Quote Originally Posted by 'Klamor',index.php?page=Thread&postID=99649#post99 649
Quote Originally Posted by '-silencer-',index.php?page=Thread&postID=98162#post98162
You can use different brands (AMD & nVidia) videocards, and you can also use different models of the same brand (8800GTX & 9600GT). However, if you use two of the same, you have to use the same drivers - like nVidia 172.69. You *cannot* use SLI/Crossfire with different brands, but most people hooking up multiple monitors with multiple videocards shouldn't be thinking about SLI anyway.
trying not to lead the thread away from it's topic, but could you explain this a little more? i tried to install an extra video card so i could run an additional monitor, but i can't set it up >_>

i have a geforce 8600 GT as my original video card, and the other one is a geforce 4000 MX.... the card get's signal from the mobo as the monitor tells me, but i can't figure out how to display anything if you could PM me or reply it would be much appreciated
I'm not too familiar with drivers for the 4000 MX, but for this to work with same-brand cards, BOTH videocards have to be able to use the same drivers. That means the nVidia drivers your 8600GT uses (current geforce drivers work) need to work with your 4000 MX. If the 4000 MX doesn't work with the current drivers, you'll need to either rollback to a driver version that both cards do run with, or get a second newer card that works with recent drivers, like a 7300, 8200, or another 8600GT.
To actually enable both videocards once you've verified you can use either independently with the current drivers, you just need to set your display settings to view both monitors. It's been around 6 months since I've done this, but the setting is either in the windows display settings, or the nvidia control panel. Remember to make sure your monitor resolution settings are valid if you're testing the videocards with monitors. The hard part is finding a driver that works for both videocards. When reformatting my old media server last weekend, even though the current nVidia drivers say they worked with my old 6800GT, I had to go back to an archived version (forceware 90.7x) to get drivers that actually worked.