Dual monitor on two different gfx cards?

[Harry Gray]

I currently have a GTX 970 on a single monitor setup but I was thinking of also plugging my old GT 640 in and connecting a second smaller monitor to it.
As long as my CPU/PSU could handle it do you think it would work?
Thanks

 

[boosted1g]

It would work, but why? You can just run a second monitor from the 970 just fine.
If you only have VGA on the second monitor that could be an issue. But HDMI/DVI is completely compatible and most DisplayPort will actually support DP-HDMI or DP-DVI cables just fine.

 

[Harry Gray]

It would work, but why? You can just run a second monitor from the 970 just fine.
If you only have VGA on the second monitor that could be an issue. But HDMI/DVI is completely compatible and most DisplayPort will actually support DP-HDMI or DP-DVI cables just fine.

Ah okay, thanks for the help.
I wasn't too sure about running them just off the 970 because I didn't really want to tie it up with the second monitor, my plan was that the 970 would just be working on my games and the 640 would just be for any extra web browsing or light stuff like that

 

[boosted1g]

Unless your primary monitor is a 1440p running high refresh rate then you are not pushing the 970 hard enough for the minor minor extra load a display monitor will have.

 

[Karadjgne]

I run dual 24" 1080p monitors of a gtx660ti without an issue. In nvidia control panel you set the monitors as extended, so in Windows it's like having 1 giant wide monitor, but there is still a primary and secondary. The primary will turn on during boot up and the second at windows start. This is a bios thing, you'll need to set for dual monitors there first. After windows starts, you can choose which monitor is primary and which is secondary. With this, during games in full screen mode, it'll only use the primary monitor for the game, you'll need to alt-tab to switch to the mouse on the second monitor. Then alt-tab back to the game.
You won't make a dent in the 970's performance running dual monitors.

The only real reason to run the 640 in tandem with the 970 would be for a dedicated physX card, but considering the discrepancy between a 970 and a 640, you'd get better results without it, doesn't require a jumbo psu, and you'll not have the extra heat or noise generated by a second card