ATI 9550 AGP and 9250 PCI

[Guest]

I have been waiting for my new hard drive so I can load Vista Beta 2 through
the BIOS selection and still keep my Windows XP still intact and not be
concerned with the new NTFS of Beta 2. I have the ATI 9550 AGP and a 9250
PCI. (Possible 4 monitors) I use the 9550 AGP as my primary monitor and the
9250 PCI as my extended dektop. The Windows Vista Upgrade reports that I
should be able to use the Ultimate and see Aero. But I am concerned that the
9250 PCI will prevent me from seeing Aero at least on my 9550 AGP. Both cards
have 256MB of RAM and supports Direct X9. However, the 9250 PCI only supports
Pixel Shader 1.4. Are there any ideas, suggestions, or comments?

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

You are right to be concerned about the 9250 not supporting Pixel Shader
2.0. Let us know if you get any Aero at all.

 

[Guest]

Well Colin I got Vista Beta 2 to load Aero on my 9550 but it did not install
the 9250. So I went ahead and updated the drivers for the 9250 and the Beta
Catalyst for 9550. I was able to get 4 monitors, but Vista disabled Aero.
After rebooting, Vista disabled the display graphics card 9250, and went Aero
just fine. So I guess for now it's the 9550 plus Aero or 9550 and 9250
without Aero. Pretty much what I expected since 9250 only runs at 1.4 pixel
shader. I've got networking issues that are more important to me than getting
4 monitors working. But, because you wanted to know, here it is.

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

I believe that a 9500 is the lowest numbered card that supports Aero Glass.
Keep in mind that Aero is just the theme. Aero Glass is the special effects
everybody wants.