Nvidia Multi-GPU technology (Quadro K2000 and Geforce GTX660)

[mar-b_z400]

I want to know good information or some advices from experienced people about “Nvidia Multi-GPU technology”.
My machine is HP Z400 (6 dimm slots).
I am using Nvidia Quadro K2000 on Z400 as a graphic card.  
Additionally I own another graphic card Gigabyte GV-N660OC-2GD (NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660 GPU).
If possible, I would like to try these two graphic cards by “multi-gpu”.
Any suggestions are welcome!



Nvidia explains something for HP workstation users like this - “Where to buy multi-GPU (Certified Multi-GPU Technology OEM Systems)” (http://www.nvidia.com/object/multi-gpu-technology.html)

In Japanese Nvidia website provide information of three HP machines.
Here:
http://www.nvidia.co.jp/object/buy-multi-gpu-technology-jp.html
Click left “HP” and you can see three:
HP Z420, HP Z620 and HP Z820

(When I checked English site of theirs, I can not find anything on “HP”.)
http://www.nvidia.com/object/buy-multi-gpu-technology.html



Thank you!
2017-08-20

[Brian1965]

I have a Quadro P2000 and GTX 1080Ti running in my HP Z620. I created a post on this forum;

https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Business-PCs-Workstations-and-Point-of-Sale-Systems/SOLVED-Quadro-P200...

Part 2 explains how I installed the different drivers (Quadro and GeForce). It might be worth a try. Please note that both my cards are Pascal based which may be why I got both cards running relatively easily. I would recommend you confirm the graphic cards power requirements first to ensure the HP Z400 power supply is up to the job.

[SDH]

We use two Quadro video cards and four monitors on all of our workstations.  Works fine.  Here's some tips, all for W7Pro64 unless otherwise specified.  I am sure there are other ways to do this, but after a lot of experimenting here are the rules we use which have worked out the best for us:

1.  Never mix Quadro and GeForce drivers/cards.  I recommend either one or the other but never a mix.  We only put the cards in the two PCIe x16 slots.  The primary slot is the upper in the HP workstations.  The port on the card closest to the motherboard is the primary port.  The monitor that is hooked to the primary port on the primary card will be the boot/BIOS access screen so it is nice to have that monitor in landscape orientation for boot. 

2.  If you have two older generation cards from the same family, such as a Quadro FX3700 and a Quadro FX1800 you can search the nVidia driver site sequentially for both and if they both result in the same driver package then you are set.  We only use Quadro ODE (optimal drivers for enterprise) drivers, which are the Quadro default).  On the nVidia driver download site for these you can also see the list of cards supported by that particular driver set in the middle column, and the same info is in some of the PDFs there for that set.  Make sure both of your cards are listed for that set.  If not one of the two cards you have is incompatible with that driver set.  You should be able to find a driver set that is compatible with both cards this way.

3.  If you have an older generation Quadro card and a newer generation Quadro card from two different Quadro families then filter your search for the older of the two Quadro cards, and then check in the list for whether it also supports the newer card.  Almost always that will be in the list if they are not too far apart in age.  For example, running a Quadro 2000D and a FX3700.... you will not find the FX3700 listed in the latest driver set for the 2000D, but you will find the 2000D in the latest driver set for the FX3700 (which will be an older driver set).  This older driver set will be compatible with both cards, but not the newer driver set.

4.  Example for Windows 10.... it wants to force your older card to run with the newest drivers it can find for the newer card.  Thus, if will automatically force incompatible drivers onto the Quadro FX3700 if it sees a Quadro 2000D.  The solution is to use cards from the same family, and it is even better to use identical cards.  For example, either two FX3700 or two Quadro 2000D, or a Quadro 2000 and a Quadro 2000D.  I have also found that cards that have 2 DVI ports rather than a DVI and two Display Port ports are a bit less buggy.  So, two Quadro 2000D cards is even better, and that is what I am running in my fastest 4-monitor 2-card workstation.

5.  For Windows 10 you can stay ahead of MS Updates forcing driver updates if you check in with the nVidia driver download site every couple of months and get the new ones when they come out.  These will not yet have gone through the MS qualification process, but I have never had a problem using these newer drivers.  MS Updates will not force older "MS qualified" drivers over your newer dated straight-from-nVidia ones if you do stay ahead of Microsoft this way.