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Dual cards, non-SLI: GTX285 and GTX560. Worth it?

Last response: in Graphics & Displays
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I recently upgraded my system from a GTX285 to a GTX560. Out of curiosity, I simply moved the GTX285 to the secondary PCI-E slot.

I'm wondering if there's any reason to keep the GTX285 there. As far as I know, games will only take advantage of the primary card (the GTX560).

To be clear, the cards aren't in SLI mode (as I understand it it's not even possible with different GPUs, and the motherboard isn't SLI capable anyways).

I'm thinking it's possible that I'm getting zero performance gain, and possibly less than zero from the additional heat.

Some specs on the system:
Gigabyte EP45-UD3P Motherboard
Intel Q9650 OC'd to 3.75GHz (it gets unstable at 4.0+)
8GB OC friendly RAM (can't remember specifics)
Patriot Torqx 128GB SSD drive.

More about : dual cards sli gtx285 gtx560 worth

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I should add that I'm running a single 1920x1080 display at the moment, but might run two of the same resolution from time to time.

Also, if it's not useful for gaming, can I do any weird computer sciency stuff with the extra GPU, like have it fold proteins or something?
Graphics card Master

It's only using power and craeting heat now, for the rest it doesn't do anything i believe. You could use it as designated PhysX GPU but i hear that doesn't really do that much. ( maybe it takes some temp of your main GPU, i dont know )
When you have figured out about the proteins let me know, there should be a market for that. You could try to make it an real nurdy oversized watch or something. Or put a little lcd screen on and convince people that this was the first i pod prototype. :pt1cable: 
Graphics card Master

What you have right now is a primary 560 for graphics and a secondary 285 dedicated PhysX card. It will only help if you play games that feature GPU accelerated Physx. In that case, it will boost FPS by about 25% when PhysX is enabled.

Be sure to check your Nvidia Control Panel to make sure that the 285 is configured as your PhysX card. But again, this is only helping on those games that feature PhysX The first thing to do is to determine if you play any PhysX games. If not, remove the card to reduce the unnecessary heat and power usage.
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Graphics card Master

matto17secs said:
What you have right now is a primary 560 for graphics and a secondary 285 dedicated PhysX card. It will only help if you play games that feature GPU accelerated Physx. In that case, it will boost FPS by about 25% when PhysX is enabled.

Be sure to check your Nvidia Control Panel to make sure that the 285 is configured as your PhysX card. But again, this is only helping on those games that feature PhysX The first thing to do is to determine if you play any PhysX games. If not, remove the card to reduce the unnecessary heat and power usage.

A, didn't know about the 25 %, thanks for info.
Graphics card Master

elbowdonkey said:
I should add that I'm running a single 1920x1080 display at the moment, but might run two of the same resolution from time to time.

Also, if it's not useful for gaming, can I do any weird computer sciency stuff with the extra GPU, like have it fold proteins or something?


Yes you can.

GreenDutchAlien said:
It's only using power and craeting heat now, for the rest it doesn't do anything i believe. You could use it as designated PhysX GPU but i hear that doesn't really do that much. ( maybe it takes some temp of your main GPU, i dont know )
When you have figured out about the proteins let me know, there should be a market for that. You could try to make it an real nurdy oversized watch or something. Or put a little lcd screen on and convince people that this was the first i pod prototype. :pt1cable: 


Both of you should have a look at this thread.
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/268010-28-folding-hom...
Graphics card Authority

FYI: I used an 8800GT for PhysX and I have substantially better fps in PhysX games (like Batman Arkham Asylum's fog at the intro) when I have the dedicated card than just my GTX 470 by itself.

The GTX 285 should be great for F@H and raising your electricity bill.
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