Dual Radeon 6870/Second Monitor Issues

mrpunny

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May 7, 2011
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Hey all,

So I am having some difficulty connecting a second monitor to my PC. Before I get into the nitty gritty details of the problem, I'll post my PC's specs. This is my first time posting PC specs so let me know if I miss something.

Model: Alienware Aurora R3
Processor: Intel(R) Core i7-2600K CPU @ 3.40 GHz
RAM: 8.00 GB
OS: Windows 8 Pro 64-bit
Graphics: Dual AMD Radeon 6870 Graphics Crossfire Enabled

Okay so here's the problem. I'd like to connect two monitors to my computer. They are both HDMI monitors, and since each 6870 card only has 1 HDMI port, I must connect one to each of them. This is where I noticed the problem. When I connect either of my monitors to the HDMI port on the second graphics card, the monitor cannot be detected.

I have checked under device managers and made sure that both of my graphics cards are detected, and indeed under Display Adapters there are two iterations of an "AMD Radeon HD 6800 Series".

I also used a third monitor with DVI-input to troubleshoot the second card and it is in fact the entire card that won't respond and not just HDMI port itself. The third monitor does work alongside my monitor when plugged into the DVI port on the first card.

The last thing that I think I should mention is that I downloaded the latest update for the drivers for my graphics card, so those are up to date.

So yeah, please help me get this monitor working. Any advice is extremely appreciated as a second monitor is very important to my workflow.

Thanks to all responses in advance!

Regards,
Gustavo
 
Solution
yes BUT and this is a big BUT you would get 0 preformance benifit as the second one would basicly be nothing more then a overpiced display adapter

mrpunny

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May 7, 2011
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Ah! I was not aware of this! It seemed logical to me that using two cards meant being able to use the ports on two cards, but I guess not. Thanks for the tip! I'll be sure to pick up one of those cables you mentioned.

But just out of curiosity, is this because they are connected via CrossFire? Like, if I didn't have them bridged, could I theoretically use both cards independently and thereby use ports on both cards? (I apologize if this question is "noob"-ish but I am still a novice in the realm of computer internals.)