thoughts about using a 8800 GT as dual head vs adding a second card.

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thoughts about using a 8800 GT as dual head vs adding a second card.

Hi, I just added a 20" monitor to my system. (had a 23" on a 8800 GT)

Rather than run the 20" on the second port on the 8800 GT, for now I chose to try running it on a 7300 GT in slot 4. That card is running at only x8, not x16 and is rather close to the HD...

I'm wondering what others think of using the second port on the 8800 GT vs the extra 7300 GT. If I did how much could it effect the 3D performance on the main 23" display? Is there a good way to test this?

Side note... I'm also wondering if after 10.6 comes out, and apps start to use OpenCL, will it be good to have the 2nd video card for a little extra OpenCL kick...

Mac Pro Dual 2.66, Mac OS X (10.5.6)

Posted on May 11, 2009 9:09 PM

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Answer 1

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Malcolm Rayfield

Level 7

28,123 points

May 11, 2009 9:39 PM in response to Steven Dodds

If you have only two displays, remove the 7300 GT and use the two ports on the 8800 GT. That way,m the graphics processor can handle mirroring, dragging windows between displays, and windows that span displays. Also, some applications will not run at full speed when there are multiple graphics cards, even if it is only using one display, because the application can't be sure you won't drag a window across displays.

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Answer 2

Steven Dodds Author

Level 1

79 points

Sep 27, 2009 5:50 PM in response to Steven Dodds

The new question now is, will it be an advantage to have extra video cards in the system even if they don't have a monitor attached, when running Snow Leopard now. but that is a different topic...

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