Istalling two graphic cards on a GA-790XT-USB3

[erangi]

I have a GA-790XT-USB3 based PC. My current graphic card is a GeForce 8400GS based. I'd like to connect my PC to my (old CRT) TV, so I've bought another graphic card (GeForce 9300 based) with an S-Video output. Both cards use PCI Express. My question is this: can I simply insert the new card next to the old one, having the old one connected to my monitor and the new connected to my TV? Is there any special hardware configuration that should be taken care of (bios, jumpers, whatever)?

The graphic card manual says the old one should be removed before inserting the new one, but I doubt this is really necessary. So I guess people who know the motherboard will probably be more helpful than the card's manual.

If it matters, my OS is x64 Win7.

[absic]

Hi there,

Well, my initial response to your question was to say no, it won't work and you have to have 2 cards of the same type but, after a bit of digging I came across this article at Tom's Hardware: http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/201978-15-unmatched-cards-mobo-config

It seems that the answer is yes, you can leave your original card in place and add your 2nd one, the main catch is that you can not use SLI mode. It is also important to note that both cards will display the same image, so you will have to extend your desktop once you are in windows.

If you are hoping to watch TV and use your PC for other things at the same time by adding the 2nd card then the answer is no, you won't be able to do that.

[Dark Mantis]

Yes you are quite right absic, there is no reason why the OP can't have a second graphics card in the board(not connected in SLI) for an extra output.

[absic]

The only real problem is if the user thinks they can use the two cards independently, one to watch TV the other to use for normal computing.

[Dark Mantis]

Yes I did note that you clearly stated that. As long as he doesn't have any unreasonable objectives he should be ok.

[erangi]

Well, I can't see my TV's screen when sitting in front of the computer and vice versa, so having them display the same thing is actually what I need. And as for SLI, the most graphic-intensive software I use is Windows, so I don't really need a lot of horse power (hence the cheap cards).

Coming to think of it now, if both cards show the same thing, I might have resolution issues, as my TV has a much lower resolution than my monitor. But I can make do with having to lower the resolution when watching TV, so that won't be such big an issue.

[absic]

You should be able to set the resolution independently for each monitor so hopefully it won't be too much of a problem.