Hello
is it possible to run a GTX260 and a ATI5800 in one pc? How can i manage the 2 different drivers for windows and games?

Hello
is it possible to run a GTX260 and a ATI5800 in one pc? How can i manage the 2 different drivers for windows and games?

Supposed to be doable with XP though I have not tried it ... can't be done with Vista, Win7-64 works just fine ... I have two systems with Nvidia card next to an ATI ... BOINC sees both and uses both ...

General advice is not to install the control panel in the mixed set-up, either ATI or Nvidia, they both assume that they are the only GPU in the system and bad things happen ...

So, install drivers only, you have to use dummy plugs, extra monitors, of spare KVM to allow the second card to work... then extend the desktop to the additional slots if windows does not do it automagically ...

I am running W03 with exactly the set of cards you describe (at least until the new 5870 card gets here) ... W02 has a 5870 and GTX280 running side by side ...

{edit}
Games would only use the primary display I am sure in a set-up like this, though I don't play any that need high powered graphics ...

Hello
is it possible to run a GTX260 and a ATI5800 in one pc? How can i manage the 2 different drivers for windows and games?

Yes on XP and win7 (I think), it is possible. A good year ago I ran 8800GT and 4870HD under XP 64 without a problem. Just installed drivers for both cards, and that was it.
BR,

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Actually I have to alter my statement ... I only have one system now with mixed cards ... the third HD5870 showed up in the UPS delivery late today and now I have two dual ATI systems one mixed and one with a single Nvidia card (only one slot, but it has the GTX295 :))

I think the key is that you cannot install the whole video package, you only install the driver portion for each class card and you are Ok... I just never tried it with XP ... had nothing to lose with a new installation of Win7 so fiddled with it till I got it to work ...

Think I wrote up notes on Collatz NC forum about how I done did it ...

Hi Paul. What time do your cards take for a workunit? My times are

4870 = 185 secs
4850 = 225 secs
3850 = 600 secs

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Don't drink water, that's the stuff that rusts pipes

Total run times are...

3850 = 523 sec
4850 = 212 sec
4870 = 180 sec

I'll let you know how the 5970 goes in a few hours.. :P

I would be interested in the results and, when I can afford it (long time), the CC_config file needed for dual ATI GPUs and dual CUDA on a PCI bus system.

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Go away, I was asleep

I would be interested in the results and, when I can afford it (long time), the CC_config file needed for dual ATI GPUs and dual CUDA on a PCI bus system.

You will not need any changes to config or app_info (or even one at all), the app recognises both gpus whether on separate cards or the same card. It will pick up the "vacant" gpu and throw a WU at it. If the target is the last 1 or 2% improvement, then yup they are needed, but usually (sensible) overvolting/overclocking will get the performance out of the cards without any issues.

I ran an app_info at one time loading up two WUs to each core, which resulted in faster throughput by about 10%, does not speed up WU processing in itself, but the time saved on loading unloading by doing that on short WUs makes it worth it. Dont do it at the moment - got idle, not worked out the setting for the current apps/WUs.

At present the 5970 gets two done in either side of 78seconds, so works out at about 39secs per WU for the card. The settings I use are:

GPU Clock: 950
Memory clock: 300
Overvolted GPU: 1.15V
Memory: Stock Voltage (1.1V)
Temp: 82 degrees @ 65% fan

I get the feeling I could push it further to maybe 980, even, if I'm real lucky, knock on the door of 1000 clock for GPU, but that would need a full overvolt of 1.1625v - probably water cooling the card as well - life's too short to live on that edge :)

1.1625v is the top end and keep in the card spec without dramas, and I am not getting into terrority beyond that by overvolting more, leave that to the serious overclocker

EDIT: just thought .... did you mean on the same machine (2xATI & 2xCUDA), that would be a challenge, and for sure app_info needed for that. If you did, sorry about the above, had assumed you meant 2 in one box

Regards
Zy

EDIT: just thought .... did you mean on the same machine (2xATI & 2xCUDA), that would be a challenge, and for sure app_info needed for that. If you did, sorry about the above, had assumed you meant 2 in one box

Regards
Zy

No quite Zydor

The current PCI-E quads I run have only 1 ATI GPU each. Eventually I want 2 per PC, and will need to upgrade BM - I currently use 6.10.13. Also, the ATI Catalyst suite, and drivers, I use are 8.12 and 9.1. I assume these will also need upgrading.

My dual P3 server makes use of a PCI bus, and I have 2 nVidia PCI low riser GeForce 9500GT cards that could be installed. But only after I work out how to stop them clashing with the Promise RAID-1 mirror at boot up. Two PCs

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Go away, I was asleep

I have only ever run singles on PCI, I would have thought no app_info needed as they are same vendor/make, but there could be something about PCI that forces the use of one - I dont know. Would be interested to hear how you nailed that one in the end to tuck away in my personal knowledge bank.

Dual on PCIe tends to be cost/powerdraw/PSU/space issue. There is always a temptation just to buy a second and shove it in. However, with the cards around these days, x2 on the same card (4xxx or 5xxx) do provide a good cost effective X2 gpu solution when all taken into account (cost/powerdraw/PSU rating/space). Can always sell an existing single to put towards the cost of a X2.

It was the latter factors that pushed me towards biting the bullet and getting a 5970, painful at the time ... the credit card creeked for a while .... but I'm real glad I did now, the open slots its left gives me a lot of future flexibility, apart from the obvious performance boost.

Regards
Zy

Total run times are...

3850 = 523 sec
4850 = 212 sec
4870 = 180 sec

I'll let you know how the 5970 goes in a few hours.. :P

5970 installed and operational. Now have the 5970 where the 4870 was and the 4870 where the 4850 was. The 4850 is now sitting in its box going cold...arrgh there's ~80k a day going to waste! Also now running 2 wu's at once to try and reduce the 'downtime' between wu's on all GPU's - but the wu's appear pretty much locked in step on each GPU.

Speeds.

4870 (now running the main monitor) = 195 sec (390 for 2 wu, also had to back off the aggressiveness of the settings in the app_info file as it was a bit jumpy - will optimise these in the next few days)
5970 = 109 sec (218 sec for 2) = over 335k a day - less the 4850 times @212sec/wu ~ 85k = overall gain of 250k per day.

The 5970 not as fast as I thought it would be - stock speeds. The fan is way too loud when it starts getting hot. I think ATI got the fan solution wrong on this card. GPU1 runs about 10°C hotter than GPU0 in the 5970, this is due to GPU1 getting the hot air from GPU0 to cool it. Silly design really - I'm going to have to see what I can do about that if I want to unlock the voltage and push the OC on the card. Supposedly 20% OC should be easy! Glad I've got the 850W PSU - now to get an appropriate cooling solution.

All I hope to head towards a RAC of 450k - now to save for a 2nd 5970 to replace the 4870.