Any issues using a 2nd grx card for DC & with no display?

[Assimilator1]

I'm looking to get a new monitor (27-32" to replace the current 19"!) (discussing it at my other forum 'home' here if you're interested), for now I'll be getting an Asus HD 7970 (1GHz GPU) & that should be fine for Elite Dangerous at 2560x1440 & great for MW & Einstein .

But Tahiti's don't do freesync, & at some point I'm going to want to make use of that, so I'd either have to downgrade FP64 power a bit with a Hawaii GPU or just keep the 7970 as a 2nd card for DC only! (that would also allow me to consider NVidia GPUs again for gaming).
.
Anyway, I'm sure I remember some issues with having a displayless card, is there?

Oh & feel free to pitch in with any monitor suggestions , looking at 27-32", 2560x1440, free sync, IPS screens.
Ta .

 

[TennesseeTony]

I'm only aware of integrated graphics being disabled without at least a "dummy plug" installed. I have had up to ten 'headless' systems with dGPUs, both green and red cards, all which crunched along happily using only TeamViewer as the display.

I don't have any experience with mixed cards though, if you're going that route.

 

[Drsignguy]

I'm sure I remember some issues with having a displayless card, is there?

Not anymore. No need for a "dummy Plug" with the current cards and drivers.

But if you were to have mixed cards within the same system, it can be a nightmare. Not to say it doesn't work but it can and will cause conflicts. So its just better to stay with the same type. Also its much easier, well speaking with experience using Nvidia cards anyway.

 

[Assimilator1]

Yea I was possibly thinking of having the 7970 as a secondary headless card with maybe an NVidia card as the primary one or a later AMD card.

So when you say mixed cards can be a nightmare, do you between AMD & NVidia or different chips within the same manufacturer?

 

[Drsignguy]

So when you say mixed cards can be a nightmare, do you between AMD & NVidia or different chips within the same manufacturer?

I would say more like the drivers are the issue. Loading two different graphic card drivers within the same OS could cause conflicts. If you were to try it, you have to make sure you Install 1 card and load each driver at a time. I have done it before within XP a while back but it became a pain in the ass. But that was then and this is now as time and software has changed. Hell, Depending what OS you run, preferably 7 and up, It maybe much better than the days of old.

 

[Assimilator1]

Win 7 64bit, knowing my luck it'll be worse doing it now .

 

[Drsignguy]

Win 7 is a pretty good and stable Os so, I wouldn't worry much. It just so happens the other day I had this very conversation using AMD and NVidia in the same system. It was mentioned that it wouldn't be a good idea to do it just because of the conflicts it could cause. I just left it at that... a conversation....

 

[kowalabearhugs]

I have a box running a 2500K + AMD Sapphire 7970 + Nvidia EVGA 760. It's plugged into a monitor, but I only use the integrated graphics on the 2500K, so both dedicated cards only process BOINC WUs. It was running Windows 7 64bit with no issues and recently upgraded to Win10 with no issues as of yet. As others have said, I would install one card at a time, update drivers, reboot, shutdown, then repeat to install the other card. No dummy plugs needed.

Edit: For what it's worth, I installed the AMD card then the Nvidia. Not that it should matter, but again and as other have noted, drivers can be finicky. The CPU and both GPUs are at stock voltage with the AMD's clock speed being raised from stock 925mhz to 1000mhz. BOINC runs 24/7 at 100% load. The system is powered by a Lepa MaxGold 80PLUS Gold 700W PSU.

Link to the system profile on free-dc : http://stats.free-dc.org/stats.php?page=hostbycpid&cpid=ace60da7138e22cb717542a86d2cd481

 

[Drsignguy]

That's good to know that running two different cards using 7 and now 10 seem to work ok. I know back in the day when using XP it was a pain and if I remember correctly, that's when a "dummy plug" was used.....So a good heads up to all if interested in using both types of cards.... Thanks for the info kowalabearhugs!

 

[kowalabearhugs]

This seems like useful information for the BOINC enthusiast so I've re-posted it in the BOINC subreddit : https://www.reddit.com/r/BOINC/comments/44kmet/on_running_dedicated_amd_and_nvidia_gpus_in_the/

Consider subscribe to the sub if you're on Reddit

 

[Assimilator1]

Thanks for the info kowalabearhugs, very handy! (btw long nick! )