Can i use a second GPU to free up my main GPU?

[Llama-Berry]

Hello, i have a RTX 2080 and i read on some places online that you could use a different GPU, a second cheaper one, to run certain programs, could i use a second cheaper GPU to run my programs i put on my second and third monitor and keep my main GPU doing the games only? Or can i use a second GPU to free up performance in any way?

[Levent]

Nope.

[Llama-Berry]

In the Graphics Settings in windows, i can choose programs and choose GPU to run them with, will that do nothing to speed things up if i were to put a second GPU on it?

[Light-Yagami]

6 minutes ago, Llama-Berry said:

Hello, i have a RTX 2080 and i read on some places online that you could use a different GPU, a second cheaper one, to run certain programs, could i use a second cheaper GPU to run my programs i put on my second and third monitor and keep my main GPU doing the games only? Or can i use a second GPU to free up performance in any way?

I think it should be possible. You would just need to assign a specific task to a certain GPU. 

 

The problem becomes when you try to connect them. Such as - record gameplay from he first GPU with the second GPU.. Idk how you'd do that other than a capture card.

 

But sure.. If you do independent tasks at the same time - I think it's possible. Just like laptops can use 2 GPUs at once for different stuff

[Llama-Berry]

1 minute ago, Light-Yagami said:

I think it should be possible. You would just need to assign a specific task to a certain GPU. 

 

The problem becomes when you try to connect them. Such as - record gameplay from he first GPU with the second GPU.. Idk how you'd do that other than a capture card.

 

But sure.. If you do independent tasks at the same time - I think it's possible. Just like laptops can use 2 GPUs at once for different stuff

Could i run a game with my main GPU and have it use all of its power and might to run that game only, and have the second GPU running chrome and discord and all those other programs? Would that work? 

[Light-Yagami]

2 minutes ago, Llama-Berry said:

Could i run a game with my main GPU and have it use all of its power and might to run that game only, and have the second GPU running chrome and discord and all those other programs? Would that work? 

I don't think so.

And that isn't GPU dependent anyways. Everything that isn't 3D is run by the CPU. So if that's your use-case, consider a better CPU.

[Moonzy]

You CAN do that, and it WILL improve performance

 

But whether if the performance gains is even noticeable is questionable

Modern GPU needs almost no extra resources to run chrome or discord, and have dedicated hardware for encoding and decoding videos

But you're still hitting the VRAM so yes you'll get some performance, but most probably less than 5% in most normal user cases

[Montana One-Six]

46 minutes ago, Moonzy said:

You CAN do that, and it WILL improve performance

 

But whether if the performance gains is even noticeable is questionable

Modern GPU needs almost no extra resources to run chrome or discord, and have dedicated hardware for encoding and decoding videos

But you're still hitting the VRAM so yes you'll get some performance, but most probably less than 5% in most normal user cases

I wouldn't be so sure.

 

I mean depending on his setup he also could loose performance. If he has an Intel setup (older than 11th Gen) or an AMD setup (on a board older than  b550 / x570) he is limited to pcie 3.0. Using a second pcie device in pcie slot 2 will bring slot 1 down to 3.0 x8 which could result in worse performance in some scenarios. Doesn't apply to HEDT.

[Moonzy]

Just now, Montana16 said:

Are you sure?

90% sure

 

Just now, Montana16 said:

I mean depending on his setup he also could loose performance. If he has an Intel setup (older than 11th Gen) or an AMD setup (on a board older than  b550 / x570) he is limited to pcie 3.0. Using a second pcie device in pcie slot 2 will bring slot 1 down to 3.0 x8 which could result in worse performance in some scenarios. Doesn't apply to HEDT.

if his board is not SLI capable, the 2nd pcie slot is run from the chipset lanes, which wont affect the first PCIE slot lanes

[Montana One-Six]

11 minutes ago, Moonzy said:

if his board is not SLI capable, the 2nd pcie slot is run from the chipset lanes, which wont affect the first PCIE slot lanes

Pretty much any Board I know will limit your slot 1 to 8x if a second pcie device in slot 2 is detected. So the probability of it happening is high I would think.

 

Only pcie slots I can think of where that wouldn't be the case are these small 1x slots.

[Moonzy]

10 minutes ago, Montana16 said:

Pretty much any Board I know will limit your slot 1 to 8x if a second pcie device in slot 2 is detected. So the probability of it happening is high I would think.

i dont own any SLI boards, so all of mine works the way as i've described