
You should just simply place in the graphics card, boot up and install drivers.
No, they don't have to be the same but I would try to keep them the same to simplify driver issues.
Yes, multiple slots, multiple cards. But personally i would prefer all my cards to be in PCI-E slots.


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## 07clarkm (Jul 24, 2007)

The cards have to be the same.


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## Goldfish92 (Aug 30, 2007)

I understood that that was just for SLi and that just to drive monitors it is possible to use different models of cards

(I found some one to back me up googling... http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/244391-15-dual-nvidia-graphics-cards) check the last post


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## 07clarkm (Jul 24, 2007)

Nope.


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## Goldfish92 (Aug 30, 2007)

(check the updated post) That is my last attempt as, personally I am running SLi and have only limited knowledge on this particular subject from when I was researching it for my build. I would however understand a possible issue using different slots e.g. a PCI and PCI-E slot


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## 07clarkm (Jul 24, 2007)

To run in SLi you need two of the same Nvidia cards.

To run in Crossfire you need two of the same ATi cards.

To use different slots requires balls and a fire extinguisher.


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## Goldfish92 (Aug 30, 2007)

ok, I understand now, it is a slot isue and not a card type one (i like how you put it ) In that case I would suggest getting a new(er) mother board with 2 PCI-E slots if possible two run the two cards you require.


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## mydan (Sep 3, 2007)

Hello guys
Thanks for responding.
I actually rang HP support and they said it is possible to run 2 graphic card on my computer but advised me to take computer to the shop to have card installed by them.I might do that and if I do I'll post the result in here.
Thanks for helping.


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## Triple6 (Dec 26, 2002)

07clarkm said:


> To run in SLi you need two of the same Nvidia cards.


True, or at least the have to be the same family of GPU, like two 8600's but not necessarily both from eVGA or both GT models.



> To run in Crossfire you need two of the same ATi cards.


True, or at least the have to be the same family of GPU, like two X1600 but not necessarily both from Sapphire or both Pro models.



> To use different slots requires balls and a fire extinguisher.


False.

If you only want to support multiple monitors you can use two different cards and two different slots. I would however recommend that you use cards that use the same GPU manufacturer, ie. if you have a NVidia Geforce card then get another Geforce card - less chance of driver issues.


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## mydan (Sep 3, 2007)

Hello
This is what I found here
http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/device/display/multimonVista.mspx
All graphics adapters in a system must use the same display driver model. That is, all of them should either be running XPDM or WDDM.
If multiple graphics adapters are present in a system, all of them must use the same WDDM driver. If there are two graphics adapters with WDDM drivers from two different manufacturers, then Windows will disable one of them. The VGA adapter will be enabled, and the second device will be disabled.
The way I understand is that my second card for PCI slot has to be 
1.NVIDIA as first one and 
2.Must be Vista compatible.
Is that right?
Thanks for helping.


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## 07clarkm (Jul 24, 2007)

Triple6 said:


> If you only want to support multiple monitors you can use two different cards and two different slots. I would however recommend that you use cards that use the same GPU manufacturer, ie. if you have a NVidia Geforce card then get another Geforce card - less chance of driver issues.


Trust me, I would NOT recommend it.

Some reasons why (in non-techie term):

PSU gets confused

'Less chance of driver issues' - That's because there are always driver issues

In some cases only one card is on all the time

Fire CAN be caused

And this is from my own personal experience! :down:


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## Triple6 (Dec 26, 2002)

How can the PSU be confused, or how can a fire occur?


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## 07clarkm (Jul 24, 2007)

OK.

Like I said it was in non-techie terms: 

The PSU 'gets confused' especially when the cards require different amounts of power to them. As the cards work at the same time it gets very uneconomical and can cause sparks and at worst... fire.

Fire can be caused by the above and general power overloads to and from the cards.

Sorry to be a 'know it all' but I really think that it is a bad idea.

Mikey.


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## Triple6 (Dec 26, 2002)

All devices use different amounts of wattage, it does not 'confuse' the power supply, nor cause a fire. About half of new video cards, let alone any of the really old ones, do not even have a separate power connector anyhow.


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## Triple6 (Dec 26, 2002)

I'm not saying its not a good idea to get another identical or very similar card, that is a good idea for avoiding driver conflicts.


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## 07clarkm (Jul 24, 2007)

Doesn't matter if there is no power connector. The motherboard sends power to the card through the motherboard via the PSU.

Of course different components use different amounts of wattage but that is not what the problem is.

The computer detects that there is TWO cards. And if they don't use the same power it goes crazy!

What your saying is that when the computer detects RAM and CPU is gives out different wattage, of course it does! There not the same!

But when it detects two of the same things and the wattage requirements are different, as said before it goes crazy!

Understand?

Mikey.


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## JohnWill (Oct 19, 2002)

My computer never goes crazy! 

Where do you get such a notion? The computer has no notion of how much power a video card is drawing. Besides, if you have them driving two displays, you could easily have power unbalance due to the processing activity, even in identical cards. If what you say is true, it would be virtually impossible to ever put two identical video cards into a machine.

I have no idea how you lit your machine on fire, but I can assure you that it wasn't because of the same chipset on two video boards.


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## brite750 (Mar 16, 2002)

could have been that lighting bolt that struck it.
the various components draw the current that they need to operate, since voltage is constant (theoretically) the amperage would increase to meet the wattage requirement of the particular component, this is all handled by the psu in a smooth and orderly way, hopefully not crazy, if PSU is bad it might send too much amps to the cards and fry them when they are under load.


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## Masta Squidge (Jul 29, 2007)

07clarkm said:


> OK.
> 
> Like I said it was in non-techie terms:
> 
> ...


I have a fx 5500 and its not *that* bad on the whole, i get about 25-30 fps on WoW with it, so im sure its more than capable of running another two screens (im running two screens on it right now with no issues)

I think he chose the fx5500 because there arent alot of options in terms of PCI slot cards.


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## Triple6 (Dec 26, 2002)

A Geforce 6200 is available in PCI too, its a newer GPU with better driver supprt then the FX5500 but harder to find. BFG Tech makes one.

Edit: I just checked and the Forceware 162.18 driver supports all of these cards, FX5500 and 7600GT which is good.


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## Masta Squidge (Jul 29, 2007)

Yeah but it is harder to find, plus i think the 5500 is pretty darn cheap these days so it sort of makes sense to me.

Anyways, assuming he doesnt get driver conflicts it should work out perfectly fine for him.


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## mydan (Sep 3, 2007)

There are not many choices for PCI these days.
However,mine OS is Vista ,so after reading this
http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/device/display/multimonVista.mspx
I understood that the card must be Vista comatible or WDDM driver. Am I right about WDDM?
Thanks


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## Masta Squidge (Jul 29, 2007)

mydan said:


> There are not many choices for PCI these days.
> However,mine OS is Vista ,so after reading this
> http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/device/display/multimonVista.mspx
> I understood that the card must be Vista comatible or WDDM driver. Am I right about WDDM?
> Thanks


Good find, that might be a problem with vista then, but i cant be sure as i dont have vista, and am shunning it until i see that my friends PC is running the way i would like it.


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## 07clarkm (Jul 24, 2007)

OK then. Don't listen........

Have fun and hope you have a good amount of money coming in.


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## JohnWill (Oct 19, 2002)

Well, we don't normally listen to posts that make no sense and have no basis in reality.


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## 07clarkm (Jul 24, 2007)

Pfffff wait and see.

He will come crying back saying that its fudged up.

When that does happen I for one will not help.

Hows that for


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## Parkman (Nov 30, 2006)

I have installed different video cards on the same system specifically for the reasons stated successfully many a times. Even if I thought different, I would probably take the word of two moderators over my own and change my tune.


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## JohnWill (Oct 19, 2002)

I'm not going to hold my breath for the system to catch fire.


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## 07clarkm (Jul 24, 2007)

I didn't say it was 'going to catch fire.' I said 'fire can be caused.'

More likely the PSU will blow and you will have to keep forking up cash.

Lets *leave it there* and just see how he gets on for crying out loud.

Hahahahahahaha.

Mikey.


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## Parkman (Nov 30, 2006)

07clarkm said:


> More likely the PSU will blow and you will have to keep forking up cash.


Are you really helping anyone with your unsubstantiated comments? Or just trying to scare them away from a solution that has been verified to work by several posters in this thread.


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## 07clarkm (Jul 24, 2007)

OK. Do what you like.


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## brite750 (Mar 16, 2002)

07clarkm said:


> I didn't say it was 'going to catch fire.' I said 'fire can be caused.'
> 
> More likely the PSU will blow and you will have to keep forking up cash.
> 
> ...


whats the difference? how many fires do you think are caused by someone running 2 gfx cards?, there are an awful lot of crossfire and SLI rigs out there, are they all bursting into flames? not sure what youre talking about. You certainly will need a adequate psu to take on the wattage of the extra gfx card but other than that I dont see any extra risks of fire?


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## 07clarkm (Jul 24, 2007)

brite750

You obviously can't read! I know fire can't be caused in bloody SLi and Crossfire. But when there are two *different* cards that require different wattage. The results are dreadful.


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## JohnWill (Oct 19, 2002)

If you want to further debate this topic, I suggest you start your own thread. Any further posts in this thread will be removed.


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## 07clarkm (Jul 24, 2007)

OK then.

I am sure working with two different cards will be fine.

I am sorry.

Honest to god.


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