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Possible to use second graphics card for windows under Bootcamp?

R

rahaney

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 18, 2014
27
0
Hi,

Whilst not willing to pull the plug quite yet on my 5.1 (3.46, 680 Mac Edition, 24GB RAM) I'm interested in adding a second card for windows whilst under Bootcamp.

Having read the forum I've settled on getting an external PS just for this card, so there shouldn't be any power concerns.

My wish is to retain the official 680 Mac edition to drive my two monitors whilst in MacOS but load the newer, likely 1080 or 1080ti for use in Windows (to use the same monitors via different inputs).

Is this achievable? Would I have to load OS then choose Bootcamp via the shutdown menu? How would I tell the system to run the new card on reboot or at the boot screen? Would I have to install extra drivers? I'm aware there aren't any native drivers for the Nvidia 10x series, partly the reason why I'm not parting with the 680.

Thanks for your help!
 
I was in exactly the same position as you. Eventually I decided to just get a 1080 and migrate over to Windows 10 fully, though I concede that's not what you're after.

I don't think there's any way to manage the cards like this. macOS and Windows will both try and use both cards, and both will be unhappy.
 
Prior to Windows 10 there were people doing exactly this. But something changed in Windows 10. See these posts:

https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...-from-macvidcard.1838090/page-3#post-20609971

https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...-from-macvidcard.1838090/page-3#post-20610220

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/windows-10-experiences-on-cmp.1901628/#post-21606666

Granted, all of these examples are with a GT120 which is a much older card. You might be fine with GTX680 and 1080 because they are much closer together and are likely still supported in the same set of unified drivers. I don't know for sure though, and I haven't seen anyone else try this combo.
 
Last edited:
I'm currently on Windows 7 x64, does that make a difference? Rather than 10.

I'm glad I asked before dropping the £€¥...
 
rahaney said:
I'm currently on Windows 7 x64, does that make a difference? Rather than 10.

I'm glad I asked before dropping the £€¥...
Click to expand...

I'm only aware of that one situation (GT120 + Maxwell card + Win10). You might ask in the 1080 thread--I believe there are people there who own 1080 and have it in their Macs. I don't know how they are possibly doing that unless they have two cards.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/nvidia-gtx-1080.1971528/
 
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