Multiple graphics cards and optical drives

Hi folks,
I am getting a Mac Pro 2012, it has two graphics cards and two optical drives.
My first questions are regarding the graphics cards.
1. If i only use one of the cards, will the other card simply power down or will Mac OS utilize it's GPU to enhance the OS?
2. Is it better to use both my displays on one card or put one display on each? What are the pro's and cons?
My question regarding the optical drives is; when i hit eject on my keyboard, will both trays open or will OS X give me an option to choose a tray to open?
An additional question is; if i use Disk Utility to turn two of the hard drives into a RAID, will it be slow? The Mac doesn't have an actual RAID card so will i see slower performance if i mirror two drives or set it up as a striped RAID opposed to using them as two individual drives?
I have not used a desktop Mac since i had a G4 hence the "new to mac pro" questions.
Appreciate your feedback
Jay

Two gpu only help or matter if one is doing something that uses CUDA and you have Nvidia.
Normally no benefit.
Software RAID0 may make sense for scratch or large media libraries.
Instead of using a mirror, skip that and clone your drives makes more sense.
The Apple Pro RAID card is slower and more trouble and not worth it.

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