master of frustration

[divery4eyes]

I have been trying to set up a dual gpu rig, my first to be exact.
i cant get anywhere

in order to ease my frustration and to save from excess blood loss from beating on my equipment. I have decide to give up on dual gpu folding until
1. My nerves calm down
2. My brain stops farting, and I realize what I did wrong
3. I pay some one to come fix it for me

Now, since I have forgone the dual route, how much efficiency would I lose if I go the single card single board route?
I know from experimentation that it does not take much CPU to power an Nvidia card.
I have taken an E2160 down to ~900 Mhz on a gigabyte G31M-ES2L with a 240GT with no pointage loss.

Would it be a waste of energy going the single card route?

[k1wi]

While I don't have any first hand experience with multiple GPU arrangements, I guarantee it won't take long for the good folk around here to put you straight; they''ll need to know what OS your using in particular. More than likely it'll have something to do with dummy plugs/extending the desktop.

k1wi

[divery4eyes]

xp 32 bit
2 GB DDR2
80 GB Sata Laptop drive
tryed extending the laptop, un extending the laptop
enabling physix, then unenabling
installed every driver this side of a 8800gt
swapping out MULTIPLE cards.
Not to mention, RE Installing the client to the letter 1..2..3.. times

I am going to take a break and do a couple of single gpu setups.
Just wonderin if I would lose to much efficiency in the process. ;-(

[codysluder]

When the frustration level gets that high, the logical thing to do is to install one GPU client and get it working to your satisfaction. Then leave everything alone for a day or so until you can approach client #2 with a fresh mind. Then what I would do is shut down the first client and get the second one working.

[nitrobass24]

Well first things first

make sure the desktop is extended
I always leave physx and SLI disabled (its been a while since i did multi-GPU so this may have changed...but just to be safe disable them for now)
Make sure you are running the latest Systray Clienthttp://www.stanford.edu/group/pandegrou ... ay-623.msi
Create a folder, C:\Folding. Create work subfolders. ie. C:\Folding\GPU0; C:\Folding\GPU1; C:\Folding\GPU2; C:\Folding\GPU3; etc. for however many clients you have
Should look like this when you are done:

now when you installed the client it automatically added a shortcut to your startup folder in the Start Menu. Cut and Paste that shortcut into the C:\Folding folder you created earlier
Right click. Properties.
Now on the shortcut tab there are two important fields: "Target" and "Start in"
For you Target will already be correct, but you will need to add (-gpu 0) without parenthesis to the end. So yours should read "C:\Program Files\Folding@home\Folding@home-gpu\Folding@home.exe" -gpu 0
Start in will be completely different. Yours should read C:\Folding\GPU0
Will look like this:

Rename the shortcut to GPU0
Now that will get you setup for your first GPU.
Now when you add your second one, just copy and paste the shortcut we just made and alter the -gpu 0 flag to -gpu 1, and change the folder from GPU0 to GPU1, rename the new shortcut to GPU1.

Get the idea?

[7im]

The multi GPU install guide on the Fah website isn't bad either. http://folding.stanford.edu/English/WinGPUGuide#ntoc4

[toTOW]

Which cards are you trying to use together ? If they are from different generation, make sure you're using last version of the cores (1.31 for core 11 and 1.26 for core 14) on both boards.

[divery4eyes]

2 GT 240's on a ASUS M4A78 plus motherboard.
It worked when I first put it together but when I took it home, it didnt

There are a few reviews on the egg where users complain about the second pci x16 slot