2 different GPUs working separately on same motherboard and 1 monitor?

[bosuko]

Hi guys,

I`ve been googling a lot about this subject and i couldn`t find a satisfying answer so i have to ask myself...

I am graphic designer and 3D modeler who likes some occasional gaming but also has a need for 10bit color support.

I have a monitor that supports it (Benq SW2700) and some GPUs (Firepro V4800 and Quadro 4000) that provides 10bit color. For gaming purposes I have Gainward GTX770 Phantom with 4GB RAM. Motherboard is ASUS P8P67 PRO rev 3.1 with CPU i7-2600K, 16GB RAM and Chieftec 600W PSU. OS is Windows 10.

Can I have GTX and one of those 10bit cards both connected on my motherboard and same monitor (with 2 cables) and switch from one to another in Windows, depending on my need to work or play respectively? I need Quadro or Firepro when I have to work and GTX when I want to play games. Right now, i have both drivers installed, AMD Firepro and Nvidia, and GTX770 working, and no issues about that whatsoever, but i wouldn`t try to plug in the both cards without consulting someone more experienced.

Many thanks in advance for help with this issue!
Bosko

 

[Glenwing]

You can use both cards in the same system and switch between them by connecting them both to different ports on the monitor, and switching between inputs on the monitor's menu, but there's no toggle in software that will seamless switch everything to process on another GPU.

It will effectively act like a dual-monitor setup where you can only see one monitor at a time though, so you will probably run into issues with programs opening on the wrong monitor, etc. I would advise just using an actual second monitor if possible.

 

[bosuko]

You can use both cards in the same system and switch between them by connecting them both to different ports on the monitor, and switching between inputs on the monitor's menu, but there's no toggle in software that will seamless switch everything to process on another GPU.

It will effectively act like a dual-monitor setup where you can only see one monitor at a time though, so you will probably run into issues with programs opening on the wrong monitor, etc. I would advise just using an actual second monitor if possible.

Thank you very much Glenwing for your answer.

OK, so technically I can do it. Great. Can you please explain what do you mean by "but there's no toggle in software that will seamless switch everything to process on another GPU." ? You mean the "software" that i am using at a time? I don`t expect all that to be seamless, but i would like not to restart the system every time or change the cables...etc.

I could be able to switch cards in Windows display menu, right? Like I change the active display? Is there any special process i should know how to dedicate a display to every card or the Windows will do it itself automatically? Should I do some settings in BIOS before starting Windows? Like, which card will be "primary" or "secondary"? I am also curious about power consumption. When one card works, the other one should use power as it does in idle mode, right?