Dual Graphics Cards.

R

rambat

New Member
Running Windows Vista Ult and i installed a second graphics card to run 3 monitors.
The problem is device manager doesn't show the second installed graphics card.

My System:

E6850
GA-x38-DQ6 MoBo
4Gb ram

8800 Ultra
7600GT (This is the card i added)

Basically it recognizes the 8800 Ultra only. I have read that to use dual cards with Vista they need to use the same drivers (169.25), which they do. Even if that wasn't the case shouldn't the graphics card show in device manager regardless?

Is there something about Vista and dual graphics that i am missing?

The 7600GT functions fine, (tested in another computer) so i am at a loss here.

Any suggestions?

Thanks
 
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

just a random thought... very n00bish but if you linked them as a pair (SLI) then disconnect them from each other

you could also try forcing the 2nd g-card by adding new hardware and manually giving it the driver
 

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  • Manufacturer/Model
    Me :P
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    Core 2 Quad Q6600
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    Abit IN9 32X MAX
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    8 GB OCZ PC2-6400 nVIDIA SLI-Ready Edition (4X2GB)
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    AMP! GeForce GTX 260² 896MB 448-bit GDDR3 (650MHz/2100MHz
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    17" Fujitsu siemens TFT + 32" LG HD LCD TV
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    Antec 900
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    Stock + Antec 900 case fans
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    Logitech G15 (full layout)
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    Logitech MX Revolution
I'm running two 8600's and four monitors without any problems.

Have you tried just booting with just the 7600 in?
 

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System One System Two

  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Workstation
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    doofenshmirtz evil incorporated
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    Ryzen 9 5950X
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    Asus ROG Crosshair VIII Formula
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    Corsair Vengeance RGB PRO Black 64GB (4x16GB) 3600MHz AMD Ryzen Tuned DDR4
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    ASUS AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT 16GB ROG Strix LC OC
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    Creative
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    3 x27" Dell U2724D & 1 x 34" Dell U3415W
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    Samsung 980 Pro 1TB M.2 2280 PCI-e 4.0 x4 NVMe Solid State
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    1500W ThermalTake Toughpower
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    ThermalTake Level 10 GT
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    Logitech Performance MX
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    windows 10
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    Surface Pro 3
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    1.9GHz Intel Core i5-4300U (dual-core, 3MB cache, up to 2.9GHz with Turbo Boost)
    Memory
    4GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Intel HD Graphics 4400
    Monitor(s) Displays
    12" Multi Touch
    Screen Resolution
    2160 x 144
    Hard Drives
    128GB
    Mouse
    Logitech
    Keyboard
    yes
    Internet Speed
    350 Mb/s
As far as i remember, the GA-x38-DQ6 MoBo did not support SLI, just Crossfire.
Maybe it depends of your date of purchase, just check on manufacturer's web site.
 

My Computer

System One

z3r010 said:
I'm running two 8600's and four monitors without any problems.

Have you tried just booting with just the 7600 in?
Click to expand...

Not yet, but i do know it works.

sidney1st said:
As far as i remember, the GA-x38-DQ6 MoBo did not support SLI, just Crossfire.
Maybe it depends of your date of purchase, just check on manufacturer's web site.
Click to expand...

Even if it is, i don't plan on putting them in SLI. Do you require an SLI board to use 2 nVidia cards?
 

My Computer

System One

rambat said:
Even if it is, i don't plan on putting them in SLI. Do you require an SLI board to use 2 nVidia cards?
Click to expand...

I am not a mobo expert, but i think that a single NVidia card will work in an ATI mobo and a single ATI card will work in a NVidia SLI board. (i may be wrong, if a mobo expert reads this thread, pls confirm)
 

My Computer

System One

i'm not real sure but i think i read somewhere that the cards have to be the same.
like with the (running two 8600's) without any problems.
scrooge
 

My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 / 3.00
    Motherboard
    ASUS P5K-E/WIFI-AP LGA 775 Int
    Memory
    G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB)
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    SAPPHIRE 100225L Radeon HD 387
    Hard Drives
    1 x 1tb western digital
    4 x 250 western digital
    2 x 160 western digital
    1 x 320 western digital
scrooge said:
i'm not real sure but i think i read somewhere that the cards have to be the same.
like with the (running two 8600's) without any problems.
scrooge
Click to expand...

The cards have to be the same to run SLI or CrossFire and then take advantage of the respective technology.
But you may use different cards in some mobos just to run for example 3 or 4 monitors.
The actual problem is that the X38 (intel i think) does allow to crossfire (ATI) or use only 1 Nvidia graphics card.
So using SLI/CrossFire is totally different that using 2 differen cards.
 

My Computer

System One

sidney1st said:
scrooge said:
i'm not real sure but i think i read somewhere that the cards have to be the same.
like with the (running two 8600's) without any problems.
scrooge
Click to expand...

The cards have to be the same to run SLI or CrossFire and then take advantage of the respective technology.
But you may use different cards in some mobos just to run for example 3 or 4 monitors.
The actual problem is that the X38 (intel i think) does allow to crossfire (ATI) or use only 1 Nvidia graphics card.
So using SLI/CrossFire is totally different that using 2 differen cards.
Click to expand...


I'm using two nvidia 8600 on a x38 with no problems.

Did you try the 7600 on it's own yet?
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Workstation
    Manufacturer/Model
    doofenshmirtz evil incorporated
    CPU
    Ryzen 9 5950X
    Motherboard
    Asus ROG Crosshair VIII Formula
    Memory
    Corsair Vengeance RGB PRO Black 64GB (4x16GB) 3600MHz AMD Ryzen Tuned DDR4
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT 16GB ROG Strix LC OC
    Sound Card
    Creative
    Monitor(s) Displays
    3 x27" Dell U2724D & 1 x 34" Dell U3415W
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 980 Pro 1TB M.2 2280 PCI-e 4.0 x4 NVMe Solid State
    Drive
    PSU
    1500W ThermalTake Toughpower
    Case
    ThermalTake Level 10 GT
    Cooling
    Enermax Liqtech 240
    Keyboard
    Surface Ergonomic.
    Mouse
    Logitech Performance MX
    Internet Speed
    350 Mb/s
    Other Info
    WinTV NovaTD
    HP CP1515n Color Laser
    Sony BD-5300S-0B Blu-ray Writer
    Microsoft LifeCam Cinema
    APC 750i Smart UPS
  • Operating System
    windows 10
    Manufacturer/Model
    Surface Pro 3
    CPU
    1.9GHz Intel Core i5-4300U (dual-core, 3MB cache, up to 2.9GHz with Turbo Boost)
    Memory
    4GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Intel HD Graphics 4400
    Monitor(s) Displays
    12" Multi Touch
    Screen Resolution
    2160 x 144
    Hard Drives
    128GB
    Mouse
    Logitech
    Keyboard
    yes
    Internet Speed
    350 Mb/s
scrooge said:
i'm not real sure but i think i read somewhere that the cards have to be the same.
like with the (running two 8600's) without any problems.
scrooge
Click to expand...

What he said. Everything I have read says the two cards need to be the same.
 

My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    Intel Core2Quad Q9450
    Motherboard
    nForce 790i Ultra SLI(evga)
    Memory
    8 GB DDR3 1333MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    2 e-GeForce 9800GX2(SLI mode)
    Hard Drives
    WD1500AHFD
    (Raptor 150 GB 10,000 RPM)

My Computers

System One System Two

  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Workstation
    Manufacturer/Model
    doofenshmirtz evil incorporated
    CPU
    Ryzen 9 5950X
    Motherboard
    Asus ROG Crosshair VIII Formula
    Memory
    Corsair Vengeance RGB PRO Black 64GB (4x16GB) 3600MHz AMD Ryzen Tuned DDR4
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT 16GB ROG Strix LC OC
    Sound Card
    Creative
    Monitor(s) Displays
    3 x27" Dell U2724D & 1 x 34" Dell U3415W
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 980 Pro 1TB M.2 2280 PCI-e 4.0 x4 NVMe Solid State
    Drive
    PSU
    1500W ThermalTake Toughpower
    Case
    ThermalTake Level 10 GT
    Cooling
    Enermax Liqtech 240
    Keyboard
    Surface Ergonomic.
    Mouse
    Logitech Performance MX
    Internet Speed
    350 Mb/s
    Other Info
    WinTV NovaTD
    HP CP1515n Color Laser
    Sony BD-5300S-0B Blu-ray Writer
    Microsoft LifeCam Cinema
    APC 750i Smart UPS
  • Operating System
    windows 10
    Manufacturer/Model
    Surface Pro 3
    CPU
    1.9GHz Intel Core i5-4300U (dual-core, 3MB cache, up to 2.9GHz with Turbo Boost)
    Memory
    4GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Intel HD Graphics 4400
    Monitor(s) Displays
    12" Multi Touch
    Screen Resolution
    2160 x 144
    Hard Drives
    128GB
    Mouse
    Logitech
    Keyboard
    yes
    Internet Speed
    350 Mb/s
I tested the 7600 by itself. Doesnt work. I get a long beep in either slot. But when i put the card into my old system, it works fine.

Just to be sure i also tested the 8800 in both slots, works fine.
 

My Computer

System One

Rambat,

Lookup the MB manual for BIOS Beep error codes you should find the cause there.

dmex

rambat said:
I tested the 7600 by itself. Doesnt work. I get a long beep in either slot. But when i put the card into my old system, it works fine.

Just to be sure i also tested the 8800 in both slots, works fine.
Click to expand...
 

My Computer

System One

dmex said:
Rambat,

Lookup the MB manual for BIOS Beep error codes you should find the cause there.

dmex

rambat said:
I tested the 7600 by itself. Doesnt work. I get a long beep in either slot. But when i put the card into my old system, it works fine.

Just to be sure i also tested the 8800 in both slots, works fine.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...


1 short: System boots successfully
2 short: CMOS setting error
1 long, 1 short: Memory or motherboard error
1 long, 2 short: Monitor or graphics card error
1 long, 3 short: Keyboard error
1 long, 9 short: BIOS ROM error
Continuous long beeps: Graphics card not inserted properly
Continuous short beeps: Power error
 

My Computer

System One

rambat said:
dmex said:
Rambat,

Lookup the MB manual for BIOS Beep error codes you should find the cause there.

dmex
Click to expand...


1 short: System boots successfully
2 short: CMOS setting error
1 long, 1 short: Memory or motherboard error
1 long, 2 short: Monitor or graphics card error
1 long, 3 short: Keyboard error
1 long, 9 short: BIOS ROM error
Continuous long beeps: Graphics card not inserted properly
Continuous short beeps: Power error
Click to expand...


Pins or the card might be fried?
 

My Computer

System One

Ok the best way to explain is that Nvidia wants you to update your video cards. I know this sounds bad but it is. Your 8XXX series video card is actually PciE 1.1 in which the PciE 2.0 slots are backwards compatible with. The 7XXX series video cards are PciE 1.0 and on alot of PciE 2.0 motherboards they don't work. It is also the same for videocardsThis is a very good explanation taken from UncleMacro on the video cards
"No. PCI-Express 1.0 is an older version of PCI-Express. There's 1.0, 1.1, and 2.0. All slots on a PCI-Express 1.0 motherboard including x1 slots and x16 slots are version 1.0. And all slots on a PCI-Express 2.0 motherboard are 2.0 The "x" number of the slot has nothing to do with the version of PCI-Express.

But there are exceptions. It gets more complicated because some motherboards with more than one x16 slot actually have different PCI-Express versions for each x16 slot. One x16 slot can be 1.0 while the other x16 slot is 1.1. Some PCI-Express hardware uses bridge chips which result in some slots using a different PCI-Express version than the main chipset on the motherboard."

the whole post can be found herePCI-E vs PCI-E 2.0 - Tech Support Forum

Nvidia knows about this problem and unfortunately their only response is to buy new compatible video cards. Also Fyi the only PciE 2 Nvidia cards are some of the 9XXX series you need to check before you purchase.
 

My Computer

System One

markso125 said:
Nvidia knows about this problem and unfortunately their only response is to buy new compatible video cards. Also Fyi the only PciE 2 Nvidia cards are some of the 9XXX series you need to check before you purchase.
Click to expand...

The 8800GT and the NEW 8800GTS (based on the G92) are PCIe 2.0 as well.
 

My Computer

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  • CPU
    Q9450 SLAWR
    Motherboard
    XFX 780i
    Memory
    8GB OCZ SLI 5-4-4-12@800
    Graphics Card(s)
    XFX 8800 GTX 768MB (2)
    Sound Card
    Auzen X-Fi Prelude / Logitech Z-5500 Digital 5.1
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung Syncmaster 214T
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    1600 x 1200
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    300GB VelociRaptor / 750GB / 500GB / 750GB
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    Antec 900
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