dual video cards?

[bpstrat63]

I recently bought a Leadtek USB Winfast for capture. I haven't been impressed with the results. I would like to know if I added a PCI cature card with hardware capture if it would cause problems with the FX5600 card that is now in my AGP slot. I use the AGP card for gaming. CAn I run both cards and select which is currently primary from winxp?
Thanx

[Capmaster]

Do it at extreme risk. Mixing video cards is usually not a good idea.

I'm sure someone has done it and has succeeded, but I don't recommend it. I would try for a good card that does both and remove the other card.

[bunyip]

Well I think you mean you will be just installing a capture-only card not a second video card.
But either way WinXP handles these OK.

I have one XP box running a combined Video/capture AGP card as the primary display and a plain PCI Video card running a secondary display - no problems - full fuctionality.

On another XP box I have an FX5900 (with VIVO) AGP card with a PCI HDTV capture card as another multimedia controller (not a second video) which is similar to what you want to do, both capture independantly and operate separately without conflict.

I'd say go ahead, it should be OK.

[bpstrat63]

Thanks for the replies and yes I meant both cards installed at the same time.

[Ziffelpig]

I have an All in Wonder 7500 (AGP) and a Hauppage PVR250(PCI) running on a P4 with an ASRock MB with no problems.
Add in Beyond TV 3.5 with it's dual tuner support and you have a very reliable PVR.

[bunyip]

Hi bpstrat63,

Just to clarify what we mean when we say 'Second Video Card' and Second card which is a 'Capture Card' - we do mean that you will have 2 cards in the PC in both cases.

A second "video" card means that you will have two screens and your desktop will either be cloned to the second screen or expanded to stretch across the two screens.

A second card which is just a 'capture device' means that you still only have one screen and the capture card uses your FX5600 as its display driver.

What you don't want to do is install a second Video card - PCI - (two Screens) and have the second card do capturing - this is where Windows can get into trouble.

[Capmaster]

Hi bpstrat63,

Just to clarify what we mean when we say 'Second Video Card' and Second card which is a 'Capture Card' - we do mean that you will have 2 cards in the PC in both cases.

A second "video" card means that you will have two screens and your desktop will either be cloned to the second screen or expanded to stretch across the two screens.

A second card which is just a 'capture device' means that you still only have one screen and the capture card uses your FX5600 as its display driver.

What you don't want to do is install a second Video card - PCI - (two Screens) and have the second card do capturing - this is where Windows can get into trouble.

From his first post:

if I added a PCI cature card with hardware capture if it would cause problems with the FX5600 card that is now in my AGP slot

It sounds like he means buying a combo graphics/capture card, since those are popular, and he folllows that up with:

CAn I run both cards and select which is currently primary from winxp?

He mentions selecting which one is "primary" so I think he means having two graphics cards, one with capture and one without. Otherwise there would be no need to select one or the other.

If it's a combo card, that's where he might get into trouble. If he means a strictly-capture PCI card, there should be no problem.

bpstrat63?

[bpstrat63]

Yes, I want to use a second card on the PCI interface for capturing only without removing the one in the AGP slot (which doesn't support Video in). I only have one monitor and was hoping I could simply plug the monitor into the card I choose and tell the operating system. But I hear that on bootup the PCI card would always override the gaming card. My fx5600 is fairly new is the reason I haven't simply bought a new fast graphics card with vivo and TV tuner. Is there one card that does both very well?

[bunyip]

But I hear that on bootup the PCI card would always override the gaming card.

No that's not true, your AGP card will be the primary display (unless you manually configure windows to set it to a secondary display).
While there are plenty of the good VIVO cards around I would not throw away your FX5600, just add a Capture card (remember it's not a second video card - it's just a capture device).

You won't need to do any switching it will always be ready to capture and you won't see any difference in your system other than having a new option to capture video.

[tdan]

Tons of confusion

When I was trying to figure out my multi monitor setup, I found this site to be extremely helpful:

http://www.realtimesoft.com/multimon/