Using 5th & 6th Aux Displays Used To Be So Easy
Posted: Fri Jan 22, 2021 4:03 pm
Happy New Year all. Hope all your systems are GO.
I originally posted this in the X-Plane.org Forum but so far it has not generated any replies.
I have run into some very disappointing complications while attempting to operate 2 separate GPUs in the same PC with X-Plane. I previously had no problem with my Nvidia GTX 980 Ti (in top PCIe slot) running 4 monitors alongside a older Nvidia GT 630 that ran 2 small auxiliary monitors. The 980 runs 3 displays in Nvidia Surround and a 4th for Air Manager Panels. The 630 ran the 2 aux displays for other Air Manager panels, Sky Vector, Windows Performance Monitor, etc. The 2 GPUs worked fine in their own 16x PCIe buses (Asus Z-97 Work Station) using an older 388 series driver. However, a more recent driver version was needed to enable Vulcan in X-Plane 11.50 (now 11.51).
As I predicted, the newer 441.20 driver (earliest needed for Vulcan) did not support the GT 630. So I purchased and installed a "modern" Nvidia GT 1030. Windows 10 recognized the older (and much more capable) 980 Ti and the newer GT 1030 and all seemed normal. Unfortunately, Windows 10 has hijacked some control from the Nvidia Control Panel. The only thing left for me to decide was to assign the OpenGL GPU to the 980 Ti for X-Plane (otherwise, the 2 GPU's would "fight" over control and X-Plane would crash). The 980 ran OK on its 4 displays and the 1030 appeared to display normally what I dragged into its 2 monitors. But when I attempted to click a button, rotate a knob, scroll, resize, etc., Windows 10 (or Nvidia) "hijacked" the open windows on the 1030's displays and placed them on the 980 display. Sometimes the 1030 would BSOD. The 980Ti displayed normally. No matter what I have tried so far allows me to use the 2 small displays with Vulcan (multiple driver versions, Windows 10 Graphics GPU Assignments, etc). I got similar behavior with Windows 7 using a Vulcan-capable Nvidia driver, which seemingly indicates that this phenomena is a driver issue.
I have read on other forums that Nvidia has abandoned multi GPU support. If this is true, would I have better luck using a new (cheap) Radeon/AMD GPU alongside the 980Ti? I've read that this marriage could turn out ugly as well. I don't want to use my Intel iGPU since it's a i7 4790k (4.8 Ghz) and is already working hard enough. I am also trying to avoid using a 2nd PC to run Air Manager or Air Player. I'm not looking to increase performance or use DX12 Graphics Acceleration, etc. I would just like to have back the display real estate I once had.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks again for everyone's attention.
I originally posted this in the X-Plane.org Forum but so far it has not generated any replies.
I have run into some very disappointing complications while attempting to operate 2 separate GPUs in the same PC with X-Plane. I previously had no problem with my Nvidia GTX 980 Ti (in top PCIe slot) running 4 monitors alongside a older Nvidia GT 630 that ran 2 small auxiliary monitors. The 980 runs 3 displays in Nvidia Surround and a 4th for Air Manager Panels. The 630 ran the 2 aux displays for other Air Manager panels, Sky Vector, Windows Performance Monitor, etc. The 2 GPUs worked fine in their own 16x PCIe buses (Asus Z-97 Work Station) using an older 388 series driver. However, a more recent driver version was needed to enable Vulcan in X-Plane 11.50 (now 11.51).
As I predicted, the newer 441.20 driver (earliest needed for Vulcan) did not support the GT 630. So I purchased and installed a "modern" Nvidia GT 1030. Windows 10 recognized the older (and much more capable) 980 Ti and the newer GT 1030 and all seemed normal. Unfortunately, Windows 10 has hijacked some control from the Nvidia Control Panel. The only thing left for me to decide was to assign the OpenGL GPU to the 980 Ti for X-Plane (otherwise, the 2 GPU's would "fight" over control and X-Plane would crash). The 980 ran OK on its 4 displays and the 1030 appeared to display normally what I dragged into its 2 monitors. But when I attempted to click a button, rotate a knob, scroll, resize, etc., Windows 10 (or Nvidia) "hijacked" the open windows on the 1030's displays and placed them on the 980 display. Sometimes the 1030 would BSOD. The 980Ti displayed normally. No matter what I have tried so far allows me to use the 2 small displays with Vulcan (multiple driver versions, Windows 10 Graphics GPU Assignments, etc). I got similar behavior with Windows 7 using a Vulcan-capable Nvidia driver, which seemingly indicates that this phenomena is a driver issue.
I have read on other forums that Nvidia has abandoned multi GPU support. If this is true, would I have better luck using a new (cheap) Radeon/AMD GPU alongside the 980Ti? I've read that this marriage could turn out ugly as well. I don't want to use my Intel iGPU since it's a i7 4790k (4.8 Ghz) and is already working hard enough. I am also trying to avoid using a 2nd PC to run Air Manager or Air Player. I'm not looking to increase performance or use DX12 Graphics Acceleration, etc. I would just like to have back the display real estate I once had.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks again for everyone's attention.