Running two different Nvidia chipsets?

[techienerd01]

So, currently I have sli set up on two MSI N460GTX Cyclone graphics cards, and I absolutely hate those cards, but I received them as a gift, so I figured I'd use them since I had no sli or radeon before then. Anyways, I recently just purchased an EVGA GTX560 with 2 gigabytes of RAM, and it only supports 2 monitors, and I have 3. My question here is, while I save up the $250 needed to get the second EVGA card, is is possible to combine one of the MSI cards in conjunction with the EVGA card so I can use all three of my screens, or will I have to continue dealing with the MSI cards until I get the MSI cards and let the EVGA cards collect dust? I'll list all the components in my home-built computer below:
Motherboard: ASUS Sabertooth 55i
CPU: Intel Core i3 540 (overclocked to 3.07 GHz)
Graphics Card: MSI N460GTX Cyclone (times 2! But they'll be replaced with 2 EVGA GTX 560 with 2 gigabytes of RAM)
RAM: G.Skill Ripjaws 8GB (2x4GB)+Kingston HyperX 8GB (2x4GB)
Power Supply: Raidmax RX-1000AE 1000 Watt
Hard Drive: Crucial M4 CT064MRSSD2 64GB SSD + another 3000 TB of space
Case: Cooler Master Storm Scout
Keyboard: Logitech G19
Monitors: 3 ASUS VE247H 23.6"

 

[geofelt]

No problem.

Nvidia uses a universal driver that will operate many different nvidia cards at the same time.

Let me assume that you are not trying triple monitor gaming.
If so,
I suggest you attach your gaming monitor to the GTX560, remove one of the MSI cards and attach the other two monitors to them.
You can then sell one of the msi cards. A $30 card will suffice for normal desktop work, so you might get one, and market the second msi card.

For what it is worth, I would look to kepler, selling the GTX560, for a single card upgrade instead of going sli.

 

[techienerd01]

Thanks Geofelt! I actually do use the Nvidia surround quite a bit, but if I can't use that, it really won't bother me that much at all. Just as long as I can use all three screens that I have, I'll be quite content.

 

[87ninefiveone]

Why not just keep the 460's in SLI until you get your second 560 Ti? They're faster than a single 560 Ti and they'll let you use the tripple monitor setup you want.

See here for benchmark comparison of 460 SLI vs. 560 Ti.

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/314?vs=330

Why do you hate the MSI cards so much? As I understand it most people rather like the Cyclone's because they're cool and quiet.

 

[techienerd01]

@87ninfiveone
I don't like them just because of all the hell they've put me through. It took me a couple of days just to get the driver to stop crashing long enough to do something on it. And even then, the driver still crashes quite frequently. They are cool and quiet unless I stress them out with intense stuff (rage makes those suckers heat up like crazy!) and as for the quietness, I would never know. I don't pay that much attention to the quietness of the fans because I'm always photoshopping and listening to music, or gaming and typically have the volume quite loud. Thanks for the advice though!