Can I use two different video cards on same PC ?

[dan99t]

I have a Dell T ? 7500 workstation which came with AMD FirePro 2260 Video Card.

I removed it & installed AMD FirePro 2460 Video card to run a total of 4 Monitors ( This Video Card has 4 Mini DP Port & comes with 4 Mini DP To DVI Converter Cables )

All monitors are identical.

Now one of those 4 Mini DP To DVI converter cable has failed & I am left with only three functioning monitors.

( I tested everything & narrowed it down to the converter to be the culprit )

I am thinking about plugging back the original FirePro 2260 video card which will run the 4th monitor till I get the replacement converter.

So my question is if those two different Video Cards will work together ? ( Yes, FirePro 2260 has DP to DVI Converter )

If yes, do I need to download two different drivers ?

From AMD?s site, it seems both use same drivers.

http://support.amd.com/us/Pages/AMDSupportHub.aspx

http://support.amd.com/us/gpudownload/fire/fire-2d/Pages/fire2d_win7-64.aspx

Many Thanks

[Yusuf M. Veteran]

Those two video cards don't support AMD CrossFire Pro so you can't use them together in the same PC. And even if it did support that feature, it would have to be the same video card.

[dan99t]

Those two video cards don't support AMD CrossFire Pro so you can't use them together in the same PC. And even if it did support that feature, it would have to be the same video card.

Eventhough both are almost identical ( same brand, multiview & uses same drivers ? )

Would something blow up if I did try both ?

[Yusuf M. Veteran]

Eventhough both are almost identical ( same brand, multiview & uses same drivers ? )

Would something blow up if I did try both ?

Actually, they're more different than you think. The FirePro 2460 is a DX11 video card where as the FireMV 2260 is a DX10.1 video card (see here). You could try using both video cards at the same time but you'd be wasting your time. I wouldn't do it if I were you though. I doubt there would be any risk of hardware damage but I'm not 100% sure. But as they say, it's better to be safe than sorry.

[phate]

I'm using two Nvidia cards in my PC at work to run my third monitor.

its a GeForce GTX560 and a GeForce8400GS

[Dan~]

Yer I've got a weird setup currently got a gtx 260 & geforce 7800 or something like that as a temporary work around

[giantpotato]

Those two video cards don't support AMD CrossFire Pro so you can't use them together in the same PC. And even if it did support that feature, it would have to be the same video card.

He never mentioned anything about crossfire. You can run two different videocards in a system without crossfire.

[hckngrtfakt]

I have a Dell T ? 7500 workstation which came with AMD FirePro 2260 Video Card.

I removed it & installed AMD FirePro 2460 Video card to run a total of 4 Monitors ( This Video Card has 4 Mini DP Port & comes with 4 Mini DP To DVI Converter Cables )

All monitors are identical.

Now one of those 4 Mini DP To DVI converter cable has failed & I am left with only three functioning monitors.

( I tested everything & narrowed it down to the converter to be the culprit )

I am thinking about plugging back the original FirePro 2260 video card which will run the 4th monitor till I get the replacement converter.

So my question is if those two different Video Cards will work together ? ( Yes, FirePro 2260 has DP to DVI Converter )

If yes, do I need to download two different drivers ?

From AMD?s site, it seems both use same drivers.

http://support.amd.c...SupportHub.aspx

http://support.amd.c...2d_win7-64.aspx

Many Thanks

Yes they will both work together (in the same motherboard)

Just make sure to place the 2460 on the blue pcie slot, and the 2260 not in the next black one,

but the one with the light blue clip (3rd slot)

That way they will share lane bandwidth and have seamlessly no lag

(has nothing to do with DX11, crossfire, etc.... )

No need to download drivers, as BOTH cards use the same one you already have installed.

[Yusuf M. Veteran]

He never mentioned anything about crossfire. You can run two different videocards in a system without crossfire.

He didn't; however, that's the only method I know of to run two AMD video cards together in the same PC. I didn't know it was possible without CrossFire and with two different video cards.

Eventhough both are almost identical ( same brand, multiview & uses same drivers ? )

Would something blow up if I did try both ?

Apparently, you can run both video cards. My apologies for giving you incorrect information.

[astropheed Veteran]

There isn't much in the way of advantages of running a second video card in non SLI/XFire scenarios, but of course with most things; there are exceptions. Some people use one card for Gaming and the other for Productivity (ex. CAD). Some people use it primarily to pump out a 3rd (in your case - 4th) Monitor as most singular Video Cards will not run 3 Monitors at all (let alone more than 3).

Keep in mind that you will not be playing a Game on all 4 Monitors since the Game can only 'converse' with 1 Card at a time, and even if it somehow could talk to both you'd have an issue with Syncing everything together since you're using two different cards with differing capabilities.

Since they both use the Same drivers you will not need to do anything special. Turn off your computer. Install second (slower) Video Card in the lower available ports on your Mother board. Plug your fourth Monitor into your second Video Card. Turn on your Computer and (hopefully) enjoy!

Note: I take no responsibility for your Computer becoming self-aware and/or blowing up in the process.