Using Nvidia and ATI vid card on the same system?

[sulblazer]

I currently have a 660 gtx installed and a Radeon HD6670 in my spare parts bin.  I like the performance of my 660gtx for general PC gaming, but I keep reading that in some instances, ATI cards can pump out a few more FPS for Dolphin.  My mobo can support multiple PCIe (4 in all, I think), so would it be possible to install the HD6670 and output it to another second monitor and enjoy the benefits of those extra FPS's?  My primary monitor would still run the 660gtx on my primary.

Just trying to get the best of both worlds, I guess.  Oh, and also, if this setup is viable, what settings should I be mindful of if I'm outputting to a secondary monitor?

[admin89]

ATI cards can pump out a few more FPS for Dolphin

That's not true . Depending on the graphic backend you use
Dolphin only work with 1 GPU .
6670 is a low-mid range card , not a mid-high end card like GTX 660 . You will get worse performance than before
Besides , better CPU = better FPS , better GPU = higher resolution it can handle
If you want more FPS , overclock your CPU . Keep in mind that Dolphin is a dual core app , your CPU is always the bottleneck

[sulblazer]

ATI cards can pump out a few more FPS for Dolphin

That's not true . Depending on the graphic backend you use
Dolphin only work with 1 GPU .
6670 is a low-mid range card , not a mid-high end card like GTX 660 . You will get worse performance than before
Besides , better CPU = better FPS , better GPU = higher resolution it can handle
If you want more FPS , overclock your CPU . Keep in mind that Dolphin is a dual core app , your CPU is always the bottleneck

Then I guess I misunderstood the following section under 'Hardware and systems requirement' :

• NVIDIA: Due to the importance of the OpenGL Extension “Buffer Storage” no NVIDIA GPU before the Geforce 4xx series can be recommended. Despite being a bit old, the Geforce GTX 460 will handle almost any game you throw at it in HD resolutions. Older NVIDIA GPUs will still be able to run the games fine, especially within the D3D backend and in OpenGL with older builds still using the “Vertex Streaming Hack.”
  
  
• AMD: Unlike the processor battle, AMD’s graphics cards actually fair very well at Dolphin. As of [color=#428bca]4.0-1192[/color], AMD video cards see boosts around the board because of the addition of integer math. As such, the AMD HD5770 and should run most games at HD Resolutions.
  

So between an 660gtx and an HD6670, I will see an FPS slowdown with the HD6670?  I'm gonna have to test this.  If anything, they should run pretty equal.  I'll post my findings.  

[DatKid20]

They shouldn't be equal. Are you kidding me? One card is low mid end and one is mid end. 

[sulblazer]

They shouldn't be equal. Are you kidding me? One card is low mid end and one is mid end. 

I guess we'll find out once I bench it.  As i understood it, as long as the Vid card can run the latest D3D or OpenGL...then it's pretty much about how much enhancements are in the settings.  I'll run both vid cards as close to native Wii settings as possible to see what kind of FPS differences I get.  Like I said...I'm predicting they're wont be much of a difference.

[DatKid20]

Sigh. That's not how you test GPUs. You run them both at the highest settings to see which is faster. That would work for CPUs.

[shreduhsoreus]

Lol I'll never understand why some people will come and ask for advice, then ignore the advice they get and do whatever they want.


The GTX 660 is a better video card. Period. End of discussion.

[sulblazer]

Sigh. That's not how you test GPUs. You run them both at the highest settings to see which is faster. That would work for CPUs.

Yes, when benching hardware against each other, it's usually best practice to try to max out their clock speeds with a variety of software and record the differences.  I agree that's probably the most common method to bench hardware.  I was grossly unclear and did not provide enough information in my original post about what it is I was attempting to find out and what I was trying to do.  I normally run Dolphin at 2x native with my current system on the 660gtx.  I don't play the game with any other bells and whistles other than the upped resolution.  Anything above 2x, the games that I play will get choppy in certain areas (like all the open terrain in Skyward sword and Twilight princess).  I was not interested in having a max benchmark comparison because I wouldn't play dolphin at anything above 2x anyway.  I wanted to see how the hd6670 would fare against the 660gtx at conditions that are practical to me.  In anycase, I ran the benches!

At 1x and 2x native, 660gtx and HD6670 ran just about the same...with the hd6670 slightly edging out in performance because I experienced less "catch-up" stuttering; I noticed that with the gtx660, I would experience a bit of lag when first booting up save states.  I experienced less lag with the hd6670.  After about 30secs - a minute, both cards performed about the same.  I don't know why that would be.  At 4x native, the gtx660 performed noticeably better than the HD6670.  The HD6670 FPS drops made Twilight Princess almost unplayable at 4x when first entering town on Epona.

In setting up a mix-match nvidia/amd video card system, I dunno....I couldn't seem to figure out how to have dolphin select one card over another.  Do I just switch the backend?  I'm using r.5429.  I couldn't find any significant differences with both cards installed and running dolphin on the secondary monitor powered by the hd6670.  I don't think I have the settings right.  Any suggestions in how to have Dolphin select the output graphics card?

Anyways, I'm sorry for not being clear with what I was attempting to do.  I guess it's hard to properly advise someone when there's scant information about what exactly is going on.