Not sli or crossfire, but driving one monitor each; I have just ordered a new mb (sabertooth 990fx) because of sata iii connectors, but since it has many pci-e x16 slots, and I have another card from before, I thought it might boost performance of the computer (fx-6100); the cards are radeon hd 6450 and radeon hd 5450; the problem I have and wish solved is this; with just the 6450 card - when firefox is opened on my main monitor with some tabs that use graphics and my secondary monitor is playing hd video, the video is stuttering; it doesn't stutter when only one monitor is being used no matter what the combination of software... Any help is wellcome!

 

I... don't think that's possible.

What app do you use to play video? Video details? (codec, res, br, etc)

 

Here's a guy who says he's tried it and it should be possible:

 

I have two graphics cards. They're exactly the same model. One drives 2 screens, the other drives 1 screen. never had a problem.

I agree that more info on the video (is it on any video file), video player, codec, etc could help. There is also a chance that the hardware is simply not compatible? I remember that the guy who engineered my machine said that some combinations of different graphic cards are possible, but they had to have some specific thing / compatibility in common - sorry, I don't remember more. I'm not a big techie, hence why I get someone to build them for me :p

Anyway, would you have more details please? Maybe someone here can help.

 

The player I use is mpc from k-lite, and it has problems with all video files. Also tv through a tv card. But that is not relevant; the graphic card is simply weak, so I thought... these two cards are similar; they use the same driver etc. I will try it and report - promise. There is no other way to know anyway. Demon you are always helpful - thanks! - your reply will make me try it out of spite!

 

Btw, I didn't try two cards - new mb is yet to arrive! I am asking for input on 'should I try it at all?', the stuttering is because of the weakness of the cheap graphics; but I don't want much heat in my case; the cpu is oc'ed and I can't stand videogames anyway - the only thing I need from the graphics is to run two monitors simultaneously.

 

All good mate... Have you tried a process of elimination?
- try the same file with a different player (i.e. native software, VLC, WMP, Films&TV, etc)
- try a different file with the same player (different formats i.e. mkv, avi, mov, mp4, etc)
- try running the video player natively on each screen (believe me, it sounds stupid, but I have found this to be different)
- try running the software as an administrator (again, stupid, but sometimes works)

I am no expert, but something tells me it could be a codec thing..

 

2 cards driving 2 monitors.. short: I think you can. But I would advice against it - it can give you headache. And I don't know why would such setup give you any performance boost. I was working on a system /w 2 Tesla cards (only for calc.) but it was the 3rd - Quadro driving the monitors. Even setups like this are mainly for 3d renderings..

I would agree with these. Recently I downloaded a video from YT: Robin Schulz - Sugar (feat. Francesco Yates) mkv@1080p. It stutters in VLC. Tried xx different settings. And VLC usually.. just works. Then I downloaded PotPlayer (was an advice) and yp, it plays smoothly.

Good luck with your setup

 

The stuttering is constant not related to certain videos; but it can get better if I let it 'buffer up' - it is without a doubt caused by weak graphics.

Why wouldn't it? each would use all its power to process what is on the screen; but how would windows organize this - I am not sure... I have hardware acceleration and rendering enabled wherever possible - it doesn't make much of a difference compared to software rendering; it would appear the graphics cannot handle two monitors regardless of rendering; or maybe my cpu is also too slow. Like I said - I will try it and report what happens!