Is it possible to use ATI & nVidia?

[OrbitzXT]

Right now I have this motherboard, with a 4870X2 in the PCI-E 16x slot. There is also a PCI-E 4x slot currently unused. I was wondering if it's at all possible to put an nVidia card into the other PCI-E 4x slot to use for some games? Virtually all of my games work well with the 4870X2, but there are two where I'd much prefer an nVidia card, just because ATI driver support is horrible (Darkfall and FFXI).

Switching out cards back and forth doesn't seem feasible, I play a decent amount of Starcraft 2 right now also which I want my ATI card powering. I don't expect or want the cards to work together or anything, I kind of wish there was a way I could have both plugged in, and choose which one I want to use upon booting up. Is such a thing at all possible or not?

[Indra EMC]

Originally Posted by OrbitzXT

Right now I have this motherboard, with a 4870X2 in the PCI-E 16x slot. There is also a PCI-E 4x slot currently unused. I was wondering if it's at all possible to put an nVidia card into the other PCI-E 4x slot to use for some games? Virtually all of my games work well with the 4870X2, but there are two where I'd much prefer an nVidia card, just because ATI driver support is horrible (Darkfall and FFXI).

Switching out cards back and forth doesn't seem feasible, I play a decent amount of Starcraft 2 right now also which I want my ATI card powering. I don't expect or want the cards to work together or anything, I kind of wish there was a way I could have both plugged in, and choose which one I want to use upon booting up. Is such a thing at all possible or not?

if you means "Using ATI Card as primary GPU and Nvidia Card as Physx" you CAN do it, just type "Nvidia Physx Ati Mod" in Google searchbox.

but if you want to ATI and Nvidia Card together in single system, you also CAN do that in Windows 7.

just plug them, install both drivers, and when you want to use ATI card, plug your monitor cables to ATI port conversely.

[OrbitzXT]

That's interesting, I didn't know you could do that. Basically, I have the ATI 4870X2 which runs extremely well for most games I play...but as I said there are two that really just don't function well with ATI cards in general. So I wanted an nVidia card to play those, I actually ordered a GTX 260 tonight.

I have a performance question now that I know I can keep both plugged in. My motherboard that I linked in my first post says it has a PCI-E 16x and a second 4x slot. Let's say hypothetically I have the 4870X2 in the first 16X slot, and the GTX 260 in the 4x slot. Since they're not being used at the same time, can the GTX 260 in the 4x slot function at 16x speeds since no SLI or Crossfire is going on? Or is that slot 4x only regardless of any other circumstances?

Lastly, if the GTX 260 is destined to run at PCI-E 4x, what kind of impact will that have on it's performance? Will it literally be 1/4th the performance as the same card running in a 16x slot?

Edit: Also a power related question, will both cards be drawing power at the same time being setup in this way? Or do they only draw power when the monitor cable is connected and they're being used?

[Indra EMC]

Originally Posted by OrbitzXT

That's interesting, I didn't know you could do that. Basically, I have the ATI 4870X2 which runs extremely well for most games I play...but as I said there are two that really just don't function well with ATI cards in general. So I wanted an nVidia card to play those, I actually ordered a GTX 260 tonight.

I have a performance question now that I know I can keep both plugged in. My motherboard that I linked in my first post says it has a PCI-E 16x and a second 4x slot. Let's say hypothetically I have the 4870X2 in the first 16X slot, and the GTX 260 in the 4x slot. Since they're not being used at the same time, can the GTX 260 in the 4x slot function at 16x speeds since no SLI or Crossfire is going on? Or is that slot 4x only regardless of any other circumstances?

Lastly, if the GTX 260 is destined to run at PCI-E 4x, what kind of impact will that have on it's performance? Will it literally be 1/4th the performance as the same card running in a 16x slot?

Edit: Also a power related question, will both cards be drawing power at the same time being setup in this way? Or do they only draw power when the monitor cable is connected and they're being used?

NO, your GTX 260 will run with a full x16 bandwidth since you turn off your ATI Card (when you plug your monitor cables into your Nvidia Card) system automatically allocated all bandwidth to your GTX 260, because your 4870X2 are idling.

for power consumption ?

your 4870 X2 only consume a little of it, because that gpu are on idle state.