Which vid card is "on"?

from GalCiv2 Forums
Here's a really simple question from a really simple guy:

I am trying to install a new video card. I am replacing an old video card, and there is also one built into the motherboard. I think that gives me a total of three video cards.

Given that the computer recognizes the presence of multiple vid cards, is there a way I can tell for sure which card I am actually using at any given time? My monitor is currently plugged into the newer card, but I've switched things around so often in past hour or so that i just want to be sure...

Someone please help the noob...
off-topic
8,320 views 1 replies
Reply #1 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
To tell what you are currently using, there are several ways. Here's the easiest:
Look at which card your monitor is plugged into - that the card you are using

-Or-

Right click on the destop
Click PROPERTIES
Click SETTINGS tab
Under the DISPLAY drop down it will list your current monitor and video card.

Notes:
- I don't know what cards you have in your system and it's possible you might have an SLI or Crossfire setup. I'm assuming that you are simply swaping out and old card for a new card.

-The video card that your monitor is plugged into is the one that you are using. You can't plug you monitor into one video card and have the video rendered by another card (except SLI/Crossfire).

- Usually you don't need/want two video cards plugged in to your motherboard (unless SLI or Crossfire) for general use. Most motherboards have only one or two slots designed to adequately feed the video card in terms of power and bandwidth. So your new card should go into your AGP or PCI-E 16x slot (replacing your old video card - same location).

-Since you have an old card that you were previously using, this might be moot, but there may be a setting in your bios that would disable the onboard (build into the motherboard) video card. Since you were using a card previously, its prolly safe to say that the onboard video was already disabled, so nothing to worry about.

I hope that helps. Sorry if its general, but there are a lot of setups and systems out there so its hard to give specific advice with out more info. Generally, you just need one card. There are exceptions, especially for higher end systems that use SLI/Crossfire (two cards hooked together), but I'm guess you are just swaping out the old and adding in the new.