Mixing graphic cards

Hi all,
I am having a small problem with my machine - details:
Vista 32 bit Home - AGP Graphics card nVidia 7300GT 256 mB memory.

Until I installed Photoshop CS4 I was able to run the earlier PSs across two screens with no problem, but CS4 seems to be overloading the graphics card now, it frequently reports that PS has encountered a problem and has de-activated the advanced settings. However it will run correctly if I revert to a single monitor layout.

I have a PCI Express-1 slot free, but PCIE-1 cards are impossible to find now. Can I install a higher speed PCIE card in the -1 slot? Will it fit? Will I be able to run one monitor from the AGP card and the other from the PCIE card?

Recommendations gratefully accepted.

Roger

 

Thanks for answering Pete. Your card may be less powerful but it is a 16x card and mine is a PCI only. The original PCIe -1 cards were meant to speed up graphics, which they did, and the faster cards now available should still fit in the x1 slot I believe, and run at x1 speeds. I was hoping that an expert on PCIe cards would see the post and help me out.

I visit the Adobe forums regularly, and there are loads of problems being reported. I am sure that my card is at fault though, because it runs correctly when I only use one screen, but after a few minutes with two screens running CS4 reports that it has encountered a problem with the video driver and reverted to the basic settings. Running with the Open GL checked or unchecked makes no difference at all. It's annoying because I have been doing quite a bit of photo repairs/retouching using a Wacom pad, and the rotate image tool is a joy to use. The smooth zooming too. To make it more galling I have the same card in my Acer laptop, and it works there too but I haven't tried using an exterior screen there.
It has taken a lot of practice but now I find that CS4 is a big improvement over CS3 for me, especially with the On-image adjustments for curves and colours, and the much easier masking. Bridge is totally changed in my eyes, and is now a really useful image browser.
Different strokes for different folks!

Roger

 

Roger...your graphics card is probably 128-bit, find the specs for your 7300GT card.

your graphics card should be more than adequate.

X16 is a PCIe rating, it is not the bit rating. A "basic" graphics card should run it.

That's the hardware side, I will post back later with what I might know about CS.

Matt

 

Thanks for the reply Matt, but I don't know where you found the quote about "16-bit video card ". My 7300GT has 256 mb on board and meets all the requirements of Adobe, but as I said, if I run the second monitor for a while Photoshop reports a problem with the video driver and reverts to working without the enhancements from GPU acceleration. I have the latest driver.
My Asus mainboard is socket 939, quite rare now, and only has a PCIe x1 slot available.

I am handicapped by knowing nothing about PCIe cards, so my basic questions are:
Will a more recent PCIe card fit in the x1 slot and work at that speed?
Is it possible to run a monitor off each card if two are installed?

Roger

 

Bit refers to the buswidth. MB is the size of the memory. See Memory Size and Memory Interface here:
http://www.leadtek.com/usa/3d_graphic/specification.asp?pronameid=323&lineid=1&act=2

If the error relates to the drivers, if you get another card, unless it runs on the same drivers, you might double your problems. Your current video card should be able to handle what you are asking it do. Why do you think getting another graphics card will fix the problem when your current hardware should be able to do the job?

When I have worked on CS, I have seen many settings relating to manipulating the graphics. One of those settings may not work correctly on your dual monitor setup. If the drivers are a possible source, I would investigate those first. I might equate it to buying a second car because the first one has broken spark plug.

I know Pete has dual monitors and I think they are matching. If you are running different types of monitors and have different resolutions running on each, that can make it hard for the graphics card, for example, a 15" screen running 800 X 600 and a 23" screen running 1680 X 1050 (and note the Aspect Ratio, one is 4:3, the other is 16:10 [widescreen]). Matched monitors is ideal for dual operation. In that case, I suppose, getting a second graphics card to run each of the different screens would work, but I might try getting the resolutions closer.

How have you set up your dual monitor system? Did you use the nVidia "Control Panel ", right-click on the desktop, there should be a selection NVIDIA Display. Don't use Windows Display Properties.

If you are interested in trying to upgrade your drivers or making settings for your screens, which is what I would be trying, I could try and help you. If people are complaining at the Adobe forums, it may not be any sort of hardware problem, it may be CS4.

A 1X PCIe graphics card, I haven't heard of one, but it wouldn't be the avenue I would be investigating.

Matt

 

Just an update!
Two days ago nVidia issued a new beta driver which has solved the problem.

Roger

 

Sounds good Roger. Thanks for letting us know.

Matt