Running two different GPU's in one tower?

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Profile Slavac
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Message 1109508 - Posted: 25 May 2011, 3:30:42 UTC

Random question:

As it appears I cannot run SLI with my current mobo setup, how would I go about utilizing two GTX 560's for S&H crunching?

Also is it possible to run two dissimilar GPU's while still retaining normal functionality on a PC? For example running a 560 and a 580 on the same MOBO/PC while still retaining normal functionality in the PC as far as gaming/normal computer usage.


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Message 1109561 - Posted: 25 May 2011, 7:07:55 UTC - in response to Message 1109508.  
Last modified: 25 May 2011, 7:10:51 UTC

You don't need SLi to crunch, just run one run as the video card while running the other as a PhysX card (this is how 2 of my 3 pc's are set up).

Cheers.
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Message 1109602 - Posted: 25 May 2011, 12:25:41 UTC - in response to Message 1109561.  

Depending on the OS, you're using, you may have to extend the desktop, but running
multiple and different GPUs, are not a problem. Mobo and chipset have to support
this too.

You even can run a ATI and a nVIDIA card and use them both for crunching.
Since both ATI and nVIDIA* can do OpenCL.
*Only the 400 and 500 series. Not sure about the 200 and/or older series.

NVIDIA and OpenCL.




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Message 1109764 - Posted: 25 May 2011, 22:13:22 UTC - in response to Message 1109561.  

You don't need SLi to crunch, just run one run as the video card while running the other as a PhysX card (this is how 2 of my 3 pc's are set up).

Cheers.


Could you expand a bit on how to go about just that?


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Message 1109766 - Posted: 25 May 2011, 22:25:07 UTC - in response to Message 1109764.  
Last modified: 25 May 2011, 22:25:24 UTC

You don't need SLi to crunch, just run one run as the video card while running the other as a PhysX card (this is how 2 of my 3 pc's are set up).

Cheers.


Could you expand a bit on how to go about just that?

Fit the GPU's, install driver's, (hopefully there is a driver that supports both GPU's)
then make a cc_config.xml (with Notepad) with the following in it (Boinc will only use the most capable GPU by default):

<cc_config>  
  <options>  
        <use_all_gpus>1</use_all_gpus> 
  </options> 
</cc_config>

Make sure it is saved as cc_config.xml with ANSI Encoding, now drop the file in your Boinc Data directory (the location is listed in your startup messages),
and Restart Boinc, hopefully Boinc will detect and use both GPU's, if not, you may need to plug a monitor in and extend the desktop, or use a Dummy Plug,

Claggy
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Message 1109767 - Posted: 25 May 2011, 22:34:46 UTC

For a while, I had a PC set up to use both the onboard nvidia 8300 and a GTS450 card. It ran just fine for Seti. I finally had to disable the onboard because Milkyway requires double precision. That setup caused errors since there is no way to specify one project to use just a certain GPU, and another to use both.
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Message 1109778 - Posted: 25 May 2011, 23:17:38 UTC - in response to Message 1109766.  

You don't need SLi to crunch, just run one run as the video card while running the other as a PhysX card (this is how 2 of my 3 pc's are set up).

Cheers.


Could you expand a bit on how to go about just that?

Fit the GPU's, install driver's, (hopefully there is a driver that supports both GPU's)
then make a cc_config.xml (with Notepad) with the following in it (Boinc will only use the most capable GPU by default):

<cc_config>  
  <options>  
        <use_all_gpus>1</use_all_gpus> 
  </options> 
</cc_config>

Make sure it is saved as cc_config.xml with ANSI Encoding, now drop the file in your Boinc Data directory (the location is listed in your startup messages),
and Restart Boinc, hopefully Boinc will detect and use both GPU's, if not, you may need to plug a monitor in and extend the desktop, or use a Dummy Plug,

Claggy


Thanks very much for that!


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Message 1110219 - Posted: 27 May 2011, 3:38:34 UTC - in response to Message 1109766.  

You don't need SLi to crunch, just run one run as the video card while running the other as a PhysX card (this is how 2 of my 3 pc's are set up).

Cheers.


Could you expand a bit on how to go about just that?

Fit the GPU's, install driver's, (hopefully there is a driver that supports both GPU's)
then make a cc_config.xml (with Notepad) with the following in it (Boinc will only use the most capable GPU by default):

<cc_config>  
  <options>  
        <use_all_gpus>1</use_all_gpus> 
  </options> 
</cc_config>

Make sure it is saved as cc_config.xml with ANSI Encoding, now drop the file in your Boinc Data directory (the location is listed in your startup messages),
and Restart Boinc, hopefully Boinc will detect and use both GPU's, if not, you may need to plug a monitor in and extend the desktop, or use a Dummy Plug,

Claggy


It would appear that your instructions worked properly. Could someone confirm for me looking at these startup msgs?

5/26/2011 10:37:45 PM | | Starting BOINC client version 6.12.26 for windows_x86_64
5/26/2011 10:37:45 PM | | Config: use all coprocessors
5/26/2011 10:37:45 PM | | log flags: file_xfer, sched_ops, task
5/26/2011 10:37:45 PM | | Libraries: libcurl/7.19.7 OpenSSL/0.9.8l zlib/1.2.5
5/26/2011 10:37:45 PM | | Data directory: C:\ProgramData\BOINC
5/26/2011 10:37:45 PM | | Running under account BLDJD
5/26/2011 10:37:45 PM | | Processor: 6 AuthenticAMD AMD Phenom(tm) II X6 1100T Processor [Family 16 Model 10 Stepping 0]
5/26/2011 10:37:45 PM | | Processor: 512.00 KB cache
5/26/2011 10:37:45 PM | | Processor features: fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush mmx fxsr sse sse2 htt pni cx16 syscall nx lm svm sse4a osvw ibs skinit wdt page1gb rdtscp 3dnowext 3dnow
5/26/2011 10:37:45 PM | | OS: Microsoft Windows 7: Enterprise x64 Edition, Service Pack 1, (06.01.7601.00)
5/26/2011 10:37:45 PM | | Memory: 7.99 GB physical, 15.98 GB virtual
5/26/2011 10:37:45 PM | | Disk: 59.53 GB total, 7.81 GB free
5/26/2011 10:37:45 PM | | Local time is UTC -5 hours
5/26/2011 10:37:45 PM | | NVIDIA GPU 0: GeForce GTX 465 (driver version 26666, CUDA version 3020, compute capability 2.0, 994MB, 855 GFLOPS peak)
5/26/2011 10:37:45 PM | | NVIDIA GPU 1: GeForce GTX 560 Ti (driver version 26666, CUDA version 3020, compute capability 2.1, 993MB, 922 GFLOPS peak)





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Message 1110602 - Posted: 28 May 2011, 0:32:40 UTC - in response to Message 1110219.  

Looks like it's working just fine for MW, though I don't have any SETI CUDA apps left to test and see if that's working properly.


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Message boards : Number crunching : Running two different GPU's in one tower?


 
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