MSI 8400GS and EVGA GTX 560 Ti Being Used Seperately In The Same MoBo

[desolator4u]

Sup ppl?
Yeah, i've come across a few threads with a similar question, which are either dated or not very specific to what I want to do..
Basically, I have a "budget" GPU, MSI 8400GS running in a nForce 680i MoBo (Striker Extreme) and i'm interested in getting the EVGA GTX 560 Ti so I can actually play some games. I know the GTX 560 Ti will work with no probs, but I need to have both GPUs installed at the same time, but only one will be in use at a time.

The setup I want will be my the 8400GS connected to my Monitor via DVI and the GTX 560 Ti connected via HDMI. I want to be able to use the 8400GS for light load, and when necessary, use the GTX 560 Ti for gaming, so is it possible to disable one of the GPUs completely using the Nvidia Software? My main concern is power consumption, since the GTX 560 Ti idles at over twice the max Wattage a 8400GS will pull under load.

Also, will the Drivers be an issue? Or will the latest Nvidia Drivers work fine with both cards? I've read about people having to run Driver Sweeper when installing a different GPU to get the correct Drivers installed.

Looking foward to some feedback.

Thanks
~Des

 

[ko888]

A reference version GeForce GTX 560 Ti has an Idle Card Power of 14 Watts.

Is that really over twice the max Wattage a 8400GS will pull under load as you stated?

You haven't stated which of the three versions of GeForce 8400 GS you're running. Is it the one using the G86 (80nm) or the G98GS (65nm) or the GT218 (40nm) GPU? Each one has a different maximum power consumption.

Why is the power consumption such an issue for you?