Two Graphic Cards in one PC?

NeonIGreen · Jan 20, 2017

Hi there,

I currenty have a AMD FX-8370 Eight-Core Processor CPU with an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960. It runs every single one of my current games smoothely, but I just bought my VR headset and would like to upgrade my PC. I was planning to buy a GeForce GTX 1050 (6 GB if possible), but it would be a shame to not use my old GTX 960 anymore.

Is there a way to have 2 GPUs? I heard I could let one run the PhysX, is that correct?
Besides, if I manage to run both GPUs, will my CPU be able to handle it?
Or does someone have better recommendations for a PC upgrade?

Sorry for so many questions, I am pretty new to this kind of stuff.

greens · Jan 20, 2017

I do not believe that a GTX 1050 is going to provide anything close to an enjoyable VR experience.

Additionally, VR can't use multiple GPUs in its current state, so that would be of no benefit there.

Nvidia removed the native ability for a second GPU to hadnle physx and its more work getting it working that it is worth.

There are other cases where multiple GPUs can be used, like for brand new DX12 games that were created with it in mind - but they are extremely few.

You can't SLI those two cards, so really there is no benefit at all to having both in the same system.

That said, you REALLY need a GTX 1070 or GTX 1080 in order to get an enjoyable experience.

You need to figure that running VR requires 90FPS to be smooth and is a similar resolution as 2k.

1440p at 90FPS is not going to happen on a 1050.

Dunlop0078 · Jan 20, 2017

I agree with everything greens said.

To add to it very few games use physx, a physx card will only help in games that use physx the batman games and borderlands 2 comes to mind. Beyond that its kind of pointless it will just sit there doing nothing the majority of the time. An 8370 will also be a crux to VR assuming you did get an adequate gpu, I would imagine it would struggle to keep many VR games running at a stable 90fps.

bystander · Jan 20, 2017

greens :

I think you may have misremembered or misread info on this. About 6 months ago, I was able to do this (but rarely did).

You probably heard that Nvidia stopped allowing you to use one of their cards as a dedicated PhysX card when an AMD card is used as the primary card. Nvidia stopped the use of using both brands together, but they did not stop the use of dedicated PhysX cards if your primary card is Nvidia.

I still doubt you'll find a lot of use for this, but if you have the 960 still, and have a game which uses GPU accelerated PhysX, there is no harm trying it out.

NeonIGreen · Jan 20, 2017

Thanks for the fast answer!

So is there really no use for the 960 if I buy a new one? That´s a bummer...

To the VR part, my current setup can run VR games on a solid 50-60 FPS (75 is the max for my headset) on mid settings, which is pretty enjoyable by me. Does an upgrade from 960 to 1050 really make so little difference? I expected it to be more.

Anyways you make a good point, VR itself really needs higher configs to look really good. If I would get my self a GTX 1070, what CPU would you recommend? I dont think my current one could handle that.

bystander · Jan 20, 2017

There is no video card your CPU can't "handle". People really have things mixed up on how to pair a GPU with a CPU. Your resolution typically plays the biggest role on determining the GPU, and VR also plays a large role.

Basically, if the GPU is pushed hard enough to keep the FPS within range that your CPU can keep up, the GPU is a good choice. Your CPU is perfectly capable of using a GTX 1070 at 1440p and above. It's also capable of using one in VR or 3D Vision. As long as your FPS don't get too high your CPU will make use of the GTX 1070.

The concern with a possible bottleneck comes with you are shooting for super high FPS, which your CPU cannot handle in many cases. That only occurs with low resolutions and VR, which essentially doubles your resolution.

Do not purchase a 2nd card for PhysX. Just buy a better card with the money. You may find a use for that PhysX card in 1-2% of your games. A better card will be better in all your games.

greens · Jan 20, 2017

This premise is incorrect.

You could say for example, run a simulation with 2 billion particles at 800x600 which would bring a GTX 1080 to its knees, while choking out a CPU... while pushing maybe 15FPS.

There is a correlation between high FPS and resource demand. But it important to understand that correlation is not causation.

NeonIGreen · Jan 20, 2017

Ah okey, thanks for the explanation bystander, that explains a lot.
I mostly limit my FPS to 60, so I am not going to overclock it. I think I am going to spare some more money to buy the GTX 1070 than.
One last question, I saw there are more "types" of GTX 1070 GPUs, are there any major differences?

greens · Jan 20, 2017

Neon unfortunately he is wrong.

Running a game at low settings 120FPS puts the same load on the system as high settings at 60FPS, which is the same demand as ultra at 30FPS.

The FPS isn't a direct cause of load, it is the opposite - it is the RESULT of a load.

bystander · Jan 20, 2017

greens :

Just because it's become a bit of a fact on this board, does not change a few things.

Resolution does not increase the use of the CPU (test this yourself with a game that is severly CPU bound, then decrease the resolution).

GPU usage goes up with a higher resolution.

What does that mean? It means that if you use 1080p, you will mostly find bottlenecking issues with a 1070. If you play at 1440p or higher, you mostly won't.

3D Vision and VR double your resolution in affect. The CPU usage can sometimes be increased, and sometimes not. That depends on the game (I use 3D Vision a lot). This is more hit or miss.

greens · Jan 20, 2017

What does that mean? It means that if you use 1080p, you will mostly find bottlenecking issues with a 1070. If you play at 1440p or higher, you mostly won't.

LOL so that is my problem!! I was noticing a bit of lag at 4k, i'll just up my resolution to 8k to solve it, its so obvious!

Now i'm trolling - stepping out of this thread lol.

bystander · Jan 20, 2017

greens :

You are arguing something I did not say.

The CPU load (not the GPU load), does not change with higher or lower resolutions for the same FPS. If you use a higher resolution, the GPU has to work a lot harder to hit the same FPS, while the CPU does not. That just means that his CPU is not a bottleneck at higher resolutions, and a faster GPU is needed and useful.

That is why people have this whole GPU+CPU pairing formula all mixed up. At 1080p, a GTX 1070 is generally overkill, but not at 1440p or higher.

bystander · Jan 20, 2017

greens :

Clearly you like to troll, but let's see if it's possible to get back on track.

All your trolls seem to get that a higher resolution increase the GPU load. Do you realize that it doesn't increase the CPU load?

Note: He was concerned about bottlenecking. VR similarly behaves like doubling your resolution.

greens · Jan 20, 2017

"It means that if you use 1080p, you will mostly find bottlenecking issues with a 1070. If you play at 1440p or higher, you mostly won't."

If you game lags at 1080p - it is going to lag the same or more at 1440p. Increasing resolution doesn't have a linear relationship with load, certainly this is true. However, it never REDUCES the load, that is just silly.

I'm out.

bystander · Jan 20, 2017

greens :

First off, he never said anything about lagging in response to his CPU not handling a GTX 1070.

Now, let's get to the bolded part.

If he increases the resolution. The FPS drop if he isn't bottlenecked. You can understand that, as you have made apparent. The GPU is working as hard or harder than before.

What happens to the CPU load when the FPS drop, with the same settings? Since the biggest performance job the CPU does is to feed the GPU instructions on what to render, and that job doesn't change with a different resolution, a FPS drop, causes the CPU to work less.

So, a higher resolution cause the GPU to work harder than at lower resolutions. That results in lower FPS, and the CPU working less hard.

bystander · Jan 20, 2017

You know the crazy thing is? I was agreeing with you on going with a GTX 1070 or GTX 1080 for VR. I was disagreeing with the OP on being concerned about his CPU not being able to handle one.

Somehow you have misread, or misunderstood what I wrote.

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