Second monitor to which GPU suggestions 1

[steinmini]

Finally got the second monitor (both the same make and model/size) and found several useful ways to take advantage of it. However, both attached to the nVidia Quadro FX3400 seem to be just a bit sluggish on performance when 3D work has to be done (on main, no task executed on the #2)

Since the main reason to get two of them was to avoid the Alt+Tab to get to some other app (like transferring drawings from Corel files to SW, calculator etc,) I thought to enable the integrated ATI Radeon for the purpose and connect the monitor #2 to that GPU since nothing that would require the capabilities of the Quadro happens on screen #2. Just a thought, but would prefer to ask the more experienced if that might invoke some other problems...

So, the question is, should I keep two monitors on one GPU or to connect them to separate GPUs?

 

[AnnaWood]

Try it and report back how it works for you.

Anna Wood
Core i7 EE965, FirePro V8700, 12 Gb RAM, OCZ Vertex 120 Gb SSD, Dell 3008WFP 30" Monitor
SW2010 SP2.1, Windows 7 x64

http://www.solidmuse.com

http://www.phxswug.com

 

[steinmini]

Tried settings in BIOS, but enabling the internal graphics, changing the primary setting and mode brought only black screen on the second monitor, every setting, every time. I will probably need to install drivers within Windows (7) and make the integrated GPU to work first at all. It might work, might not, for all I know now, there's still no such thing as a free lunch

 

[steinmini]

Update:

I was trying to avoid this, but I'm that much smarter now.

My MB does not allow the internal GPU to become active as long as the PCIE slot is occupied, that is, as long as the Quadro card is in the slot and gets it's PS, the internal doesn't want to get active, regardless of the fact that no monitor is attached to it's outlets. Connecting any of the two monitors (only one) to the VGA output on the internal GPU and none of the outputs on the quadro results with black screen and yellow indicator light on the monitor, meaning no signal gets to the monitor. There are no separate GPU drivers on the support CD that came with the MB, so I guess the Catalyst drivers are installed during the chipset install process.

So, with ASUS M4A785TD-V EVO MB and Quadro GPU, there is no option to use both GPUs at the same time. Well, I'll have to live with that. At least I tried.

 

[steinmini]

Further investigation shows that the main problem is with nVidia drivers which lock out any non-nVidia GPU in the system. So, the moment one inserts the nVidia GPU in the MB and makes it work, any ATI chipset based GPU will cease to respond. Not motherboard issue, rather "we don't stand competition" issue, I'd say. End of story.

 

[AnnaWood]

Thanks for the update..... Like you said you are much smarter now with what you can do with your rig.

Anna Wood
Core i7 EE965, FirePro V8700, 12 Gb RAM, OCZ Vertex 120 Gb SSD, Dell 3008WFP 30" Monitor
SW2010 SP2.1, Windows 7 x64

http://www.solidmuse.com

http://www.phxswug.com