Graphics cards question...

[Tommy L]

So I have just bought a Zotac GTX 580. Which means I now have 3 workstations and 2 graphics cards. The one sittng on the desk not doing anything right now is the Radeon.

 

GTX 580

GTX 280

Radeon 5770

 

Question 1: Which is better for 3dsmax, the radeon or the 280?

 

Question 2: I use Box2 for particle Flow which utilises the Nvidia PhysX engine. So its best to have a Nvidia card in the machine for max. Is there any way the 280 and the Radeon can work together in a machine?

 

Thanks,

Tom.

Edited November 3, 2011 by Tommy L

[Slinger]

Question 2 will answer question 1...

Nvidia and AMD/ATI cards do not play nice together unless you have specific mothe4rboards that support both, which are few and expensive.

 

I would put the GTX 280 with the GTX 580 and use the 280 for your physx card.

[AJLynn]

Wait, you can install both - a lot of people who use CUDA like to have an ATI card running the monitor so CUDA can't get confused and try to run on the display card. The combination that nVidia disables (for marketing, not technical, reasons) is running PhysX on an nVidia card while an ATI card runs the display - so Tommy, for the box that you run PhysX on I think you're out of luck on the ATI card.

 

If you had one that you wanted to run a display and CUDA on I'd use the ATI for the display and the 580 for CUDA and forget the 280. As a display card, the ATI 5770 is a lot newer and much better - it's somewhat faster and uses much less power.

[Tommy L]

Wait, you can install both - a lot of people who use CUDA like to have an ATI card running the monitor so CUDA can't get confused and try to run on the display card. The combination that nVidia disables (for marketing, not technical, reasons) is running PhysX on an nVidia card while an ATI card runs the display - so Tommy, for the box that you run PhysX on I think you're out of luck on the ATI card.

 

If you had one that you wanted to run a display and CUDA on I'd use the ATI for the display and the 580 for CUDA and forget the 280. As a display card, the ATI 5770 is a lot newer and much better - it's somewhat faster and uses much less power.

 

ok, so let me get this straight...

Do I want CUDA? Yes, I have Vray 2.0 w/RT and want to start using it. I'd LIKE to use both workstations fairly evenly, one's for standing, one for sitting. Long story.

But my current project has some extremely heavy scenes and use PhysX. I'd like to use CUDA and have some grunt for the viewport.

It sounds like you're saying I cant have my cake and eat it because the 580 wont run PhysX if the ATI does the screen. And if I run CUDA on the 580 and have the 280 run the screen then I'll have slower scenes and my CUDA might get confused.

 

So maybe the answer is that I lose the thing I use least, which would be PhysX. I'll just calculate the PhysX on the slower 280 card on my other machine, which becomes my 'second' workstation. That gets cached and brought into the 580 machine for CUDA-ing.

 

In fact Ill have to check this, but I think I may have install issues for PF Box 1, which is reliant on PhysX. That means I will need to have the 580 and the 280 as display cards (I think) in the machines.

 

Hows the 280 for AE and Photoshop etc?

[ihabkal]

working standing up. Maybe I should do that. We are no longer young and things get cramped as we grow older lol+

[AJLynn]

No no, use the two nVidia cards - just be careful about choosing one card only in software when you set up a CUDA process.

[Superkames]

It sounds like you're saying I cant have my cake and eat it because the wont run PhysX if the ATI does the screen. And if I run CUDA on the 580 and have the 280 run the screen then I'll have slower scenes and my CUDA might get confused.

Did you tried to plug a dummy for the GTX580 ? And checked the Nvidia control panel for Nvidia PhysX ?

http://www.geeks3d.com/20091230/vga-hack-how-to-make-a-vga-dummy-plug/

The HD5770 for display and GTX 580 for PhysX or computing is a good solution.

Edited November 5, 2011 by Superkames