Dedicating a Video Card to ISBoxer run Games

Hi All. Fairly new here. I searched around and couldnt find anything on the topic so I thought I might start by asking here. My situation is as follows.

I am currently using ISBoxer to run 7 Copies of D3 at the same time (and probably doing to expand to 10-13 copies later this week). This is steadily using 9GB (out of 32GB) of my System Memory, keeps my CPU Usage around 30-40% (i7 3930K), and GPU for 1 of my cards around 60-70% (Dual AMD HD 7970 3GB). I use Dual monitors and use my 2nd Monitor to run ISBoxer and all instances of D3.

My Issue is that while I am running dual HD 7970s (with cross-fire enabled) and all of the processing for D3 is being done on my primary card, while my secondary card is pretty much just sitting idle. I have been using the features in ISBoxer to specify how I would like it to use my CPUs, and am really hoping there is something similair I can do with my GPUs so that I could switch over all processing power from my main to my secondary video card. That way all new process, whether it be for school (typically using AutoDesk Revit, CAD or 3ds Max) or games, would have a nice fresh card (my primary card) to use for their needs.

If this can be done through ISBoxer that would be great, or if there is another way I could dedicate my 2nd video card to my 2nd monitor in some way (and processes on my 2nd monitor), any information on any possibilities would be greatly appreciated. Thank You very much in advance, and if I need to provide any other information in order to help explain my situation please let me know. Thanks

[lax]

This topic is covered in detail here GPU Management

Thank you for the link, and I did read all of that before posting my questions. But I must be missing something about how to actually set this up...

The guide doesnt actually mention in it how to set a GPU to specifically power a particular monitor. I tried disabling crossfire and plugging each of my 2 monitors into a different video card, but that didnt seem to work, and for whatever reason it ended up causing all sorts of issues when I attempted to re-enable crossfire (kept crashing my comp, ended up having to uninstall and reinstall Catalyst Control Center in order to get it functioning properly again).

Is there a guide that might actually lead me through the process of assigning a GPU to a particular monitor somewhere? I have had difficulty finding one. And is that possible to do with Crossfire enabled? Or would I need to disable it?

Also, in ISBoxer, I already have all of the windows set up to run solely on my 2nd monitor, but that doesnt seem to have any effect on which GPU is taking the load atm (Using MSI Afterburner/Kombustor to monitor loads). Thank you in advance for your time again, and sorry if my questions are a bit noobish.

[lax]

Plugging a monitor into the video card is the right way to get the card to power the monitor.

Crossfire wont work in that configuration

alright, ill give it another try. must have been messing something up thank you.

since crossfire wont work in that config im guessing i need to disable crossfire before i plug the monitor into that card and start up innserspace?

thanks again, really appreciate ur time lax

Alright, starting to get very frustrated. No matter what combination I try to use I can not get my secondary video card to power ISBoxer on my 2nd Monitor. Would really love a actual walkthrough on how to do this. The link for the guide u posted doesnt really help, it just has some general information and in now way leads through the steps to do this properly.

I disabled Cross-fire. I have My primary monitor plugged into my primary video card. I have my secondary monitor plugged into my secondary video card. I have all instances of D3 and ISBoxer running on the 2nd monitor Only. Yet it is still drawing from my primary card... Using both GPU-Z and MSI Kombustor to very card loads.

To test that something wasnt just messed up with GPU-Z and MSI Kombuster I tried opening up and running League of Legends in windowed mode. When the LoL window is located on my primary monitor, it adds to the primary GPU load displayed in both MSI Kombustor and GPU-Z. When i drag the LoL window from my Primary Monitor to my Secondary Monitor I see the GPU Load decrease, as it should, and I see the GPU Load on my Secondary Monitor Increase, also as it should. So I know I have the cards and monitors set up correctly, because with other games run in windowed mode I can watch the transfer of GPU Loads as I move from 1 monitor to another. So as far as I can tell, this all has to do with something that has to do with ISBoxer. I also just tried the same process with a D3 window. Same thing happens with D3 as it does with LoL, the GPU Loads swap like they should.

For setups I have tested. I go to Window Layout Wizard. the 2 displays that pop up are labeled DISPLAY1 and DISPLAY6 (which is the 2nd monitor, not sure why its called DISPLAY6 though).

I select Single Monitor Layout on DISPLAY6 (Swapping, Avoid Taskbar)
Then all regions appear on the DISPLAY6 side, and the DISPLAY1 side is completely blank. I would think that sould be about enough to do it in itself. But no luck.

I have also tried combinations of Disabling Cross-monitor swapping. I have tried deleting DISPLAY1 from the "Use Monitors (Collection)" tab. I have tried leaving DISPLAY1 in the "Use Monitors (Collection)" and changing Primary from True to False, while at the same time changing DISPLAY6 Primary from False to True.

Where it says "Swap Groups" it lists
DISPLAY1 1
DISPLAY6 6
and i have tried replacing DISPLAY1 1 with DISPLAY1 0
and at the same time changing DISPLAY6 6 to DISPLAY6 7
since I have 7 copies of Diablo 3 I am trying to run.

After each set of changes and combinations that I have run through I File -> Save, and then I File -> Export all to Innserspace.
The diablo screens all flash for a sec, but the GPU Load Remains on GPU1 even though it is all being displayed on my 2nd monitor which is connected to GPU2.

Please Help, I have no Idea why ISBoxer is still taking GPU load from my primary card even when connected to my secondary card/monitor... Thank you in advance for your time, I really appreciate it and cant wait to have this actually running the way I want it to.

edit: another note after re-reading some of the guides on window layout. when diablo starts, the launcher appears on my primary display, as it should due to the way the game is set up. But when the game actually launches, it temporarly is displayed as full screen on my primary monitor before moving to its correct position on my second monitor. Could this possibly be what is causing it to remain as a Load on my Primary GPU even when displayed on my secondary monitor? And if so, how do I fix it. If it isnt relevant, oh well, just thought I might provide another observation to hopefully help someone in assisting me resolve this issue. I will continue to fiddle to hopefully find a solution while I was from assistance here. Thank you again.

[lax]

I'll need to see your configuration in order to start answering your new questions about this. HOWTO: Share your configuration for better support

the 2 displays that pop up are labeled DISPLAY1 and DISPLAY6 (which is the 2nd monitor, not sure why its called DISPLAY6 though).

It's a name given to it by Windows and is used to identify the specific display output (i.e. the plug in the back), not really "the 6th monitor that is plugged in". Your primary card probably has more than one output, and its second output is going to be DISPLAY2. The one you've got the 2nd monitor plugged into at the moment is apparently DISPLAY6.

Note that your monitor layout (i.e. DISPLAY1 and DISPLAY6 vs DISPLAY2, resolutions of each, etc) is stored to your Window Layout, and you should re-create your Window Layout (to match the new settings) if you change around your monitors and video cards.

Then all regions appear on the DISPLAY6 side, and the DISPLAY1 side is completely blank. I would think that sould be about enough to do it in itself. But no luck.

That should be about it, yep.

After each set of changes and combinations that I have run through I File -> Save, and then I File -> Export all to Innserspace.
The diablo screens all flash for a sec, but the GPU Load Remains on GPU1 even though it is all being displayed on my 2nd monitor which is connected to GPU2.

You have to re-launch the game for these changes. In order to change video cards, the game will hard reset its graphics settings and set up the backbuffers on the other card, etc. If you're trying different Window Layouts that should be using different GPUs, you will definitely need to close the game to activate these changes.

i have tried relaunching the game after a few configs as well. primary GPU load still on primary card. and Crossfire is Disabled.

i have been trying multiple options so I am not sure which one you would want, but I guess ill paste a few that I have tried out. here they are

http://www.privatepaste.com/3de5441eed
http://www.privatepaste.com/cead54e5cd
http://www.privatepaste.com/d32c9b3f16
http://www.privatepaste.com/d4a55ea9da

if it is possible to review even one of those and let me know what must be changed in my options in order to have them all display on my second monitor and run on purely on the gpu that powers that monitor I would really appreciate it. right now I am continuing to try some different options, then export and start D3 to see if it is working right, but ive done it so many times today that I am forgetting what combos I have already tried Guessing some of the main options will have to do with "Cross-monitor" which I have tried enabled and disabled. "Use Monitors (Collection)" which I have tried swapping around the 'Primary" True and False a few different ways since I am not 100% sure what this does, figured I would test it. And "Swap Groups" i have played around with the values there as well to have all 7 of 7 on my second display.

anyway, ill check back in a little bit, sorry for being a pain and thank you again for the help.

Edit: think I am closest with this config
http://www.privatepaste.com/26b6dc72e6

actually getting some use out of my 2nd card now according to GPU-Z (5 accounts taking up about 24% GPU Load). But for some reason my primary GPU is still being used. primary GPU is increasing in GPU load to about 30% average while 5 accounts are actively running.
Meanwhile MSI Kombustor says GPU Load on primary card is 35% average while my 2nd GPU is only averaging 2%. Odd that I am getting different readings between the 2 programs. but somewhat encouraging to have the overall load on my primary GPU down to 30% from the 60 it was at, but with crossfire disabled I dont understand why my primary card would be working to do anything for my second monitor. maybe it still has to do with something in my config. hope u can help me out with this last config and maybe help me finish ensuring all GPU Load is on my 2nd card since they are all displayed on my 2nd monitor. Thanks again.

[lax]

Sometimes there's game settings that somehow work around part of ISBoxer's display selection and break something. I forgot to mention to try a different windowed mode setting in the game. "Windowed Fullscreen" might be bad to use (I don't know what yours is set to), try setting it to Fullscreen or to Windowed, or in any rate... the other ones that it's not right now. Also, you will probably want to disable V-Sync if it's on. You may need to re-launch after changing the fullscreen/windowed setting.


From looking at your configs I'm not sure you're doing anything wrong in ISBoxer, simply having them on the right monitor is enough for ISBoxer to recognize that it should tell DirectX to select DISPLAY6.

You can verify that it is selecting the correct display within the game; set a Hotkey in your Character Set for the in-game Inner Space console. (There is no Hotkey by default). I use Alt+` myself when I need to set this. Anyway set this Hotkey and Export, then in the game instance hit the Hotkey and scroll to the top.

There will be a section that will read something like this except for your team and your window layout and your monitor, instead of mine (poorly wrapped lines included)

Code:

| 16:11:21 ISBoxer: Pre-initializing Window Layout
'diablo 3 duo'
| 16:11:21 ISBoxer: Window Layout region is permanent,
locking Active Region to Inactive Region
| 16:11:21 ISBoxer: Window Layout selecting Active Region
resolution: 800x450
| 16:11:21 ISBoxer: Window Layout binding to monitor:
\\.\DISPLAY1
| 16:11:21 ISBoxer: Window Layout binding to monitor:
\\.\DISPLAY1
| 16:11:21 ISBoxer: Instructions completed.
|
\====================================================

Note the "Window Layout binding to monitor" lines, they will be in light blue (cyan), those are the ones you're looking for, and again this is going to be at the very top of the in-game Inner Space console in a Diablo 3 instance. In your case it should say binding to monitor: \\.\DISPLAY6, possibly twice.

yep, mine states that it is
Window Layout binding to monitor:
\\.\DISPLAY6

twice.

i will test the ingame option now for windowed, fullscreen, etc..

also, can I just re-launch each copy of diablo as I test them, or do i need to exit out of all instances of diablo and relaunch them all together again?