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Two video cards in one system...

TechLarry

TechLarry

RIP [H] Brother - June 1, 2022
Joined
Aug 9, 2005
Messages
30,481
I've got a main desktop and a gaming machine. The desktop is damn near as powerful as the gaming machine these days, and I really don't need to have two up and running, so Im thinking of taking the best parts and creating one uber machine for everything. Maybe dual boot, probably not.

The gaming machine has a 290x in it, and the workstation has a 7970.

Can I use both cards in the machine at once (not paired up, but as single cards) ? Either card is more than fast enough for the games I run (iRacing and World of Warships), so I'd like to just irradiate the hell out of myself with about 6 monitors connected at once. I have a use for every one of them.

Does this present any issues?
 
I've run an HD4850 and an HD4650 together before, the HD4850 driving my gaming monitor and the HD4650 running the other two and it was fine.
 
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Cool. That's what I wanna hear.

There was a time where running two of anything (sound cards, video cards, etc...) drove a pc nuts. That was before IRQ sharing though :)
 
Why don't you just use a KVM and run both computers using one monitor, mouse and keyboard?

I'm currently doing that with my 2 computers and 2 monitors (4K and 1080P)
 
Since you mention dual boot... I'm using the IGP and not a 2nd discrete GPU but I have Linux as my main OS on the IGP and a Windows VM (via KVM) with a 970 dedicated to it (IOMMU passthrough) for gaming and the odd bit of Windows only software. No dual booting required and I recently managed to get suspend working properly as well, simple change but I hadn't put in the time. Synergy for keyboard/mouse sharing and a simple script to throw the actual hardware at the Windows VM for when Synergy doesn't cut it.
 
I'm pretty sure the 7970 is basically a 290x (or vice versa). If you hate yourself enough / are willing to put the time in dicking around with VBIOS editing and the like you might even get them to play nice in Crossfire. Who knows.
 
silent-circuit said:
I'm pretty sure the 7970 is basically a 290x (or vice versa). If you hate yourself enough / are willing to put the time in dicking around with VBIOS editing and the like you might even get them to play nice in Crossfire. Who knows.
Click to expand...
I think you meant 280x ;)
 
psy81 said:
Why don't you just use a KVM and run both computers using one monitor, mouse and keyboard?

I'm currently doing that with my 2 computers and 2 monitors (4K and 1080P)
Click to expand...
Or run both computers side-by-side, and use Synergy+ to share one mouse and keyboard to both =) I did that for a long while, but now my gaming PC just is my only PC and that's just fine.
 
silent-circuit said:
I'm pretty sure the 7970 is basically a 290x (or vice versa). If you hate yourself enough / are willing to put the time in dicking around with VBIOS editing and the like you might even get them to play nice in Crossfire. Who knows.
Click to expand...

Those are two different generations of gpu, they will not crossfire. About the only thing one could hope for is to use Multi Adapter under directx 12. Only Ashes has MA enabled iirc.

TechLarry said:
Can I use both cards in the machine at once (not paired up, but as single cards) ? Either card is more than fast enough for the games I run (iRacing and World of Warships), so I'd like to just irradiate the hell out of myself with about 6 monitors connected at once. I have a use for every one of them.

Does this present any issues?
Click to expand...

You can use both but not at the same time in games. Technically you don't even need the 7970, just use the 290x. However if you want to run a separate gpu dedicated to the 2nd monitor with the 7970 that has advantages too. It has to do with power states, and running a 2nd dedicated card for the 2nd monitor will ensure that while gaming, any work done on the 2nd monitor will not affect the power state of the 290x.
 
psy81 said:
Why don't you just use a KVM and run both computers using one monitor, mouse and keyboard?

I'm currently doing that with my 2 computers and 2 monitors (4K and 1080P)
Click to expand...

That just complicates further what I'm trying to simplify. I have much more of a need for many displays than multiple machines.
 
acquacow said:
Or run both computers side-by-side, and use Synergy+ to share one mouse and keyboard to both =) I did that for a long while, but now my gaming PC just is my only PC and that's just fine.
Click to expand...
I've tried synergy in the past and never got it to work right. I suspect it was corporate security software.
 
thesmokingman said:
Those are two different generations of gpu, they will not crossfire. About the only thing one could hope for is to use Multi Adapter under directx 12. Only Ashes has MA enabled iirc.


The 32" 2k monitor will connect to the 290x and be the gaming card.

Each card will only drive 3 monitors and I have 6 I want to connect.


You can use both but not at the same time in games. Technically you don't even need the 7970, just use the 290x. However if you want to run a separate gpu dedicated to the 2nd monitor with the 7970 that has advantages too. It has to do with power states, and running a 2nd dedicated card for the 2nd monitor will ensure that while gaming, any work done on the 2nd monitor will not affect the power state of the 290x.
Click to expand...
 
For what it sounds like the OP wants to do, this will probably work fine. A newer, but less powerful card might make more sense, in lieu of the 290X, though.
 
Why not use the second PC to capture your iRacing footage in high quality? Here is a guide without having to use a capture card. When he says NVENC, just substitute AMD VCE in your mind. ;)

 
RazorWind said:
For what it sounds like the OP wants to do, this will probably work fine. A newer, but less powerful card might make more sense, in lieu of the 290X, though.
Click to expand...

I already have it, so it's the cheapest solution :)
 
cageymaru said:
Why not use the second PC to capture your iRacing footage in high quality? Here is a guide without having to use a capture card. When he says NVENC, just substitute AMD VCE in your mind. ;)

Click to expand...


Interesting idea :)
 
RazorWind said:
Maybe, but what kind of power supply do you have in the receiving machine?

You need a hoss of a PSU to hold up two early GCN cards like that.
Click to expand...

All my PS are 800 watt plus. I believe the one in the workstation is a 900.
 
Boggy101 said:
I don't know if anything like this works, but it'd be super cool if it did.
Click to expand...

Do you think we like, hang around and make shit up around here?

In summary... no. If you heard it here first from someone with more than a couple thousand posts not named Comixbooks (no relation) it's basically a sure thing. We more or less know what we're doing.
 
Give me a break. I'm typing out responses left and right trying to hit 100 messages dang it.
 
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