LucidLogix Virtu switching - What's your take?

[Hauk]

I'll be playing with a Z68 config and am researching Virtu. Many previous posts with general questions; but I didn't see any focusing on its value. Below are comments from an August guru3d review. I'm skeptical after reading it. Those who've used it, what's your take?


"Now we've tried and tried, but this solution does not significantly save on power. Dedicated graphics cards these days have very decent IDLE power states and once you plug in the additional graphics card, disabled or not, it will require a minimum amount of power to keep it alive. There's nothing this feature can do about that. In our case we installed a GeForce GTX 580 next to the Sandy Bridge IGP:

Z68 | 2600K no graphics card - Idle 47, Load 129

Z68 | 2600K + GTX 580 - Idle 85, Load 168

Z68 | 2600K + GTX 580 LucidLogix Virtu - Idle 83, Load 167

It is the IDLE wattage we are interested in. As you can see, the MSI Z68A-GD80 without a graphics card installed performs brilliant really with 47 Watts in IDLE. Once we install a GeForce GTX 580 we now IDLE at 85 Watts. Then when we install and apply LucidLogix Virtu in desktop mode we IDLE at 83 Watts and we can confirm the Intel IGP is at work here. But there's merely a 2 Watt difference in-between the two."


Source: http://www.guru3d.com/article/msi-z68a-gd80-g3-pcie-gen-30-motherboard-review/8

 

[jacktesterson]

My take...

Its useless

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S II via Tapatalk

 

[LOL_Wut_Axel]

There's not much point in it. For enthusiasts I see no reason for Z68 at all, to be honest. In most motherboards you lose back panel ports for the stupid video outputs you'll never use and you get features that are pretty much completely useless (Lucid Virtu, IRST) and only one that makes any sense (QuickSync). QuickSync I don't think is enough to warrant the additional $30 Z68 costs over P67 for most motherboard, nor is it worth losing back panel I/O for.

With LucidVirtu most of the time you're not saving anything in power, not to mention you now have to worry about driver incompatibility or other issues.

/rant

 

[fralexandr]

i think it'd be a great idea if they could actually completely power off and on a GPU :\
the way it is now, it's almost worthless though...
it's currently most useful as an HTPC/gamer, since it actually uses the intel for HD playback

I'd want it when/if the software improves significantly
i was kind of hoping for hybrid power savings for desktops, but it's mostly been a notebook thing (and even then it's still not yet perfect)
also hybrid multigpu might be cool later for physx support (cheapish nvidia card) + AMD highish end GPU (better multi-monitor support, they more often have the dual-GPU cards, and tend to have a slight edge image quality wise)

 

[pauldun170]

I paid $100 for a z68.
P67 wasn't even a consideration when shopping and the pricing wasn't appealing at all.
Virtu is pretty transparent so far. No regrets.
It nice having quicksynch. Certainly beats transcoding the old way.

 

[LOL_Wut_Axel]

I paid $100 for a z68.
P67 wasn't even a consideration when shopping and the pricing wasn't appealing at all.
Virtu is pretty transparent so far. No regrets.
It nice having quicksynch. Certainly beats transcoding the old way.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...xtreme4%20gen3

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...xtreme4%20gen3

You also have the drawbacks I mentioned.

 

[pauldun170]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...xtreme4%20gen3

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...xtreme4%20gen3

You also have the drawbacks I mentioned.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...TabStoreType=1

No drawbacks with the board I have.
Works great.
Everything is seemless and does what I need it to do.

 

[pauldun170]

P67 boards
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007627%20600008069%20600093976&IsNodeId=1&name=LGA%201155

vs z68 boards
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...me=Intel%20Z68

 

[LOL_Wut_Axel]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...TabStoreType=1

No drawbacks with the board I have.
Works great.
Everything is seemless and does what I need it to do.

Are you referring to the AsRock Z68 PRO3? If so, yeah, it's great for the price. The thing is that Z68 is too expensive in comparison to P67 for the Performance market motherboards (~$125-250 typically).

 

[pauldun170]

Are you referring to the AsRock Z68 PRO3? If so, yeah, it's great for the price. The thing is that Z68 is too expensive in comparison to P67 for the Performance market motherboards (~$125-250 typically).

Fortunately, I've never had a need for a premium motherboard.
However, in my case I do transcode so even if no matter what the market a z68 is worth the premium to me over a comparable p67 board.
I'd MUCH rather use quicksynch over cuda and I like to game so the ability to have a nice discrete card and use the quicksynch is a big deal (to me).

To some people a p67 isn't worth the bucks over an H67.

 

[rolodomo]

i think it'd be a great idea if they could actually completely power off and on a GPU :\

I agree. Nvidia Optimus completely powers off the GPU (at least that's what I read). In that sense, it seems superior to Lucid Virtu, but Optimus hasn't made its way to desktops.

Let's not forget the technological feat in being able to completely power off the GPU and associated PCI Express lanes to a completely 0 watt state! When the GPU is going to be needed for processing it is able to power on and start accepting computing calls within 300ms.

http://www.pcper.com/reviews/Mobile...d-Battery-Life-your-Notebook/How-Optimus-Work

This means that, when the GPU isn’t being utilized, it isn’t powered on, as with switchable graphics.

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/nvidia-optimus-mobile-geforce,9617.html

In a multiple GPU setup, it would definitely be a nice tweak to completely power off all discrete GPU(s) and browse at less power consumption/heat generation (e.g., 80W less for 2 x GTX 580s at idle).

 

[Hauk]

Yea rolodomo, nVidia's Optimus technology sounds very appealing for the desktop. Virtu is useless in its current state by comparison.

Axel, you make a good point on P67. For a gaming only platform, it's a fine choice.

 

[Binky]

I ran virtu for a while in I-mode until I started playing an unsupported game and it worked great. The tests on virtu power consumption savings that I saw showed about 20 watts difference in normal use.