multi gpu question...

I have a friend on my home folding team that has 2 8800gt's and 2 9800 gtx+'s..

he wants 2 LGA775 socket dedicated folding mobos for around a $100 each for
2 8800gt's together and 2 9800gtx+'s together.

currently he's looking at some older nvidia chipset sli boards, but they're older, deactivated, or only open boxed stuff... in his price range..

so he's looking for options.


my question is:
P45 will handle 2 independent nvidia cards for folding, right? I mean this chipset would be fine for a dedicated folder, these will never be gaming machines. he has a main rig with a qx9650 and 4870's for gaming.. so these will just be folders.

will a P45 handle 2 8800gt's or 2 9800gtx+'s and allow him to turn full ppd with both cards in each. same driver, non sli. ???

like these
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...lue=757%3A7618

There should be no problems. The board supports dual 16x PCI-e slots so it will run the cards. But as you know the cards won't be in SLI and will need to be configured as independent cards for F@H. How you would set that up io don't know. I havn't messed with the GPU clients at all.

that's what I was thinking as well. the cards would just be independent multi monitor cards. plug 2 monitors in, one to each card, and extend the desktop. then install 2 gpu clients. and since the card is on the same driver and identical cards, then the oc should oc both. but I don't know for sure, that was just a guess.. I haven't messed with muti gpu clients either, so figured I'd post... with all the multi gpu guys here, I figured someone would probably have some insight as to whether I'm right or wrong.

his main goal is trying to find 2 fairly decent LGA775 mobo's for around $100 each that will allow a decnt oc on the cpu, and run the cards for gpu folding. and P45 was the only thing I could think of off the top of my head. the x48's are too expensive.

It seems most boards in the price range he's looking only have 1 pci-e slot. :( My last board for a dedicated folder was the P5Q Pro. It runs 2 9800GX2s without issues. :)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131299

MikeB12, you are correct. Those boards should be fine. :)

As far as card detection and what not, that largely depends on the chosen OS. My gpu folders run XP32 sp2 and did not need monitors, kvm, or dummy plugs to detect the multiple cards. I don't think this is the case with Vista, and I'd have to check on XP64.

Also, a cheap single core proc OC'd is all he'd need for gpu folding. Personally, I wouldn't recommend anything above a dual core if he plans to run an instance of smp folding in addition to the gpu folding.

I have gotten away from the systray client and would recommend going console.

That's kinda what I thought, Sir

WFO,
I linked him to this thread and he wanted to know if you could post your os and what ppd you see... I think he's having a ppd issue when trying to run 2 cards or something. I'm a little fuzzy on the details. here's the post http://www.overclockingwiki.org/foru...ead.php?t=3727
if you're still running that setup, post some details here on that P5Q pro with the 2 nvidia cards. or anything that you think is worthy info. I dunno, this multi gpu is a little out of my comfort zone since I haven't jacked with it yet.

No need for P45 really. You should be able to find some P35 boards though for cheap.

main problem he's having after reading more of the issue, is the second card wont work in Vista64, but works fine in xp.

and IIRC, Dak and others had some issues with this when they started using dual cards in Vista,
so I posted a Vista muti gpu guide from evga forums. http://www.evga.com/forums/tm.asp?m=...1&key=&#498021

also pontied him to Naja's threads, since it looked like Naja had some similar issues. http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...d.php?t=200444

MikeB12

Does he have a monitor connected to both video cards or a dummy plug Vista requires that to activate the second card. Also he has to extend the desktop onto the second card as well. But with it working in XP and not Vista I am thinking it not having a monitor or dummy plug connected to the second card that is the problem.

that's exactly what I picked up on too, when the wokrin xp and no workin vista surfaced... I think he's gonna give it another shot tonight or tomorrow with those evga guide instructions, which specifies you have to use 2 monitors or a monitor with dual display...

MikeB12, figured it all out, FINALLY...There is something peculiar with Vista64...After much swapping, I learned that one needs two monitors with the same connectors, can't use adapters, even tho they are suppose to adapt. They do on XP32 but not on Vista64. After installing (2) VGA monitors with DVI adapters, got all working. Conversely, (2) DVI monitors also work. Simply can't mix adapters as you can with XP32 :up:

My Dual gpu mb is a P35 P5K-E. Kup mentioned in the vga dummy thread that He needed the dummy to extend the desktop in XP SP3--I realize that this doesn't apply to this situation, but feel its good to repeat it for others for future reference.


HTH

Quote:

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Originally Posted by DAK1640

MikeB12, figured it all out, FINALLY...There is something peculiar with Vista64...After much swapping, I learned that one needs two monitors with the same connectors, can't use adapters, even tho they are suppose to adapt. They do on XP32 but not on Vista64. After installing (2) VGA monitors with DVI adapters, got all working. Conversely, (2) DVI monitors also work. Simply can't mix adapters as you can with XP32 :up:

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That's strange. On mine (Vista 64) I have a vga montior hooked up through a vga to dvi adapter. On the 2nd card I just have the vga to dvi dummy. Maybe both cards (or Vista) read it the same, because in theory......they are both vga to dvi. Hmmmmmm......

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Naja002

That's strange. On mine (Vista 64) I have a vga montior hooked up through a vga to dvi adapter. On the 2nd card I just have the vga to dvi dummy. Maybe both cards (or Vista) read it the same, because in theory......they are both vga to dvi. Hmmmmmm......

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Vista 64 ultimate: 3 cards

Card 1: DVI to VGA

Card 2: DVI to hdmi

Card 3: DVI to VGA

Everything works fine.:shrug:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MikeB12

That's kinda what I thought, Sir

WFO,
I linked him to this thread and he wanted to know if you could post your os and what ppd you see... I think he's having a ppd issue when trying to run 2 cards or something. I'm a little fuzzy on the details. here's the post http://www.overclockingwiki.org/foru...ead.php?t=3727
if you're still running that setup, post some details here on that P5Q pro with the 2 nvidia cards. or anything that you think is worthy info. I dunno, this multi gpu is a little out of my comfort zone since I haven't jacked with it yet.

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I'm not sure what I can post that will help. Something is wrong in his config. I have 4 boards working with a multi-card setup.

1 DFI Infinity 965 with dual 8800 GTS' VGA monitor to VGA DVI adaptor and a VGA to DVI dummy plug with 3 75 ohm resistors. OS X86 XP

1 Rampage Formula with 2 3870s and straight DVI monitor and a VGA to DVI dummy plug in Vista 64

1 P5Q Pro and 2 9800 GX2s with a straight DVI monitor and 3 VGA to DVI dummy plugs in XP x64

1 P5K Deluxe with 2 8800 GTS' with VGA to DVI and a VGA to DVI dummy plug/ X86 XP.

He must not be setting dual monitors in the Nvidia control panel or not extending the desktop to the 2nd monitor or dummy plug. :shrug:

Thanks for the help everyone... He had success last night. 27k ppd on 2 vista 64 rigs. :up:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by John

All set 2 rigs running, 1@ 13700 PPD 2x9800GTX=
2 gpu clients and 1 SMP on Vista64

and
2nd rig 13616 PPD 2x8800 gt Akimbo 1gb
2 gpu clients and 1 smp

TY, could not have done it with out your help.

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