Memory usage with second GPU

[mbetke]

I'm considering to get a second graphic card for octane but have to understnad something before.

I have a 3GB GTX580 at the moment which is a great card. Now if I get a GTX570 with less vram how will Octne handle it?
Can my scenes still have 3GB max and will use the additional computing power from the 570??

Or do I need to get another 3GB card because the scene data will be filled into both cards and need to fit there?
I know about the benefits of having one display card and another one for rendering while setting up the scene.

[t_3]

I'm considering to get a second graphic card for octane but have to understnad something before.

I have a 3GB GTX580 at the moment which is a great card. Now if I get a GTX570 with less vram how will Octne handle it?
Can my scenes still have 3GB max and will use the additional computing power from the 570??

Or do I need to get another 3GB card because the scene data will be filled into both cards and need to fit there?
I know about the benefits of having one display card and another one for rendering while setting up the scene.

octane can only use as much vram as the least equipped card provides, because scene and textures need to (fully) load into every card independently. if you are not after ms/sec but having a 2nd card for system purposes only, you may consider getting a point of view 550ti with 4gb vram, which is very cheap:
http://geizhals.at/deutschland/673480

ps: seems i haven't carried this thought to its logical conclusion: if the 2nd card is dedicateted to the os only, you won't care about its vram anyway; so a 2nd gtx 580 is your best bet if you sometimes want a clear boost in rendering power too and need all the 3gb...

[mbetke]

Thanks. Then its handled like I thought. I will see if my power supply will be able to supply a second 580. But it would be a good investment if I do more with Octane. Esoecially animations.