Intel Sandy Bridge architecture and built in graphics

[hadouken]

Hi all,

I just bought a new system that has an I5 2500 processor. I also have a PNY GTX 470. I've read up on the big advances of graphics capabilities with the new sandy bridge architecture. I know that It's possible to have Octane render using a graphics and have the OS operate off of another card using a SLI setup. This helps to avoid system slowdown while cooking a render in Octane.

My question is as follows: Is it possible to have the i5 processor's built in GPU used exclusively for OS operations and my GTX 470 used just for Octane while rendering in order to prevent slowdown of general desktop navigation? Right now, my system hiccups when I try to browse the web or play video while cooking and I feel like I may be wasting the potential of the i5 graphics for this purpose. Maybe the i5 gpu IS kicking in and I just don't notice it? I'm not too sure. Is anyone familiar with this setup?


thanks,

[radiance]

Not sure, due to octane using opengl interoperability features of NVIDIA's CUDA drivers it could present issues,
just like trying to use a geforce GPU for octane and displaying the octane UI on a non-nvidia card, eg AMD.

It might be a good idea to test and report back here, so we know if it works or not for other users asking this question.
We don't have any sandybridge CPUs in the office currently...

I think it will probably not work as the UI can't render the OpenGL viewport on the sandy bridge GPU due to lack of CUDA OpenGL integration accross the nvidia and intel GPU drivers...

Radiance

[hadouken]

Thanks Radiance. I'll run some tests tonight and see if I can dig up any more info about this.