PCI-X 8x - What will work

[thisisglen]

I have an nforce 4 SLI board and I previously had two 6600GT's not in SLI mode, running seperatly each with dual DVI to run 3 flat panels.

Now I have a 7800GTX instead (Which runs two of the displays) and I'm looking for a card that will work in the other PCI-E lane (Both of which are limited to 8x, since dual video card mode is enabled) The second card would only be to drive the 3rd display in windows (no games) so I bought and tried an x300, it didn't work.. it only functions when in single card mode with all PCI-E lanes enabled.

Does anyone know what other card I could run that will definantly work in a PCI-E 16 slot where only 8x is enabled since the 16 lanes are shared between the two connectors? I hope I explained that well enough.

Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[OldBoy]

just fyi it's PCI-E and not PCI-X They're completely different things. Any PCI-E video card will work in the second slot.

 

[thisisglen]

just fyi it's PCI-E and not PCI-X They're completely different things. Any PCI-E video card will work in the second slot.

Opps.. sorry about that.. Now I tried that radeon X300, because I too thought that any card would work but it didn't. It doesn't even get detected in windows. It did however work perfectly fine when I put the motherboard in single video card mode and put it in slot 1...

Have you had experience using a different second card? Maybe I just have to try a low end geforce instead?

 

[OldBoy]

What motherboard do you have?

 

[thisisglen]

I've got an Asus A8N-SLI..

 

[OldBoy]

Sounds like a BIOS issue either with the ATI card, mobo, or 7800. Best guess would be to try an nvidia card as the second card and see if that solves the issue. Or contact Asus and pray that they fix it (don't count on any prompt fixing though) Sorry couldn't be of more help.

 

[thisisglen]

Thanks for your help. I'll try an nvidia card when I can.. I know a 6600GT works at the same time as the 7800GTX but I was hoping to just buy something cheap with a passive heatsink.. Every card I try though has a 15% restocking fee :/ So I'm still hoping someone out there could try it if they have the cards and tell me what works..

motherboard BIOS version is the latest from ASUS (1.11 i think)

 

[Elios]

get a 6200 there dirt cheap and PCI-e
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814125178

 

[PaintballaXX]

Is buying a cheap pci card an option? u can save room to go sli later, and i dont think ull have the problems u r having now

 

[thisisglen]

I'm thinking about trying a 6200, I just want to make sure that it'll work before I buy one. PCI (non-express) is not really an option because I'm using a modified mac G5 case and It only has 4 open slots on the back which line up with only the two 16x and the two 1x PCI-E lanes.

If anyone has a 6200 that they can test on an A8N-SLI with dual video card mode enabled that would instil a lot more confidence for me to go and buy one of these cards, I'm just not up for paying another restocking fee should I have to return it..

 

[Elios]

I'm thinking about trying a 6200, I just want to make sure that it'll work before I buy one. PCI (non-express) is not really an option because I'm using a modified mac G5 case and It only has 4 open slots on the back which line up with only the two 16x and the two 1x PCI-E lanes.

If anyone has a 6200 that they can test on an A8N-SLI with dual video card mode enabled that would instil a lot more confidence for me to go and buy one of these cards, I'm just not up for paying another restocking fee should I have to return it..

well get one from bestbut if it doesnt work take it back no money lost

 

[thisisglen]

I live in australia. I have very few options in terms of computer stores..

 

[Lsv]

i thought people would run one card at 16x and the other at 1x (in the pci-e 16x lane)