A couple of days ago there was question of testing multiple dissimilar GPUs. Here is a quick test I ran this evening using a RTX 3060 12GB, RX 6600 8GB and the IGPU in the 8 core/16 thread AMD 5700G CPU. The system has 32Gb of ram.
This is a simple comparison of multiple Graphics Cards and IGPU usage in both VEAI 2.6.4 and VEAI Beta 3.0.0.0.b. This is both the single GPU and then using the ‘All’ selection. The test was performed with a video of 854x480 converting to 1920x1080. I used ProteusV3 estimating values from the first frame. The numbers are rounded.
VEAI 2.6.4
5700G .41sec/f-2.44fps
3060 .13sec/f-7.69fps
6600 .17sec/f-5.88fps
All .22sec/f-4.55fps
Beta 3.0.0.0.b
5700G .53sec/f-1.9fps
3060 .24sec/f-4.1fps
6600 .37sec/f-2.7fps
All .17sec/f-5.7fps
Here are my conclusions. The GPU’s are being much better utilized in 2.6.4. Simple wattage comparisons from OpenHardwareMonitor show for the 3060 in 2.6.4 power usage of 105W compared to 48w in Beta 3.0b. For the 6600 2.6.4 was 69w compared to 25W in Beta3.0b.
In the ‘All’ case it is clear why Topaz labeled ‘All’ as Experimental in 2.6.4. It does not work properly in mixed brands. In Beta 3.0b it does work but the processing from a single GPU in 2.6.4 was still faster. When Topaz gets the GPU optimizations done in 3.0 than multiple GPUs will be a very good feature even if you only have some slightly older GPU’s laying around and as long as you have a power supply that can handle the total power.
I still personally think the ‘All’ selection should be replaced with check boxes to allow selection of GPU’s. It is possible to have 3 or more graphics processors in a single computer. Threadripper/Epic systems come to mind along with what might become very low cost soon, ex-mining rigs. You may not want ‘All’ selected.
One last note about the hardware during the test. This experiment was done on a B550 motherboard with mixed PCI slots, PCIe 4.0 x16 and PCIe 3.0 x16 (x4 mode). The 3060 was in the 4.0 slot. The 6600 in the 3.0 slot. The back of the 6600 was maybe 6-8mm from the fans on the 3060. I never had anything but normal temps while testing but the case side panel was open. Ambient temperature though was high(for most people) at 27C. I’m in Florida.
