Two non sli gpu in one pc?

[turbopixel]

I have an unused GTX 750 Ti here and a GTX 970 using in my pc. Is it somehow possible to use the second lower card for anything? Just in example, if I play a game with 970 and on same time I record it with the 750 Ti. Would it cause problems driver wise or from Windows? Is there any application which can use it?

 

[Sandstorm3000]

As far as i know that is impossible, you can only SLI two identical cards. You can't use two different cards at the same time.

 

[MarkW]

Not right now.

But in Windows 10, with the way the new DirectX 12 will work, it could be possible to have both cards in the computer and being used. We need to wait and see how things work in the release version of Windows 10. Once the benchmarks and tests are done, we will know for sure.

 

[corndog1836]

Wait for DX12. Tou may be able to sli them. I will post a link.

http://www.kitguru.net/components/graphic-cards/anton-shilov/microsoft-confirms-cross-ihv-amd-nvidia-multi-gpu-tech-support-by-dx12/

 

[corndog1836]

Here is another link.


http://www.guru3d.com/news-story/microsoft-confirms-directx-12-mix-amd-and-nvidia-multi-gpus.html

LETS HOPE AND SEE. it will be out in july

 

[boosted1g]

You can use it as a physics engine card, or use it simply for additional monitors and not use resources of the 970.
Now I am not familiar enough with it to be able to tell you if using a 750 for physics would be helpful or bottlenecking the much better 970 card.

 

[corndog1836]

Here ia a thread showing a 750ti as physics and 780ti as main gpu,
which is a comparable to your 970, improves performace.


http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-2060366/gtx-780-main-750-physx.html

Or you wait for DX12 which is in windows 10 (free upgrade) to see about sli for 2 different gpu's. I posted like in prior posts on this thread about DX12.

 

[turbopixel]

Ok, I have just installed the second gpu. On Linux, it will be recognized in the NVIDIA X Server Settings, but I can't use it for anything. In Windows, I can use the second card for Physx. The Nvidia settings choose it automatically as best Physx card, so I leave it. I don't see any other than a dedicated Physx card.

But I don't know if it will perform better or less, with or without it as the 970 have 1664 Cuda cores and the 750 Ti does have 640 Cuda cores. Only a handful of games support gpu Physx (sadly Witcher 3 does not). I even could not find any benchmarking tool, just to see if it works better with or without. Even if it would, currently the benefit is very low, as almost no game I consider to play supports gpu Physx according to Nvidia:
> http://www.geforce.com/hardware/technology/physx/games

 

[turbopixel]

I found Batman (older game from Sep. 2012) in my Steam games collection. I must have buyed it through some sales. It have an integrated benchmark tool. Here is my result, nothing scientific. I am really disappointed. I think, the second card is not worth the trouble and I will deinstall it later. The difference is negligible.

Batman Arkham City
Newest version installed with all updates
Settings everything on max (besides Anti Aliasing to FXAA and no Multiframe option)
Physx high (between off, normal, high)

Integrated benchmark

NVIDIA driver version: 353.06
Windows 7 all updates installed

Nvidia Physx: GTX 970 (main gpu for gaming)
min: 41
max: 138
average: 94

Nvidia Physx: GTX 750 Ti (second card)
min: 45
max: 142
average: 94

Nvidia Physx: CPU (Xeon 1230v3 @ 3.3 Mhz, 4 cores, 8 with hyperthreading)
min: 20
max: 116
average: 54

 

[MarkW]

Its just a little more confirmation of what people that have tried it like you have been saying for years. But hey, you tried it, saw the reality, and made your decision. Absolutely nothing wrong with that!

 

[turbopixel]

Thanks. I searched for it, but did not found much. If I knew that I can use the additional card for Physx, then I would found it faster. I choose boosted1g as best answer, because he was closest and first who lead me to the solution. But big thanks to corndog1836 for the interesting links and reads too.

 

[corndog1836]

Your welcome. The difference will be better, worse, or non existant depending on the game and the cards. Your 970 has great physics and graphics capability so in your example its only a slight increase.