Sorry... Topic should read: "Running 2 monitors and a TV off 1 computer?"

My computer has 2 PCIe slots, as I assume most do for SLI or whatever. Can I have 2 different brand video cards in there (I already have an ATI, and I am looking at a Nvidia for a good price) so that I can run my dual LCD monitors with 1 and my TV with the other card??

I hope this question is clear, if its not please ask. I've been wondering about this for some time.

Thanks!

[Edited on December 16, 2006 at 9:55 AM. Reason : 2]

12/16/2006 9:54:53 AM

sounds like you'll run into problems, and your system probably won't handle it too well, but i don't see why not

12/16/2006 10:03:44 AM

eh if they are the exact same model manufactured by a different company technically yes. its not something i would do tho

12/16/2006 5:32:50 PM

you really dont want to mix manufacturers

youll run into problems

12/16/2006 9:53:12 PM

alright, thanks guys... I guess if I got a PCI (non express) card, I could run another monitor/tv off of that?

12/17/2006 11:07:46 AM

Based on my experience with multiple video cards in the same machine, you're going to have a hard time doing what you want. Windows just doesn't behave well with multiple video cards, even if they are from the same manufacturer.

You may want to try something like this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814144303

If you want a TV tuner, I'd get a dedicated TV tuner card, not a TV tuner/video card combo.

12/17/2006 1:44:14 PM

I can't speak for PCI-e...

but I have run 3 monitors + a tv off of an Nvidia fx5600agp and an Mx4000pci card and using ultramon with no problems whatsoever...

it was as simple as, open computer, place PCI card in, load softward, plug in monitors, profit.

You can't mix vendors though, the first time I tried to use an ATI pci card and it could only mirror the other monitor it couldn't run on its own. I contacted the MFG and they said the drivers are totally different and you just can't do that... so same brand works for older stuff... dunno why it wouldn't for newer...

12/17/2006 2:20:19 PM

I already have 2 tv tuners... hdtv and standard, which is partially why I want to be able to run my tv off of it. I would like to be able to use my dvr programs and eventually windows vista.

I currently use ultramon with my 2 monitors, but would it just extend my desktop to the tv? I guess I could disable the TV or monitors as I see fit, just seems like it would get old having to go through resetting the resolution and all every time.

12/17/2006 2:35:11 PM

^^ I had no luck runnning two ATI cards (AGP and PCI) together. It worked in the sense that I could use both monitors, but none of the card's features worked--couldn't watch TV on the tuner card and none of the graphics acceleration, 3D rendering, etc worked on the other card. The ATI driver install didn't like having the two cards and when I installed the drivers manually, they 'installed' but I had no joy actually using the cards.

^ That particular box I linked to in that last post won't extend your desktop. It takes a VGA input and provides a VGA output and S-Video output. The two outputs are identical and your computer won't even know that the box is there.

If I were you, I'd probably:

1) Try the VGA->TV converter and see how it works and looks. If it the quality sucks or is difficult to work with, I'd just send it back. I'd try this mostly because it'd be a cheap solution if it works.

2) Buy another card and see if it plays well with the current card. If it doesn't, send it back. Try to find a similar model and brand to what you already have. You might be screwed here though, since you have an ATI card and my and goFigure's experiences would seem to indicate that ATI cards may not play nice with others.

3) Buy a new dual-head card that also has a TV out.

If I had an HDTV and was interested in playing media from the computer to the TV, I'd probably buy a card that had an HDMI out.

12/17/2006 3:23:10 PM

heh, your personal experiences don't boast well for you...

if its true ATI sucks for this purpose I would offload the Ati card and get 2 nvidia cards... (don't mix, different low level shared drivers)

I'm running 1080p to a 37" lcd monitor through DVI and the picture is phenominal...

reason being, I replaced 3 17" crt's + TV with 1 37" lcd that doubles as my TV, (and for xbox 360) and my computer monitor all in one... wouldn't recommend it with a 720p on anything >32" though... it would start looking stretched, but not the case with 1080p

+ tv in next house...

to



I should probably add, that I sometimes miss having the 1200x4800 resolution, and if I start having a lot of projects in gradschool I'll probably buy a 15" LCD to streamline multitasking... but for what I'm using it for right now... its wonderful

[Edited on December 17, 2006 at 3:50 PM. Reason : miss 1200x4800 at times... but makes a much better TV than a 17" crt...]

12/17/2006 3:44:48 PM

Quote :

"heh, your personal experiences don't boast well for you..."

I BLAME ATI!!!!!!11!!1!

12/17/2006 4:03:04 PM

I am running 2 17" LCDs off of 2 DVI outputs from an ATI 800 GTO2 I believe (been a while since I purchased it). My LCD tv can take a VGA input or DVI from a DVI->HDMI cable. What's REALLY weird is that I found VGA is clearer than the DVI -> HDMI input... does this make sense? The colors looked really off with the hdmi.

12/17/2006 5:56:51 PM

^^^ wouldn't the letterz and shit be rediculously huge and pixelated since you have 37in cmoitor runnin 13xx/7xx or whatever those things top out at, sitting 3-4 feet from your eyes?

[Edited on December 17, 2006 at 6:11 PM. Reason : ^]

12/17/2006 6:11:29 PM

you would be correct... if I had a 720p monitor...

but I have a 1080p(1920x1080) monitor so nothings pixelated at all and I'm sitting 2' from it... and I don't pan my head(heh...) anymore than when I had 3 monitors... though like I said for productivity reasons I might miss the extra screenspace... but for its purpose (its really my TV that doubles as my monitor) its wonderful

12/17/2006 6:16:59 PM

I have had two nvidia cards in the same machine, two ati's in the same machine, and tried to mix the two vefore. You don't want to mix brands, and if you have the choice go with two nvidias. I have two ATI cards at work (a Radeon PCI and I think a FireGL or something as the primary.) The dual ATI cards definitely aren't supported and it was hard as hell to get them to work together, but they do. Long story short, as above, dump the ATI and get two nvidias - it'll work great.

12/17/2006 6:26:40 PM