I just built a new PC with a Radeon RX 9060 XT, an ASUS Prime B850-Plus motherboard, 16 GB of inexpensive DDR5 memory, a Ryzen 5 9600X, and an 850-watt power supply. I still have an RTX 2070 Super from my previous system. Is there any practical reason to install both graphics cards? Can they work together for better gaming performance, or would they mainly serve separate purposes?
4 Answers
Some people use a second GPU for frame generation or scaling software, but it can be fiddly and isn't automatically an upgrade. Features built directly into the game, such as FSR or DLSS when available, usually have better access to the game's data and produce more consistent results.
The most useful reason to keep the old card is troubleshooting. If your new GPU ever fails, the 2070 Super gives you a working backup instead of leaving the whole PC unusable. Otherwise, you could sell it, use it in a second machine, or save it for a specialized project.
For normal gaming, probably not. Modern games generally won't combine two different GPUs for extra performance, and older SLI/CrossFire support was limited even when both cards matched. Installing the 2070 Super would mostly add heat, power use, driver complexity, and make airflow more difficult. Keeping it as a spare is likely the better option.
There are a few niche uses. You could dedicate the NVIDIA card to CUDA applications, some video workloads, local AI experiments, or pass it through to a virtual machine while the Radeon handles your main desktop. It can also drive additional monitors, but the software has to explicitly support using a second GPU.

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