Dual Graphics Card Performance

Hi All,

I've been googling for a bit but I've been unable to find a definitive answer, only some "I think" and "maybe" answers.

What I want to know is, if I buy a seperate graphics card (Not SLI, just separate), with same drivers/brand, and plug my second monitor into that instead of my main card, will the GPU on the second card assist the performance of graphics output and help the frame rate?

That means, will the load of the graphics output from DCS be split across the two cards depending on which monitor they are going to?

Because I had read that only ONE graphics card does the processing, and just passes the flat image to the second card to display... if this is the case then I should just get a $50 graphics card for my second one and not a $200 one...

Thanks!

Well this is interesting, just make sure you have Nvidia with lot`s of CUDA procesors and this last ForceWare driver who is pushing this CUDA cpu`s to working, not like normal driver interface...well maybe someone from ED can give you the answer, i belive they have this config, just need to take off SLI conection...

Because I had read that only ONE graphics card does the processing, and just passes the flat image to the second card to display... if this is the case then I should just get a $50 graphics card for my second one and not a $200 one...

 

Thanks!

My understanding is that the above is the approach recommended over on the SoftTH forums for the *third* monitor (in the days before cards that had 3 or more outputs).

I'd say, that if you are only trying to drive 2 monitors, and have 2 appropriate outputs on your card, just hang both monitors on that card. If you need to boost graphics performance, then look at getting an identical card and running SLI / Crossfire, with both monitors connected to the primary card.

i have a crossfire with 2xati 4850 and i just try with desactive the crossfire . i had put my matrox triplehead on the 1st 4850 and the 2nd screen on the 2nd 4850 , i had 20 fps.

and i had try the triplehead and the 2st screen on the same 4850 and my fps was 28 fps.

all try in windows mode , not full screen.

So second card actually slows it down!

Also not sure with sli if I can run a second monitor? Because my main is dual link 2560x1600

Hi All,

 

I've been googling for a bit but I've been unable to find a definitive answer, only some "I think" and "maybe" answers.

 

What I want to know is, if I buy a seperate graphics card (Not SLI, just separate), with same drivers/brand, and plug my second monitor into that instead of my main card, will the GPU on the second card assist the performance of graphics output and help the frame rate?

 

That means, will the load of the graphics output from DCS be split across the two cards depending on which monitor they are going to?

 

Because I had read that only ONE graphics card does the processing, and just passes the flat image to the second card to display... if this is the case then I should just get a $50 graphics card for my second one and not a $200 one...

 

Thanks!

There are different modes of SLI, the default mode has each card rendering half of the display for Nvidia cards. Not sure on ATI how they do it for crossfire. Using different cards isn't reccomended by either Nvidia or ATI but they both support it. It's called "hybrid sli". Since you didn't specify what chip makers cards your using its slightly different for each..

In regards to DCS there is a slight performance boost with SLI and Crossfire but it's really not worth the cost (it's only a few FPS). I run my GTX295 with the SLI turned off and use the second card for whats called "multi GPU AA" , it offloads all the Anti Alias onto the second card and makes it look way better with zero performance drop. DCS is more CPU bound. If your graphics card is decent you're better off with a CPU upgrade...

If your using Vista or 7 it's a hassle to get it to display on several monitors unless you have a THTG or something similar, especially if you are thinking to use one for ABRIS or shkval display.

I was thinking/hoping the exact same thing. Unfortunately, as I learned today, the secondary card simply passes through the signal. So the card with the primary screen does all the computing (which in my case was the 'old' one). After a tip from this forum I tested it with a GPU workload meter, found it to be true and plugged both monitors back to the same card. => performance increased.

That sucks, I was going to ask a similar question but thought I would search first....ended up here :)

I have a GTX970 which currently is driving my 1080p LCD TV (main display) and Dell 24" screen (currently used as MFD's and CDU)

I will be soon receiving a couple of HDMI output 8" screens which will slide behind my Thrustmaster MFD's,

I do have the outputs on the back of the GTX970 in the form of mini display port connections which I could connect to the HDMI screens with suitable cables I have here, but I also have a GTX780 laying around which I was wondering about chucking back into my system, having read this topic tho it seems it would be a waste of time ?

Have you considered 8" USB touchscreen monitors from the likes of Lilliput or Mimo?

http://www.lilliputuk.com/

http://www.mimomonitors.com/

You could use either of these with uMFCD though, I'm sure your HDMI's would work too.

https://ultramfcd.com/

http://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=125728

I have two Mimo USB 7" here, but looking to improve performance if I can use that second GPU in the box the way I intend, the HDMI screens are 4:3 as well , so will sit slightly nicer behind my MFD's where the Mimo's are 16:9 and overhang a touch :D

Thanks for the suggestion tho.

Well, in case someone else seeks the answers I was looking for......

I added my 2 new 9inch HDMI LCD panels to the setup I am using, so a 40in LCD 1080p TV, a 1920x1200 Dell Screen and 2x 9in LCD HDMI panels, running them all via my single GTX970 with what seems to be zero frame hit in A10C, the second GPU looks like it was not needed, yay...thanks again. :thumbup: