2 GPUs, 1 PC

[Tsar_Maple]

Hi friends,

 

I've done some googling and found that it's definitely possible to use 2 different GPUs in one system.

 

In my case, I've got a 1070 STRIX and a 1050Ti STRIX that I'd like to have running. I'm wanting to use my 1050 as a secondary monitor/hardware accelerator while using my 1070 to power my games/primary monitor.

 

Is there anything I should be aware of going into this? I've never tried doing this before and don't really know how to dedicate certain tasks to certain GPUs, any help is appreciated.

[jj9987]

What are you planning to use/run on the secondary monitor that you would need a dedicated GPU for it? Hardware accelerator for what?

[Windows7ge]

If you just want to use it to extend your display the 2nd GPU will be pretty plug'n'play. If you want it to double as a hardware accelerator you'll have to tell the programs you use that support this option to use specifically that GPU.

[Tsar_Maple]

2 minutes ago, jj9987 said:

What are you planning to use/run on the secondary monitor that you would need a dedicated GPU for it? Hardware accelerator for what?

Anything that's not on my game monitor. YouTube, Twitch, Discord, spreadsheets.

[Tsar_Maple]

Just now, Windows7ge said:

If you just want to use it to extend your display the 2nd GPU will be pretty plug'n'play. If you want it to double as a hardware accelerator you'll have to tell the programs you use that support this option to use specifically that GPU.

Ah okay, this is mainly what I was curious about. 

 

So (ignoring accelerator bit here) if I just wanted to extend my display, that would relieve my 1070 completely and I wouldn't have to mess with any settings, right? (Like if I was running YouTube/streams on my 1050Ti display) 

[Windows7ge]

9 minutes ago, Tsar_Maple said:

Ah okay, this is mainly what I was curious about. 

 

So (ignoring accelerator bit here) if I just wanted to extend my display, that would relieve my 1070 completely and I wouldn't have to mess with any settings, right? (Like if I was running YouTube/streams on my 1050Ti display) 

Most people just plug all their monitors into one card then configure it so the cursor & windows can move between them but the same can be accomplished with multiple cards if you feel the need to give the GPU some purpose.

 

As CUDAcores89 mentioned for example if you run any games that take advantage of multiple displays you could run into trouble.

[Mira Yurizaki]

14 minutes ago, Tsar_Maple said:

Ah okay, this is mainly what I was curious about. 

 

So (ignoring accelerator bit here) if I just wanted to extend my display, that would relieve my 1070 completely and I wouldn't have to mess with any settings, right? (Like if I was running YouTube/streams on my 1050Ti display) 

Yes. However it may take some fighting to get apps to use the 1050 Ti, since for whatever reason, Windows will make the app use the GPU on that the display it launches on. So if the app launches on the 1070 monitor, it'll use the 1070. But if you drag the app over to the 1050 Ti monitor and it's the last window to be closed, Windows will typically launch the app on that monitor.

 

Games shouldn't be a problem, as they will typically use the GPU the "primary" monitor is attached to.

 

EDIT: You'd have to verify this behavior though, I'm running on memory from like three years ago when I was messing around with MPC-HC

[Tristerin]

Your 2D desktop isn't touching your 1070's performance

[Radium_Angel]

28 minutes ago, Tsar_Maple said:

Anything that's not on my game monitor. YouTube, Twitch, Discord, spreadsheets.

There is little point to this, the 2d, as Tristerin said, isn't taxing your existing GPU one bit.

I've run three monitors off a GTX 660 (because I can, that's why) with no loss (that I could tell) in gaming performance even with the other two doing videos, etc.

[Tsar_Maple]

28 minutes ago, Tristerin said:

Your 2D desktop isn't touching your 1070's performance

I have run into random stutters when streaming and watching videos. And I have an extra card laying around, so why not try to do something with it?

[Tsar_Maple]

31 minutes ago, Mira Yurizaki said:

Yes. However it may take some fighting to get apps to use the 1050 Ti, since for whatever reason, Windows will make the app use the GPU on that the display it launches on. So if the app launches on the 1070 monitor, it'll use the 1070. But if you drag the app over to the 1050 Ti monitor and it's the last window to be closed, Windows will typically launch the app on that monitor.

 

Games shouldn't be a problem, as they will typically use the GPU the "primary" monitor is attached to.

 

EDIT: You'd have to verify this behavior though, I'm running on memory from like three years ago when I was messing around with MPC-HC

Thanks, I'll keep this in mind. I'll probably mess around with some accelerator settings as I've seen that some games can take advantage of another GPU for PhysX rendering

[Tristerin]

1 hour ago, Tsar_Maple said:

I have run into random stutters when streaming and watching videos. And I have an extra card laying around, so why not try to do something with it?

What you are saying is having it to display items...discord, google, whatever - your GPU isn't even attempting to display these things...it only needs to exists so these things display (the GPU is 10000000x more powerful than needed for doing 2D desktop displaying).  As you noted "Anything that's not on my game monitor. YouTube, Twitch, Discord, spreadsheets"

 

Your GPU isn't going to have an issue at all, with 2 monitors, displaying a game and those items.  Nor will removing those items off the second monitor help your first monitor to add more FPS to the game being played off that GPU.

 

If you are having random stutters when streaming and watching videos, and playing a game - its because your CPU is taxed far to heavily (4 cores no threads)