Is it possible to run two separate video cards?

Is it possible to run two separate video cards. Would there be any benefit to this if it is possible and I am sure it all depend on the mother board.

Thank you.

Solution 1:

There are ATI Radeon Crossfire and nVidia SLI that allows you to setup two Graphics cards together over two PCI slots.
The setup has an additional connection (bridge) between the two cards.
There are also multiprocessor cards that form Quad setups with two cards.

This TomsHardware article is a good starter brief.
It also gives a list for SLI and Crossfire certified motherboards.
Most configurations will also have special demands from the power supply unit.

Beyond basic SLI/Crossfire, there are now 3-way SLI and Quad-Crossfire setups
-- that is 3 video cards.
Intel Core i7 with 3-way SLI and Quad-Crossfire reviewed is a multi-page review
which has this opening picture.

These configurations need support in the hardware (motherboard, PSU, thermal conditions).
You should seriously consider your applications (typically heavy gaming, but also some modeling, animation and physics? applications).
If you will not be utilizing the hardware, it would be an awful waste of money.
You could also lookup 'Hybrid' SLI/Crossfire configurations supported by some motherboards.

Solution 2:

It is possible, and until the advent of common cards supporting two monitors it was quite common.

If you want more a detailed answer than that then you'll need to give us more detail of your setup.

Solution 3:

You absolutely can. This is how SLI and crossfire use to provide high end (read expensive) graphics.