Advantages of Multiple GPUs Unable to CrossfireX?

[st4rdust]

Let's say I've got a 5970 and a 5770. Obviously these two cannot be Crossfired, but for one thing, they can still both mine on their own, even if they're on the same motherboard, correct?

Also, as far as gaming goes, what if one of these cards was run as a 'dedicated miner' while the other was plugged into the monitor, either not mining at all, or at low aggression. Would gaming at a decent framerate be viable with this config?

Just curious about this because I've got a ton of mismatched cards that I'm trying to make the most out of.

[ovidiusoft]

Let's say I've got a 5970 and a 5770. Obviously these two cannot be Crossfired, but for one thing, they can still both mine on their own, even if they're on the same motherboard, correct?

Correct. Even more, there are numerous reports that mining separately is better than CF (more Mhash/s).

Also, as far as gaming goes, what if one of these cards was run as a 'dedicated miner' while the other was plugged into the monitor, either not mining at all, or at low aggression. Would gaming at a decent framerate be viable with this config?

Yes. Of course, it does depend how much RAM and CPU the miner needs, but that is not usually a problem.

[legolouman]

You might need a dummy plug to get the two cards to run separately, but aside from that yes.

[haploid23]

You might need a dummy plug to get the two cards to run separately, but aside from that yes.

11.7 drivers and later don't need dummy plugs.

but yes, many people get a little better performance without crossfire, but a few people it makes not difference

[worldinacoin]

I did tried with both, there seems to be no difference between crossfire or no crossfire.  I didn't take much measurements though, just a brief look once in a while.